Archives: Events

Jean offers hands-on culinary experiences, 3.5 hours each, during which you will enjoy preparing your own meal along with fellow cooks. Classes take place at La Cocina Que Canta, our culinary center on Tuesday and Wednesday, at 4pm. In addition, Jean will collaborate with La Cocina Que Canta’s Executive Chef Reyna Venegas and her team to create a special feast (with wine pairing!) on Thursday at 4:45pm.

Tuesday, Jean Courtney, Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Wednesday, Edgar Castrejon, Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

A Brain-Boosting Mexican Thanksgiving Feast with Odiseo Castrejon and Jean Courtney
Thursday Farm-to-Table Dining Experience 4:45 PM
Celebrate the abundance of our organic farm and the connection to community with a Farm-to-Table dining experience – a perfect blend of health, tradition, flavor, and fun! Cost is $150 per person, tax and wine pairing included. The maximum number of guests is 30. Sign Up at the Appointments Desk or through the link above.

Odiseo Castrejon is a proud first generation Mexican American, is a plant-based chef, art director, food content creator, and recently published cookbook author. Edgar has a B.S. in Horticulture and Plant Science. Growing up in Oakland, working on farms, Edgar has a deep appreciation for the land and the community of people working them. You can find Edgar sharing his work supporting these farms, hosting dinner events, and talking about nutrition. He tells stories and features a healthy combination of recipes and compelling food photography.

Jean Courtney  is a researcher, writer, entrepreneur, and perpetual learner on a mission to make everyday wellness easy and efficient. A decade ago, after retiring as a legal investigator, Jean shifted her focus to learning everything possible to try and avoid the dementia that found her mom.  She has put together easy, efficient and delicious ways to cook using neuroprotective ingredients, with an emphasis on minimizing inflammation and maximizing brain function. She has done extensive research and will help you understand the why behind making healthy choices for your brain and body. Jean recently completed a Soil to Table certification program living at Tres Estrellas organic farm and learning and practicing regenerative farming and food preservation techniques.  She is a firm believer that your DNA is not always your destiny – your dinner plate can be your destiny.

Debbie offers hands-on culinary experiences, 3.5 hours each, during which you will enjoy preparing your own meal along with fellow cooks. Classes take place at La Cocina Que Canta, our culinary center on Tuesday and Wednesday, at 4pm. In addition, Chef Debbie will collaborate with La Cocina Que Canta’s Executive Chef Reyna Venegas and her team to create a special feast (with wine pairing!) on Thursday at 4:45pm.

Tuesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM 
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Wednesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Thursday Farm-to-Table Dining Experience 4:45 PM
Celebrate the abundance of our organic farm and the connection to community with a Farm-to-Table dining experience – a perfect blend of health, tradition, flavor, and fun! Cost is $150 per person, tax and wine pairing included. The maximum number of guests is 30. Sign Up at the Appointments Desk or through the link above.

Chef Debbie Kornberg is a master teacher with more than 25 years of teaching experience. Since 2017, Debbie has been a monthly contributor on Fox 5 San Diego Morning News and has collaborated with Fortune 500 Companies, and non-profit organizations alike across the United States. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook, your time at Rancho La Puerta with Debbie will help you spice things up in the kitchen with flavors from around the world, prepare delicious food, and create community together. Explore the amazing art of cooking with spices and how they can be a serious game-changer for enhancing the flavor of your food. Ready to spice up your life? Let’s get cooking!

Debbie offers hands-on culinary experiences, 3.5 hours each, during which you will enjoy preparing your own meal along with fellow cooks. Classes take place at La Cocina Que Canta, our culinary center on Tuesday and Wednesday, at 4pm. In addition, Chef Debbie will collaborate with La Cocina Que Canta’s Executive Chef Reyna Venegas and her team to create a special feast (with wine pairing!) on Thursday at 4:45pm.

Tuesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM 
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Wednesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Thursday Farm-to-Table Dining Experience 4:45 PM
Celebrate the abundance of our organic farm and the connection to community with a Farm-to-Table dining experience – a perfect blend of health, tradition, flavor, and fun! Cost is $150 per person, tax and wine pairing included. The maximum number of guests is 30. Sign Up at the Appointments Desk or through the link above.

