I was born in the UK and trained to be a chef at the very prestigious Westminster Hotel School in London. I have lived and worked in New York City, the Hamptons and Washington D.C and also in France. I have been a celebrity chef in Australia for the last 20 years. In that time I have won a number of awards namely the Winston Churchill Fellowhsip for research in culinary arts and an Outstanding Educator Award for my culinary training and research. I have also written two cookbooks 'Fun, Fast and Fabulous Food' and 'Leftovers Magic', both of which were very successful. You can buy both books from my website alisontaafe.com (The link to the site is on the right). I have been a regular on televison and radio in Australia for many years and I also do lots of live cooking shows around the country. In my spare time I run my own cooking school called the 'Alison Taafe School of Culinary Excellence' located at Learn Cook Dine in Brisbane, Australia. If you go to the page 'How to Cook' you can watch me demystify food and show you simple ways of creating wonderful dishes. I will also show you simple techniques like how to 'chop like a champion' and how to 'slice like a sorcerer'. After the success of my first tour to Thailand in July 2011, I am running two amazing 'Food for the Senses Tours' to Thailand and Italy in 2012. Visit www.learncookdine.com for enquiries and bookings (link available on this page on the right). Also on the learncookdine.com site you can see details of my very successful 'Amateur Chef Cooking School'. If you live in Brisbane, why not sign up and come and train with me in person? If you don't live in Brisbane or Australia for that matter, don't panic, I will show you how to cook on this website on the 'How to Cook' page. Happy Cooking Folks! And Happy Shopping too.....