Longtime restaurant owner, now educator, helps bring culinary arts back to Palmer and Wasilla high schools

Avery Johnson stood at a workspace in Palmer High School’s culinary arts classroom Friday morning with a handful of her classmates. On the metal tabletop were various oils, vinegars and herbs. Fresh salads and dressings were on the menu that day. But there were no salads straight out of the bag or dressings directly from the bottle. The assignment was to slice all the fresh vegetables and make the dressing from scratch.

Johnson, a junior, is a student in Culinary 1, part of a culinary arts program that was brought back to Palmer High prior to the 2026-27 school year.

“I love cooking and baking,” Johnson said. “I’m super excited we can do this in a classroom.”

As she stirred her ingredients in a bowl, Johnson said she’s working on a balsamic vinegar dressing.

“I’m trying to replicate my mom’s recipe,” Johnson said.

Johnson started with oil, balsamic vinegar and, “just a couple of spices that I pulled out,” she said.

“I have no idea how she does it,” Johnson said of her mom’s recipe. “I’m just guessing.”

Toward the end, she added a bit of honey.

“Much better,” she said.

Palmer senior Schyler Wood had some doubts about his recipe.

“I thought it was not turning out well, but everyone else said it’ll be good,” Wood said.

Wood started with red wine vinegar, mayonnaise and mustard powder.

“And a few tablespoons of honey and then whatever spices came in front of me. Kind of whatever and hope it tastes good,” Wood said.

Wood has a fair amount of experience in food service already. He’s helped run the paella booth at the Alaska State Fair for the last four years, cooking and serving the Spanish rice dish. He has also worked at a pizza restaurant. He’s not sure if food service will be his full-time gig in the future. But it’s an option.

“It’s a good skill to have,” Wood said.

Reese Broughan also has state fair food service experience at the fritter booth, serving corn fritters and corn dogs for each of the past two state fair seasons. Friday morning, Broughan was one of the students in charge of the cutting boards, showing her knife skills as she worked through a batch of fresh red bell peppers.

“I think this is a really cool class for us. A lot of people are going into the culinary industry and I think this is a great way to pursue that,” Broughan said. “I’d like to do it as a side job.”

It was the second day the class focused on vinaigrettes. The first day, students followed a set recipe. Friday, students had the chance to get creative.

“When there’s a recipe you know it’s going to come out the same and be great. But it’s also fun to do both,” Wood said.

Kristin Cook is the new culinary arts teacher and has helped bring the program back. Students in her classes are starting with the basics. When it comes to learning recipes and designing recipes, salad dressings are a good foundation to build on, she said.

“This is one of the first (classes) I let them do that,” Cook said of students creating their own recipes. “I think they did great. This class is really good as far as they just know what they are doing. They’ve learned each step of the way.”

With an assignment like a dressed salad, students have a chance to work on their knife skills and the basic formulas behind a recipe. Students learned the 3-to-1 ratio, three parts oil to one part acid, the base for any salad dressing, and the math and measurement behind it.

After decades in the food industry herself, Cook is enjoying a new adventure in education. Most recently, Cook and her husband were the owners of the Grape Tap, a popular Wasilla spot known for its elevated dishes and vast wine selection. She helped start the restaurant in 2009, and purchased it along with her husband in 2015. The Cooks opted to close the restaurant in December of 2025.

“I love the restaurant industry. I love the hospitality industry. My passion is food and wine and being able to share it with people was very exciting for me,” Cook said.

Now Cook has the chance to share her passion for food with her students.

“It’s kind of funny. When I was in my undergraduate program at Baylor (University) my degree was in social work. My mom kept saying you should minor in education. You’re going to need something else. I was like, nope. And here I am and I’m enjoying it,” she said.

Tyler Gilligan, the director of career and technical education in the Mat-Su Borough School District, said he is excited about this new era of culinary arts in the district with Cook.

“We were fortunate enough to get somebody from industry who is a natural,” Gilligan said. “Her mastery of her content from industry is going to provide our students with something that is top notch.”

Cook said she’s glad to promote culinary arts in the district and possibly help the next generation of chefs find their way into the industry.

“I think it's amazing, because staffing has been an issue throughout the industry ever since COVID. Bringing up a whole new generation of culinarians and people who want to be in the industry and who already come in with a working knowledge of the industry is huge. As a former employer, I would have loved to hire kids who had had this program or had been through these classes,” Cook said.

There are currently two options for Cook’s culinary courses, a standard class and hybrid program. Culinary 1 is offered at Palmer High during first, second and third periods. The hybrid program is a two-block class, and Cook teaches those courses at both Palmer and Wasilla high schools two days each week. There are also two days of online learning for hybrid students. The hybrid culinary classes are available to any sophomores, juniors or seniors enrolled in the district, not just Palmer or Wasilla students. With longer classes, hybrid students will be going at a faster rate and can complete Culinary 1 and Culinary 2 during the first semester.

Before the students started chopping vegetables and mixing ingredients, Cook said they started with industry standards.

“We worked a lot on safety and sanitation. I have to make sure that regardless of their knowledge in the kitchen that they are going to be safe in our kitchen,” Cook said.

There are different types of students who enroll in culinary. There are those interested in pursuing food service or hospitality as a career, and those who want to learn a few tricks in the kitchen. Cook is working to cater to both.

“There's a lot of opportunity for growth with students who are already in the industry. Also, if people want to go into the industry, just with my background, I'm able to teach a lot of this that is the industry standard. This is what I would have expected at my restaurant. And so I'm able to share that with them. For students who are just there because they wanted to learn how to cook, or they thought they were just gonna eat every day, they're still learning the skills,” Cook said. “I think they're really enjoying it. It's a lifelong skill. To be able to cook and think about what you're eating and go out to eat and actually read a menu appropriately and go to the grocery store and read labels and know what you're getting. Those are all just life skills.”

Zackary Kohler is a Wasilla High senior and a student in Cook’s hybrid culinary class at WHS. He’s a member of Wasilla’s JROTC program and is pursuing a career in the military. Food service is not part of his career path, but he’s enjoying finding his way around the kitchen.

“I’ve always wanted to become a better cook,” Kohler said.

Kohler said his favorite food is a, “nice steak.” He said he’d love to make beef Wellington and learn the craft of sushi.

Back at Palmer High, tacos have been an early hit.

“We made some chicken street tacos which actually came out pretty good,” Wood said. “We made a little sauce for them. That was fun.”

And Wood has his goals too.

“I want to make some burgers,” Wood said. “That’s what I really want to do. Make a burger.”

Jeremiah Bartz is the community relations coordinator for the Mat-Su Borough School District.
Video by Brian Mead