Hi, I’m Anna,
I’m a professional chef trained at Le Cordon Bleu in London. I've been teaching aspiring cooks for 10 years – first in London, then in Frankfurt, and now around the world through my online courses. All my recipes are tried and tested by three picky eaters (my children) and my husband, who loves fine dining. My accessible, unique instructional approach incorporates simple skills, innovative techniques and classic recipes.
In my twenties, I moved to Berlin. During those first few months of "freedom", my belt expanded to make room for all the new delicacies I was hungrily trying. The abundance of ingredients, flavours and smells was overwhelming. With nobody around to teach me how to cook, I took an academic approach – cookery books. My first attempt to cook a full meal for a friend was based on a recipe from Rick Stein’s Seafood.
It must have gone well. That friend is now my husband, and he is still happy to be a guinea pig for my adventures in the kitchen.
When I moved back to Germany a couple of years later, Frankfurt for Cooks was born as an offline school. We explored the city's markets and cooked together in person. I introduced online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I was born in St. Petersburg. During my childhood, food was largely limited to root vegetables and dairy products, including culinary delights like processed cheese and condensed milk. My mother worked hard to provide us with creative yet nutritious meals. Developing a passion for cooking in such circumstances was unlikely as there wasn't much to cook with.
Food was a necessity, not a pleasure. No surprise, then, that my signature dish as a student was egg fried rice.
Gradually, I progressed from assiduously following recipes to creating new dishes, while amassing a large library of cookbooks. I decided that it was time to boost my rather trial-and-error-based culinary skills with a proper foundation. I trained at the Le Cordon Bleu in London, and started my first cookery school.
I offer live cooking classes, private classes and market tours in Frankfurt, as well as online cooking classes available worldwide.