Bonjour and welcome to my website!

My name is Sue Slater, and if it’s about French cooking or French wines, I’m there. Though not to the exclusion of all else, mind you.

I was born and raised in suburban southern California, and soon after high school I came north to Santa Cruz, where I got my first cooking job. I attended Cabrillo College, where I studied the French language and cooking. Then I lived my dream: I flew to Paris to study at Le Cordon Bleu, where I was one of the few women (that Julia Child movie notwithstanding) in the Course.

Once back in Santa Cruz, I worked at a few restaurants before starting my own catering business, Sous City. I started teaching at Monterey Peninsula College, then, my own degree in hand, I began a 20+ year teaching career at Cabrillo College—back where I first became enamored of French culture and cuisine.

I teach sections of a professional catering class and wine classes through Cabrillo’s Culinary Arts & Hospitality Management Department. Unfortunately, the very popular and professional wine classes have been cancelled as of Fall 2011 due to budget cuts. I'm looking forward to teaching wine in other settings. Stay tuned for further developments.

In my website I will try to share with you my enthusiasm for excellence in food and wine. I'll share my dining experiences, and I will try to convey to you the impossible: what makes Paris the special place that it is to me.

One thing, though: If you think I'll be pulling any punches or sugar coating my opinions, you might as well keep Googling.

January 2013 Culinary Tour of Vietnam