Side Dish: Culinary Coach

Culinary Coach. Team builder, fundraiser, food historian, chef. It might seem too many hats for one woman to wear. But Tina Wasserman sports each one with humor and style, all from the sleek, oversize kitchen in her home off Royal Lane, which also serves as her cooking school. She’s a kosher cooking expert, but matzo balls and gefilte fish are more the exception than the rule. From one day to the next, Wasserman’s long granite countertops are filled with anything from rice paper to phyllo dough. The recipes Wasserman teaches aren’t in any cookbook. Instead she teaches creativity. And that’s what attracts her students: companies, clubs, couples, and companions who turn to Wasserman to learn how to cook together and work together. “If I do my job right,” she says, “you’ll leave here knowing more than just how to cook just these recipes.” www.cookingandmorecom. —Jenny Block