About Us Founded in 1977 by Annemarie Colbin, The Natural Gourmet is the leader in teaching health-supportive cooking as well as elucidating the relationship between food and health. We believe that what we eat significantly affects our physical, mental and spiritual well being. We all have different body types, ethnic backgrounds, medical histories, stress levels, caloric needs and physiological responses to food; therefore, no one philosophy is right for everyone. Our approach empowers people to tailor their eating style to support their individual health needs. The Natural Gourmet Institute for Health & Culinary Arts Chef’s Training Program was created in 1987 in response to the demand for culinary professionals skilled in the art of preparing beautiful, delicious health-supportive cuisine. This comprehensive mostly-vegetarian program–the only one of its kind in the world–prepares students for careers in health spas, restaurants, bakeries, private cooking, catering, teaching, consulting, food writing and a variety of entrepreneurial pursuits. The Natural Gourmet Institute for Food and Health offers excellent learning opportunities to the general public. Whether you’re a novice or experienced cook, new to natural foods or expanding your cooking repertoire, the Institute has a class designed especially for you. Through a combination of cooking classes and lectures, we teach health-supportive food preparation as well as an ever-expanding array of approaches to nutrition. These include models from Western Nutrition, Chinese Medicine, Macrobiotics, Raw Foods, Fermentations, Medicinal Cooking, and more. The Natural Gourmet Institute was founded on the principle that what we eat significantly affects our physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Each individual reacts differently to food and so will thrive on a unique diet. Consequently, there is no one perfect food or dietary regimen that works for everyone. With these principles in mind, The Natural Gourmet has created a framework for healthy food selection based on specific criteria for high quality ingredients, concepts of eastern/western nutrition and a variety of dietary paradigms. To accomplish this goal, we look to the whole food traditions of our healthy ancestors as well as to modern scientific studies. Our approach empowers people to tailor their eating style to support their individual health needs Our focus is health-supportive, whole-foods cuisine, with an emphasis on traditional unrefined ingredients. It is mostly plant-based, but good quality products of animal origin have a place in it as well The following foods are used in our classes: fruits and vegetables* organic whole grains organic poultry organic legumes organic eggs organic soy foods organic sea vegetables organic natural sweeteners nuts and seeds* seafood *organic when possible We also offer delicious, vegetarian Friday Night Dinners prepared by our student chefs and a bookstore with many hard-to-find, excellent books on food and health.