About The Hot Stove Society

Hot Stove Society, a year-round cooking school operated by Tom Douglas Restaurants.

Our goal is to offer a curriculum that ranges widely from light-hearted and sociable to skill-building and challenging. Our classes are about many things from how to cut up a chicken, to how to build a delicious cocktail, to finding out who’s the hottest chef in Portland. Whether you’re seeking something fun and boozy after work or you’re aspiring to “cook like a pro,” you’ll find your dream class here.

See the full calendar of events

Tom Douglas Restaurants is a Seattle group of diverse and successful restaurants and businesses employing over 700 people. From a bustling beer hall to an intimate fine dining experience to an urban grocery, to a grand scale catering operation, this company has done it all under the guiding light of our mission statement, “Deliciousness served with Graciousness.”

ABOUT TOM DOUGLAS RESTAURANTS

As a chef and restaurateur, Tom Douglas is self-taught, not classically trained. Tom has always considered his “taste memory,” combined with years of tirelessly dining out in great restaurants, as his education. On the other hand, since his high school days as the only boy in Home Ec (on the plus side, he got to meet girls; on the minus side, his football team mates called him “Cream Puff”), Tom’s passion has been learning and teaching all things culinary. Tom and his staff ran a week-long intensive “Tom Douglas Culinary Summer Camp” for seven years and have offered some cooking classes at the Tom Douglas Restaurants for the last twenty years. These experiences affirm our belief that people want to cook and be connected to the food they eat. Hot Stove Society is our personal quest to educate everyone who has the desire to become a better cook – whether they want to learn how to brew a perfect cup of coffee or butcher a whole pig.

HOT STOVE SOCIETY IS LOCATED IN A BRIGHT INDUSTRIAL SPACE INSIDE THE STYLISH HOTEL ANDRA.

Built with the help of our friend, the hotel’s owner, Craig Schafer. The presentation area boasts a wide curved prep area where guests can gather for lectures and get up close to the instructor. The other half of the room is filled with Boos work tables, a large bank of KitchenAid stoves, and racks of equipment. Capacity is 32 for a hands-on cooking class and over 60 for lectures. The classroom is also available for private events and company team building. At the entrance to Hot Stove, a Tom Douglas Restaurant called the Andra Bar, a cool Swedish bar open to the public, is the place for a drink and a snack. If you take a class at the Hot Stove Society, the hotel has generously offered a 20% discount on their best rate for those taking a class. Simply click here to book your room for the evening of your class.

Hot Stove Society Bar

Available for reserving: Floating on the mezzanine of Hotel Andra’s lobby our Hot Stove Society Bar is our cooking school’s adjacent bar and living room perfect for socializing. Set with a mix of cocktail tables, lounges, and a communal meeting table the living room is set for a cocktail and appetizer style of event complete with booze, snacks, appetizers and our bartenders.

AVAILABLE FOR YOUR PARTY!

Reserve our kitchen for groups, team building, cook-alongs, cocktails and dinner parties! (Contact us here: hotstove@tomdouglas.com)

Seattle Kitchen Radio Show Live

with Tom and Thierry: Experience the show live! Here’s an opportunity to be a member of a live audience while the show is being recorded here at our cooking school!

Tom Douglas has been a high profile Seattle restaurateur for over thirty years, and Tom and his crew have forged strong relationships as longtime boosters of Washington wineries, craft breweries, local farmers, cheese makers, food artisans, and others in the local food community. For class instructors, Hot Stove Society will draw on the entire chef staff of Tom Douglas Restaurants including Executive Chef Eric Tanaka. Keep an eye out for Tom himself as instructor of a Hot Stove class about once a month. In addition we will bring into play our many industry friends locally and regionally as well as nationally and internationally. As a Hot Stove Society class member, you get an insider’s look at the restaurant community. Sign up for a hands-on class so you can touch, smell, taste, and experience for yourself. We can’t wait to cook with you!

The Chef's of Hot Stove Society

Lexi Ochoa

Director

Since childhood, cooking has served as a creative outlet and as a way to connect with plants, gardening, and diverse cultural cuisines. Some of her favorite foods to cook with are seasonal vegetables, herbs, and old world grains. She’s enthusiastic about her ongoing pursuit of a worldly cooking education, which seeks to encompass traditional and modern techniques and the exploration of ingredients and their path through history.

Favorite thing to cook: Mexican Food!
Favorite class: Taco Tuesday
Favorite Late Night Snack: Grilled Cheese or Quesadillas
Spirit Animal: Otter

Bridget Charters

Chef Instructor

Bridget Charters, a well-respected Chef Instructor with 17 years of experience at the Art Institute. Bridget is from the NW and attended Gonzaga University, then travelled to San Francisco for Culinary School and 10 years there; her passion for Italian food led her to extensive work abroad. She is also a culinary producer for various wine and food festivals around the U.S. and an Emmy award winning cooking show.

Janet Bell

Lead

After being weaned in the kitchen by a grandmother who baked and a mother who loved to cook and entertain, Janet attended Washington State University before starting a career in Human Resources.

Janet and her husband harnessed their entrepreneurial spirit to start their own small business in 2006. After getting the business up and running, and having more time flexibility, Janet began participating in Food and Wine festivals around the country. This led to her into our kitchen!

Favorite thing to cook: Soups
Favorite class: Breads
Favorite Late Night Snack: Popcorn
Spirit Animal: Cougar!