Chef Debbie Kornberg is a master teacher with more than 25 years of teaching experience. Since 2017, Debbie has been a monthly contributor on Fox 5 San Diego Morning News and has collaborated with Fortune 500 Companies, and non-profit organizations alike across the United States. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook, your time at Rancho La Puerta with Debbie will help you spice things up in the kitchen with flavors from around the world, prepare delicious food, and create community together. Explore the amazing art of cooking with spices and how they can be a serious game-changer for enhancing the flavor of your food. Ready to spice up your life? Let’s get cooking!

AJ offers hands-on culinary experiences, 3.5 hours each, during which you will enjoy preparing your own meal along with fellow cooks. Classes take place at La Cocina Que Canta, our culinary center on Tuesday and Wednesday, at 4pm. In addition, Chef AJ will collaborate with La Cocina Que Canta’s Executive Chef Reyna Venegas and her team to create a special feast (with wine pairing!) on Thursday at 4:45pm.

Tuesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM 
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Wednesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Thursday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Chef AJ has been devoted to a plant-based diet for almost 40 years. She is the host of the television series Healthy Living with CHEF AJ which airs on Foody TV. With her comedy background, she has made appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show with David Letterman and more. A chef, culinary instructor and professional speaker, she is author of the popular book Unprocessed: How to Achieve Vibrant Health and Your Ideal Weight, which chronicles her journey from a junk-food vegan faced with a diagnosis of pre-cancerous polyps, to learning how to create foods that nourish and heal the body Based in Los Angeles, Chef AJ teaches a monthly sold-out seminar featuring cooking instruction, nutritional science and song parodies, all delivered with comedic panache. Never content to leave her audience with mere “just do it” advice, she teaches how to create meals to transform their health, how to deal with cravings and food addiction and addresses the emotional side of eating. She is the creator of the Ultimate Weight Loss Program, which has helped hundreds of people achieve the health and the body that they deserve. Chef AJ was the Executive Pastry Chef at Sante Restaurant in Los Angeles where she was famous for her sugar, oil, salt and gluten free desserts which use the fruit, the whole fruit and nothing but the whole fruit. Chef AJ is also creator of Healthy Taste of LA and the YouTube cooking show The Chef and the Dietitian, and is proud to say that her IQ is higher than her cholesterol. Chef AJ holds a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from eCornell University and is a member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

Catherine offers hands-on culinary experiences, 3.5 hours each, during which you will enjoy preparing your own meal along with fellow cooks. Classes take place at La Cocina Que Canta, our culinary center on Tuesday and Wednesday, at 4pm. In addition, Chef Catherine will collaborate with La Cocina Que Canta’s Executive Chef Reyna Venegas and her team to create a special feast (with wine pairing!) on Thursday at 4:45pm.

Tuesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM Sign Up
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Wednesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM Sign Up
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Thursday Cooking with Care Dinner  4:45 PM Sign Up
Celebrate the abundance of our organic farm and the connection to community with a Farm-to-Table dining experience – a perfect blend of health, tradition, flavor, and fun! Cost is $150 per person, tax and wine pairing included. The maximum number of guests is 30. Sign Up at the Appointments Desk or through the link above.

Catherine McConkie, NC is executive chef for Washington DC’s Center for Mind Body Medicine’s Food as Medicine professional nutrition training program and was chef faculty for CMBM’s comprehensive training program in partnership with Eskenazi Health in Indianapolis.

She is founder of The Caregivers Table; an educational cooking program designed to nourish the well being of clinical caregivers, and creator of Come to Your Senses; a sensory awareness-based food and movement series. Catherine served as core faculty for AIHM’s Integrative Medicine Fellowship program; is lead chef instructor at San Francisco General Hospital’s Wellness Center; and has worked over 15 years in the classroom teaching culinary and nutrition curriculums. She has spoken at several national conferences, folding the course content into cooking demos and hotel kitchen menus so participants can taste and experience healthy and delicious food firsthand.

In addition to recipe development and testing for 2 cookbook authors, Catherine wrote The Slow Cooker and the Instant Pot: Recipes, Tips, and Tricks to Get More Time with Less Pressure, and has two more books simmering; The Caregivers Table, and Silk Purse From a Sow’s Ear: How Still Edible Food Becomes Delicious Nutrition.

Catherine graduated from the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts in 2001 and Bauman College’s Nutrition Consultant Training program in 1999.

