User:Usingspoons31/Mary Risley

Mary Risley
Mary Risley is a cookery teacher and writer based in San Francisco, California. She founded the Tante Marie Cooking School in San Francisco, and the non-profit Food Runners.

In 1997, she was awarded Bon Appetit Cooking Teacher of the Year, and in 1999, she received the James Beard Award for Humanitarian of the Year, for her work with Food Runners.

She learnt cookery in France from teachers including Madeleine Kamman.

Mary founded Tante Marie's Cooking School in North Beach, San Francisco in 1979.

In 2003, she authored the Tante Marie Cooking School cookbook to compile recipes used to teach in the cooking school. Guest teachers at the school have included

Food Runners was founded in 1997 to collect food that would otherwise be wasted from San Francisco city restaurants and stores and deliver them to community organisations.

She received a Jefferson Award in 2008 to recognise her work with Food Runners.

Mary was born in Waterbury, Connecticut and spent her childhood in Westchester County, N.Y. and Toronto.