Open arms greet me at the door from the corner house on a quiet leafy street in Silver Lake. Jenny welcomes me with a hug and a smile and her plum-tinted curls bounce around her cheeks. I follow her up the stairs to the lounge area where the dining room is on a split level. We sit at the huge wooden dining table and wait for her sister to arrive. It isnât long before Heather bounces into the lounge, pushes her long golden hair from her face and takes her seat next to Jenny.
Welcome to Spork Foods and two sisters who want to change the world, week-by-week, with healthy gourmet vegan food, education, and outstanding hospitality.
The Goldberg sisters started Spork Foods in January of this year. They are third generation Angelinos with a family history in entrepreneurship: Jenny is the chef and a graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute for Food and Culinary Arts in New York City and has a BA degree in Environmental Studies. She honed her skills in vegan restaurants in Los Angeles then decided to go it alone as a private chef, which soon evolved into the weekly cooking classes she has today.
Jenny is on a mission to teach her community about the âbeautiful healing power of food.â She sees her classes as a community building exercise. âWe are filling in the pieces lost in society from a generation of fast and convenient food.â Heather is in charge of the business and marketing side of Spork Foods. She works full-time at an environmental non-profit organization where she makes people aware of environmental issues, in particular, caring for trees and in working with government agencies on water issues.
She talks about making their home inviting to their clients and points out the photographs of their family which hang on the wall behind them. âWe want to pick up the pieces,â she says, from a generation lost on fast food. The name âSporkâ was chosen as a fun way of demystifying the publicâs stale point of view about vegan food then going a step further by turning vegan into gourmet, where Jenny prepares dishes like, Pear, Fig and Sage Tarts with Roasted Garlic Aioli and Pink Lemonade Cupcakes. And itâs all wheat, refined sugar, and dairy free.
Jenny suggests itâs time to eat and we step in to the kitchen, which boasts picturesque views of Silver Lake from the window, and a white tiled kitchen countertop to die for. Jenny had spent the day testing the dishes she will prepare for tomorrowâs dessert class. Heather and I sit near the counter and chat while Jenny brings out the food. I am made to feel as home here in their kitchen as if I was a long time friend. Heather says that this is a deliberate and important side of the classes. She wants their students to feel at home and to have a good time, especially as so many people have anxieties about food and how to prepare it. Heather believes their classes share a unique family atmosphere that could only be passed down through generations of Goldbergs.And this idea resonates in the kitchen as I am spoilt with soy milk, cannoli stuffed with orange vegan ricotta, chocolate mint truffles, and chocolate Kuala donut and cinnamon glaze. These sisters really know a thing or two about hospitality.
They run four different themed classes every weekend which emphasize organic, local, sustainable, and seasonal ingredients. Jenny is available for one-on-one consultations and will take you shopping around Silver Lake farmers market. Parents of vegans, wishing to learn to cook for their kids, other chefs, and repeat students, have all come to the classes.
In the words of one of their students who wrote this on a comment sheet: âAwesome! So professional, so friendly, so food, oh and wonderful food.â
Spork Foods
Silver Lake
(323) 284-8733
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