Savor the Southwest: The Host

Host Barbara Pool Fenzl

Barbara Pool Fenzl is a major figure on the American culinary stage: owner of a successful cooking school; host of the KAET/Phoenix public television cooking series "Savor the Southwest"; renowned cooking teacher; cookbook author; former magazine food editor, writer and food stylist; former member of the board of two leading international culinary organizations and past president of one of them. She is a Certified Culinary Professional and was inducted into the Arizona Culinary Hall of Fame in 1993 and the Hall of Fame in 1999.

Barbara's first love is teaching. In 1983 she established Les Gourmettes Cooking School, which she still owns and operates. The school serves more than 1,200 students a year and has been honored as the "Best of Phoenix." In addition to the classes taught by Barbara, the school offers intimate sessions with guest chefs from Arizona as well as such culinary celebrities as Jacques Pépin, Giuliano Bugialli, Marion Cunningham, Paula Wolfert, Martin Yan, and Anne Willan. As a part of the school's offerings, Barbara has organized and led cooking-related trips to San Francisco, New York, Greece and France.

'Savor the Southwest'

'Southwest the Beautiful'

Her first cookbook, "Southwest the Beautiful," published by Collins San Francisco in 1994, was one of three nominated in the American category for the prestigious Julia Child Cookbook Award. It has sold more than 70,000 copies and was released in German in the spring of 1996. "Savor the Southwest," the companion cookbook for the new public television series, was released by Bay Books in March 1999. The 13-week "Savor the Southwest" series, produced by KAET/Phoenix and A La Carte Communications, will be broadcast this year on PBS stations nationwide.

Barbara was the food editor and food stylist for "Southwest Passages" and "Phoenix Home & Garden" magazines. Her articles also have been published in "Bon Appétit," "Wine Spectator," "Cook's Magazine," "Money" magazine, "Southwest Sampler," "Food Arts," and the newsletters of the American Institute of Wine and Food and the James Beard Foundation. She was one of the "Choice Critics" for "Playboy's" 1998 "Best Restaurants in America" and is a regular contributor to the "Mobile Guide."

She is a past president of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) and was a member of the board from 1989 to 1995. A benefactor of the American Institute of Wine and Food, she served on its national board of directors and was founding vice-chair and then chair of the Arizona Chapter.

Barbara represents the Southwest on the distinguished Restaurant Awards Committee of the James Beard Foundation and is a Dateline correspondent for News from the Beard House. She is a founding member and past chair of the Phoenix chapter of Les Dames D'Escoffier.

Barbara holds B.A. and M.A. degrees and studied cooking at Cordon Bleu in London and Ecole LeNôtre and Luberon College in France. She lives with her husband and children in Phoenix, where she has been active in community affairs for 29 years.