It might seem odd that a company that offers virtual cooking classes with chefs from around the world who whip up exotic, local dishes has its roots in Buffalo wings, but that’s where the story began for Jenn Nicken , the founder of The Chef & The Dish . Nicken, after all, hails from Buffalo, New York, where she says “wings” are the equivalent of pizza on Mulberry Street or poutine in Toronto. “They’re a part of your life,” she says. “You go for wings and beer. They’re at birthday parties.” This wasn’t something Nicken was acutely aware of when she was working at Apple back in the iPod days. She helped launch that product across North America and then moved on to become the head of marketing for Apple/iTunes’s entertainment division in Canada, where she’s now based. But when she decided to shake up her career in 2015, enrolling in cooking classes and traveling around the world to learn more about international cuisine, she began to see her hometown—and its native dish—in a new light. The Chef & The Dish founder and CEO, Jenn Nicken [Photo: The Chef & The Dish] During her travels, she would try wings in different places, but something was off. “The further I got from Buffalo, the more I realized wings weren’t the same. It’s a dish that’s so simple but when you get it in the place it originated from, that’s what makes it so wonderful. Recipes that you get at the source deserve to be protected and celebrated. Just like Bolognese sauce is best in Bologna.” This revelation—along with the joy of learning to cook Bolognese sauce in Italy as well as Pad Thai in Thailand—led her to quit her job at Apple and launch The Chef & The Dish in 2016. The company offers live, online private cooking classes—$299 for a couple; group classes are also available—with chefs based in such locales as Peru, Laos, Turkey and Italy
See original here:
How a former Apple executive is streaming international chefs into your kitchen