Nina offers hands-on culinary experiences, 3.5 hours each, during which you will enjoy preparing your own meal along with fellow cooks. Classes take place at La Cocina Que Canta, our culinary center on Tuesday and Wednesday, at 4pm. In addition, Chef Nina will collaborate with La Cocina Que Canta’s Executive Chef Reyna Venegas and her team to create a special feast (with wine pairing!) on Thursday at 4:45pm.

Tuesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Wednesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Thursday Borderless Farm-to-Table Feast 4:45 PM
Join us in creating cherished memories with our loved ones while relishing the authentic flavors of Mexican cuisine. This culinary event is a perfect blend of health, tradition, flavor, and fun! Cost is $150 per person, tax and wine pairing included. The maximum number of guests is 30. Sign Up at the Appointments Desk or through the link above.

Chef Janina Garay acquired her passion for cooking at a very young age learning from her grandmother over long leisurely preparations of family meals. Chef Janina received her degree in Culinary Arts, Administration and Service from Tijuana’s Culinary Art School in 2011. Shortly thereafter, she headed to Cantabria, Spain, joining 2 Michelin Star Cenador de Amos under Chef Jesus Sanchez, where she honed her skills. Upon her return, Chef Janina joined 1 Michelin Star Topolobampo with chef Rick Bayless, here she more fully developed her passion for Mexican gourmet pastry-making, which pulled her back to her origins at the US-Mexico border. Chef Janina was profoundly shaped and inspired during her time as Pastry Chef of Addison Del Mar, where, under Chef William Bradley, the restaurant was recognized as 5 Star Forbes Travel Guide, AAA 5 Diamond Restaurant, and, most recently, as Southern California’s only 3 Michelin star restaurant.

Chef Janina came home to Tijuana to experiment with the vast array of binational flavors, the culture and culinary shock which transpires in Tijuana with the arrival and addition of new cultures – Korean, Haitian, Ethiopian and more! Chef Nina is currently Culinary Director of the Be Saha Restaurant Group in Southern California and Baja California Norte, heading over 8 projects including The Guild Hotel and Wormwood in San Diego, Tahona in Valle de Guadalupe and San Diego and is dedicated to expanding the multicultural Calibaja culinary art scene.

Culinary Director, Be Saha Restaurant GroupSan Diego and Baja

Nina offers hands-on culinary experiences, 3.5 hours each, during which you will enjoy preparing your own meal along with fellow cooks. Classes take place at La Cocina Que Canta, our culinary center on Tuesday and Wednesday, at 4pm. In addition, Chef Nina will collaborate with La Cocina Que Canta’s Executive Chef Reyna Venegas and her team to create a special feast (with wine pairing!) on Thursday at 4:45pm.

Tuesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM Sign Up
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Wednesday Hands-On Cooking Class 4:00 PM Sign Up
Each class $145 (tax included). Class subject to change, check your weekly planner and schedule for updates. The maximum number of guests per class is 14.

Thursday Borderless Farm-to-Table Feast 4:45 PM Sign Up
Join us in creating cherished memories with our loved ones while relishing the authentic flavors of Mexican cuisine. This culinary event is a perfect blend of health, tradition, flavor, and fun! Cost is $150 per person, tax and wine pairing included. The maximum number of guests is 30. Sign Up at the Appointments Desk or through the link above.

Chef Janina Garay acquired her passion for cooking at a very young age learning from her grandmother over long leisurely preparations of family meals. Chef Janina received her degree in Culinary Arts, Administration and Service from Tijuana’s Culinary Art School in 2011. Shortly thereafter, she headed to Cantabria, Spain, joining 2 Michelin Star Cenador de Amos under Chef Jesus Sanchez, where she honed her skills. Upon her return, Chef Janina joined 1 Michelin Star Topolobampo with chef Rick Bayless, here she more fully developed her passion for Mexican gourmet pastry-making, which pulled her back to her origins at the US-Mexico border. Chef Janina was profoundly shaped and inspired during her time as Pastry Chef of Addison Del Mar, where, under Chef William Bradley, the restaurant was recognized as 5 Star Forbes Travel Guide, AAA 5 Diamond Restaurant, and, most recently, as Southern California’s only 3 Michelin star restaurant.

Chef Janina came home to Tijuana to experiment with the vast array of binational flavors, the culture and culinary shock which transpires in Tijuana with the arrival and addition of new cultures – Korean, Haitian, Ethiopian and more! Chef Nina is currently Culinary Director of the Be Saha Restaurant Group in Southern California and Baja California Norte, heading over 8 projects including The Guild Hotel and Wormwood in San Diego, Tahona in Valle de Guadalupe and San Diego and is dedicated to expanding the multicultural Calibaja culinary art scene.

