About Us

Cooking with Class is a family owned business, owned and operated by Executive Chef Andie Hubka and "Executive of Everything Else", her mother, Jane Angwin. While Jane and Andie are originally from the Los Angeles area, they have been life-long part-time desert residents. Jane's parents have lived in Rancho Mirage since the early 70's, and it was only a matter of time before Jane and Andie moved to the desert on a permanent basis! Andie made the move first, opening a catering business with her husband, Mike. Jane and her husband weren't far behind. The rest, as they say, is history!

Andie is a classically trained professional chef receiving her formal culinary training and a Bachelors Degree in Culinary Arts and Restaurant Management & Business at The Art Institute of Los Angeles, with a portion of her studies taking place in Denver. She has worked at the college level as a cooking instructor, a restaurant manager and as a corporate trainer for the nation's largest and most successful restaurant chain. Andie and her husband owned and operated Andiecooks Fine Catering here in the desert for three years before opening the school. She is certified in Safety, Sanitation, Nutrition, and is an avid recipe developer. Andie is also a wine enthusiast who is very passionate about the pairing of food & wine as well as the science and history involved with both. These days her time is spent working on recipe development for her forthcoming cookbook, as well as taking care of her brand new baby Lily Paige!

Jane's background includes management positions with TWA, United Airlines, and ABC Television. Additionally, during the last 18 years she has sold Real Estate in both Los Angeles and in the Coachella Valley, and when she's not behind the counter at Cooking with Class, she is a Realtor for Windermere Real Estate. She has traveled extensively all over the world and great food is her passion. She resides in La Quinta with her husband, Ray, who is the Chief Pilot for Paramount Pictures.

Our Sous Chef is Matt Sidhu - a native of the Coachella Valley. We often joke that he is related to half of the people here! Matt attended the Art Institute of California, earning his Degree in Culinary Arts while working on his internship hours here at Cooking with Class. After graduating, we hired Matt as our Assistant Sous Chef, and he has since worked his way up to the position of "right hand man" to our Executive Chef. Matt is also an accomplished athlete and a certified Lifeguard. He lives with his family here in La Quinta.

Dubbed as the "Rachel Ray" of wine tasting, Katie Finn has made her Irish family very proud. Katie's passion for Wine began with Fleming's Steakhouse followed by a summer spent abroad in Italy & France. Her adventures took her to Roy's Newport Beach as well as Roy's Kahana Bar & Grill in Maui, where Katie worked as a Wine Educator & Sommelier. In 2006, Katie returned to the Desert and she's here to stay! She currently holds a certification for levels one and two with the Court of Master Sommeliers and is a Certified Specialist of Wine. She is a member of the Society of Wine Educators and is currently studying with the International Sommelier Guild. When not hitting the books, you can find Katie hosting a number of local events through her business, Great Legs Wine Consulting or meeting with buyers at local restaurants and retail shops reviewing the extensive wines she represents through Epic Wines. Her goal is to permanently eliminate the snobbery and intimidation that is so common among her profession. She specializes in making wine fun, approachable, and interesting.

Chef Tony Thomas has over 23 years experience in the foodservice industry with positions of responsibility in sales, management, research and development, and as a corporate chef. Tony is a graduate of both the University of Tennessee and the Art Institute of Atlanta, where he graduated first in his class in Culinary Arts. While pursuing his Culinary degree, Tony interned at the James Beard Award winning restaurant Bacchanalia and won awards for his work in American Culinary Federation competitions representing the city of Atlanta. Tony moved to Palm Springs in 2003, and has been working as a successful Personal Chef as well as teaching cooking classes all over the Valley.

Dave Schy, long time Chef/Owner of the popular Hubbard Street Grill in Chicago is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America. Over the years he has overseen restaurant kitchens in Chicago, L.A., Vail, Cancun and Santa Barbara. A few years ago Chef Dave decided it was time to loose some weight and lower his cholesterol. Using everything he had learned from a lifetime of cooking he created his own whole-grain, whole food heart-healthy diet. You can visit his website www.newtaste.com and see dozens of his personal creations. Not to be confused with diet food, these are well thought out, delicious recipes that happen to be healthy. Dave heads up our popular "Fresh from the Farmers Market" series, sharing his secrets for creating and maintaining a healthy balance in your life through great nutrition and delicous fresh foods.

Chef Janet Ebright is a graduate of the La Maison Grenouille Culinary School. Having spent many years working aboard private yachts, in hotels and restaurants and as a caterer, Janet began a career as a Country Club chef at the Executive level, eventually landing in the Desert at Indian Ridge Country Club. During this time she also developed a love of teaching, serving as a culinary instructor at the community college level. Janet holds the highest level of certification awarded by the American Culinary Federation, and currently has the honor of being the private chef for former First Lady Betty Ford here at her home in Rancho Mirage. Janet teaches our amazing Julia Child inspired classes as well as a variety of other great cuisine driven classes. Visit Janet's website www.janetebright.com.

Jeannette Hardin has been creating fun, beautiful cakes for nearly 10 years. She worked her way through pastry school at the famous Torrance Bakery where she decorated cakes as well as managed the store . When she relocated to the desert she honed her incredible decorating skills, creating wedding cakes and custom shaped cakes as well as consulting with brides and designing cakes for customers seeking something special. Jeannette currently teaches our 10 week Professional Baking and Pastry program.

Italian native Julie Stahl was born into cooking. Family gatherings were spent around the table, engaging in conversations while savoring her Mamma's fabulous food. After completing Graphic Arts school in Rome, Julie moved to California to seek adventure and has never looked back. Wanting to get back to her culinary roots, Julie attended Ma Maison Cooking School in Newport Beach, and has since been involved in the food industry, including opening an artisan bread bakery in Palos Verdes, where she lived for 24 years with her husband, Douglas, and children Ryan, Veronica and Gavin. Enjoying her new desert lifestyle, Julie is passionate about good food and travel, and hopes to share her love of all things Italiano with you when you join her around the Cooking With Class "Family Table".

Joy Richardson, RD, CDE and Libby Quigley, RD are known here at CWC as "The Desert Dieticians"! Our resident experts on all things health related, these native SoCal ladies share their extensive knowledge with our customers through private consultation and their popular lecture series. A graduate of Cal Poly and Emory University, Joy is a Diabetes Educator and Dietician at Desert Regional Medical Center having worked with every major medical facility in the valley. A cookbook author and avid gardener and composter, Joy is passionate about educating people about diabetes as well as demystifying what we should be eating, and why. Libby's RD career began after graduating from San Diego State University and performing graduate work at Tufts University. The chief dietician at Eisenhower for 22 years, Libby now consults privately through her company EQ Consulting, serves on the Board of Directors with the Joslyn Center, and teaches Nutrition at COD. Both ladies live locally, volunteer with the American Heart Association, and are happy to discuss any and all health related questions with you! Contact them at info@cookingwithclasslaquinta.com.

We are open for retail sales and walk in business Monday through Saturday - 10:30am to 5:30pm, unless a day class is in progress (typically Mondays and Tuesdays). Most evenings' we are closed for classes. Saturdays are available exclusively for Private Events. We are occasionally open on Sundays - please call first 760-777-1161.

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Our address is:
47875 Caleo Bay Drive #A107
La Quinta, CA 92253

We are located at the corner of Avenue 48 & Washington St., just behind Walgreens. From Highway 111 take Washington South to Avenue 48 and turn left. Make an immediate left onto Caleo Bay Drive. We are the first building on the left.