Reviews

Student Blog

For a first hand student report about the 8-week course of culinary study, visit a student’s blog about taking classes at the Chef Studio .

NW Palate

November/December 2006, Susan G. Hauser wrote “A Fish Tale” explaining how Robert Reynolds’ Fish Soup Like a Tidal Pool came to be.

Portland Monthly

January 2007, review by Camas Davis wrote “Kitchen Existential” a piece about Robert’s quest to elevate the culinary consciousness of Portland: A tale she tells in four recipes.

Seattle Magazine 

Cynthia Nims, April 2007

Chef and teacher Robert Reynolds established his Chefs Studio in Portland inner East Side neighborhood this year with a program that caters to culinary students and avid home cooks in an intimate setting. Reynolds offers 8-week classes for those with serious culinary interest. Expect an excursion or two t6o farmers’ markets and other gastronomic spots, plus visits to the studio by local producers including farmers, cheesemakers, winemakers and chefs, plus plenty of time for hands-on cooking instruction. Reynolds’ own culinary roots are deeply associated with France, where he studied and taught cooking for 20 years. He was also chef/owner of Le Trou, a small French restaurant in San Francisco from 1982 to 1996. His program is infused with the distinctive French sensibility, helping students appreciate season nuances in the kitchen. With his focus on regional foods and local food producers, it makes for a delicious lesson in the connection we all have to the larger community of food. 

Reluctant Gourmet, Blog

www.reluctantgourmet.com/blog/pasta-recipes/how-to-make-risotto/

Portland Spaces

May 2008 issue, by Jon Hart reported on five Portland kitchens. In the section called The Franco File” he wrote, “Many of his students are chefs themselves, whom Reynolds coaches to become more confident in their skills and, most important, to think on their own.”

Northwest Palate

September/October 2008 issue of NORTHWEST PALATE with photos by Ben Root. Robert shares the cover and the feature story with Vitaly and Kimberly Paley. The Paleys hired Robert as the writer for their new book, “PALEY’S PLACE COOKBOOK, Cooking in the Northwest,” to be released mid-October. Read and find out why we are so jazzed.

Colleagues

♥ Bruce Carey, the Carey group of restaurants, Portland, Oregon - I think a resource is Robert Reynolds, a great talent and the owner of an intimate and very sophisticated cooking studio. Look into it at www.thechefstudio.com

♥ Hsiao-Ching chou, Seattle Post Intelligencer - ”All those who are lucky enough to share a kitchen with him agree he is a teacher who can make a professional chef or a home cook reconsider what he or she knows about cooking.”

♥ Chris Moore, Cafe Rouge, Berkeley - ”Robert is mindful, both as chef and teacher. With a  nod to tradition, he strengthens technique, encourages passion, realizes creativity and develops the very conscience of the cook.”

♥ David Sarasohn, The Oregonian - ”When Reynolds is in the kitchen, it’s an occasion to mark talent and dexterity.”

♥ Rob Siedeman, Cooking School of Aspen, ”Absolutely one of the most impassioned instructors, with teaching skills to match.”

♥ Edward Epse Brown, Teacher, Author of Tassajara Bread Book - ”Robert is a fine companion in the kitchen; knowledgeable, amusing, attentive.”

STUDENTS

♥ Julie Languille comments on her website http://www.dinnersinaflash.com/articles.html after attending Robert’s class on Whidbey Island, Washington in March 2008

♥ John Taboada, Navarre restaurant, Portland, Oregon - ”Robert taught me to cook,”

♥ Chris Riley,  ”Robert’s classes are excellent. Not only do you get to transcend your daily ritual by immersing yourself in fine food and cuisine, but you engage with the place we live.”

♥ Dean Towers, Chef, Houston, Texas - ”I didn’t want to go to cooking school to simply be an institutional cook. I wanted to learn everything about food. Studying with Robert, I gained a deep understanding of the art of cooking.

♥ Lara James, ”I don’t know if I wrote this yesterday, but I felt giddy after my class yesterday.  I don’t think it was the wine.  I think it was a combination of the joy of learning, the sounds, the smells, the movement of the kitchen, the conversation…the tastes…it was where I want to be.”