Culinary Director, Be Saha Restaurant GroupSan Diego and Baja

Hands-on Cooking Classes for Children (7 to 9) at La Cocina que Canta:
Tuesday 9 am – 12:30 pm Sign Up
Complimentary – 14 per class

Hands-on Cooking Classes for Tweens (10 to 12) at La Cocina que Canta:
Wednesday 9 am – 12:30 pm Sign Up
Complimentary – 14 per class

Chef Reyna Venegas prepares fresh and delicious food that energizes, inspires, and nourishes guests. She fuses the culinary and cultural heritages of her own Northern Baja roots with the nutritious “spa cuisine” pioneered 80 years ago by Rancho La Puerta co-founder Deborah Szekely. At La Cocina Que Canta, “The Kitchen That Sings,” Chef Reyna teaches healthy eating as a celebration of life in farm-to-table cooking classes.

As a lifelong learner, Chef Reyna graduated from the University of California, San Diego’s Integrative Nutrition program, which focuses on how food promotes wellness. She is also a graduate of the Culinary Art School in Tijuana, and holds a Pastry Degree from the Lycée Technique et Hôtelier de Monte-Carlo and Fondation Turquois.

Chef Marcelo Hisaki, born in Mexico City to Japanese parents, Chef Marcelo Hisaki grew up surrounded by a diversity of flavor, texture, color, and tradition that combined both Japanese and Mexican culinary heritage.

At an early age, his talent and discipline led him to earn a scholarship from Fondation Turquois Monaco to study French cuisine at the Lycée Hotelier de Monte Carlo and train in Michelin-starred restaurants Yoshi and Joël Robuchon, in Monte Carlo, Monaco.

In 2013, Chef Marcelo and his wife Chef Reyna Venegas opened Restaurante Amores in Tecate, Baja California. Their culinary concept is influenced by Mexican, Japanese and French cultures, using local produce with respect, love, and creativity. They have been selected by the Michelin Guide Mexico in 2024 and received the Exceptional Service Award.

Marcelo recently represented Mexico in the Bocuse d’Or Finale 2023, a prestigious culinary contest in Lyon, France, receiving the social commitment award as a recognition to his team’s involvement in support of migrants’ food insecurity in Baja California.

He currently represents Mexico in the Bocuse d’Or Americas 2024, where he will once again have the honor to share his culinary talent and earn his pass to the Bocuse d’Or Finale 2025.

@restauranteamores, @marcehisaki, @reynaa.venegas

Hands-on Cooking Classes for Teens (13 to 17) at La Cocina que Canta
Tuesday 4 to 7:30 pm Sign Up
Complimentary – 14 per class
Optional: Family can join for dinner: Fee for adults, no charge for children. 5:30 pm departure from Ranch. Space is limited to 6 people. Sign up with reservations.

Wednesday 4 to 7:30 pm Sign Up
Complimentary – 14 per class
Optional: Family can join for dinner: Fee for adults, no charge for children. 5:30 pm departure from Ranch. Space is limited to 6 people. Sign up with reservations.

Sabrina A. Falquier (Fall-Key-Ay), MD, CCMS, DipABLM loves delicious food. One of her areas of special focus and interest is teen culinary literacy, having co-created an 8-week program for teens for an entire school district in San Diego. This program showed positive changes in both food choices and cooking knowledge and the program outcomes were presented at three national conferences. Dr. Falquier is a board-certified Internal Medicine, Culinary Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine physician. She is bilingual (Spanish and English) and multicultural, born and raised in Mexico City to Swiss and American parents. Dr. Falquier worked as a primary care doctor for over 15 years and in 2020 founded Sensations Salud, which focuses on empowering through nutritional knowledge and culinary literacy by way of Culinary Medicine education and consulting. Dr. Falquier promotes Culinary Medicine throughout San Diego and internationally for incredibly varied audiences. She is the proud host of the Culinary Medicine Recipe podcast, which includes educational video episodes in both English and Spanish. She serves on the board of two non-profits and is a clinical professor at three universities. Her work can be seen through the powerful documentary: The Kitchenistas. Additionally, she has won numerous awards and has been interviewed regarding food and health by multiple media outlets. Follow along @SensationsSalud on social media.