Episode 106: Kirsten and Mandy Dixon

This week on _ Chef’s Story _, host Dorothy Cann Hamilton sits down with Chefs Kirsten Dixon and Mandy Dixon of the Tutka Bay Lodge and Winterlake Lodge located in Alaska.

Kirsten has been cooking in the backcountry of Alaska for more than twenty years. She is a passionate culinary student, educator, and an avid gardener. Kirsten spends most of her time at Winterlake Lodge, where she frequently teaches cooking classes in the kitchen or gives tours of the herb garden. Kirsten attended culinary school at the Cordon Bleu in Paris, and she holds a master’s degree in gastronomy (food history) from Adelaide University in Australia. She has published several cookbooks, including The Winterlake Lodge Cookbook, and is currently working on a new book project. Kirsten completed an MFA program in creative writing at Goddard College, Vermont. Kirsten has written for and has been featured in many national and international publications. Kirsten won an award for “Best Female Chef USA” for The Winterlake Lodge Cookbook at the Gourmand International Cookbook Awards in 2004.Chef Mandy Dixon frequently instructs at the Cooking School at Tutka Bay. She attended Le Cordon Bleu cooking school and continued her education at the Culinary Institute of America in St. Helena, California. She worked for the Thomas Keller Restaurant Group before returning to her family business in Alaska.

Mandy is currently the chef at Winterlake Lodge where she prepares meals and desserts for guests. She oversees and manages the La Baleine Café in Homer. She frequently travels in pursuit of culinary education and teaches often. Mandy was recently a featured chef at the James Beard House in New York. Kirsten and Mandy oversee our team of eight seasonal chefs that join us at Winterlake Lodge, Tutka Bay Lodge, the Cooking School at Tutka Bay, and the La Baleiene Cafe.