- Sara La Fountain
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Sara La Fountain (born in Santa Barbara, California in 1981) is a Finnish-American chef, cookbook author, designer, and television personality.
Contents
Background
La Fountain was born to a French American father and a Finnish mother, after they had met during the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. After her parents separated, La Fountain moved to Finland with her mother, who then remarried. La Fountain's father has continued his family business in New York, managing a restaurant and a hotel with his brother, while her stepfather is the famed Finnish architect Kosti Kuronen, who has designed around 50 golf courses in Europe.[1][2][3]
La Fountain was raised in the Eira neighborhood of Helsinki, the capital of Finland, and in a family estate in Kirkkonummi, attending the Waldorf School of Helsinki.[4][5] La Fountain was engaged with the renowned film and music video director Antti Jokinen between 2005 and 2011.[6][7][8]
Career
Training
La Fountain was trained at The Culinary Institute of America, the world-renowned culinary school in Hyde Park, New York, working also in a local restaurant. Previously, she had studied and worked at Sokerileipuri Alenius, a traditional confectioner in Ullanlinna, Helsinki.
Modelling
La Fountain started working as a part-time fashion model in her teens. She has since worked as a spokesperson for the high-quality shopping centre Kämp Galleria in Helsinki,[9] the Finnish fashion brand Marimekko,[10] and the Puma Women collection of PUMA in Finland.[11]
Entrepreneur
After returning to Finland from the Culinary Institute of America, La Fountain started her own business and was soon noticed by the Finnish media.
La Fountain has since written food columns in various Finnish magazines and newspapers, including Helsingin Sanomat, Ilta-Sanomat, and Seura, in which she had a weekly column. La Fountain also arranges cooking courses, does food styling, and has her own catering service. She has also done product development for different brands, including Fazer and Finlandia Vodka.
In 2010, La Fountain toured in the United States, including Miami, New York, Chicago, Dallas, and San Francisco, as part of the Slow Food USA charity programme. She created various new dishes for the Cooking with Finlandia Vodka dinners at Fairmont Hotels, and all the ticket sales were donated to Slow Food USA.[12][13]
Television
In 2005, La Fountain starred in her own lifestyle television series called Avec Sara on MTV3 in Finland. Each of the 10 episodes had its own theme from brunches to birthday parties, karaoke nights, and Japanese and Indian social evenings.
In 2008, La Fountain starred in Perfect Day, which is an international lifestyle television series sold to around 60 countries worldwide. It includes four well-known Nordic chefs (Tina Nordström, Andreas Viestad, Claus Meyer and La Fountain herself) introducing traditional foods, customs, and culture of their own countries, including Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. In addition to the television show, La Fountain also starred in a 36-episode online series called A Perfect Day in Sara's Kitchen. In 2008, La Fountain also appeared on UKTV Food's popular Market Kitchen television series as a guest chef.
As of 2011, La Fountain has been asked to appear in various international cooking shows, including in the USA,[14] where she appeared as a guest chef on the 5th season of New Scandinavian Cooking on American Public Television.[15] La Fountain's own television show Perfect Day continues to air around the world, premiering in Germany in autumn 2011.[16]
Books and blog
La Fountain was awarded the Best First Cookbook award at the prestigious Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for her debut book à la Sara in 2006.[17] In addition to the actual awards event, the Prime Minister of Malaysia also hosted a dinner party for 500 guests at his private residence.[18]
The book version of Perfect Day television series was published in 2008. It includes recipes from all of the chefs and information on the various locations they visited in the course of the series.
On her third book, Passion for Food, published by Tammi in 2010, La Fountain has said: "My book goes through all the seasons as visual images of food. Each month has its own chapter, which has 10 different recipes, and dining section. I take note of the seasonal events, such as the picnic season in spring and the mushroom and berry crops season in fall, not forgetting the classic holidays".[12][19]
Since 2010, La Fountain has written her own blog, Passion for Fashion & Food, on the Internet.[20] She is also blogging on the Finnish women's magazine Olivia's website under the title of Ruoka à la Sara (Food à la Sara).[21]
Design
La Fountain has designed various series of tableware, glassware, and textiles for the Finnish brand Luhta Home, including Lotus, Baroque, Marocco and Agadir. She has also designed patterns for shoes of kitchen professionals by the Finnish Jalas footwear company.[22]
References
- ^ Uusi Fuengirola, December 20, 2006.
- ^ Kaupunkilehti Tamperelainen, March 17, 2009.
- ^ Architect Agency Kosti Kuronen & Sara La Fountain Company, Engelinaukio 15 Apt 3, 00150 HELSINKI, Finland, June 27, 2010.
- ^ "Sara La Fountainin unelma toteutui - Kova kokki". Seura 37/2004. http://www.seura.fi/?id=4606&pollaction=results&qid=541.
- ^ "Steiner School Finland Official Homepage". April 9, 2009. http://www.steinerkoulu.fi/index.php?page=nettilehti&magid=3&itemid=14.
- ^ Helsingin Sanomat, September 9, 2005.
- ^ Iltalehti, October 14, 2011.
- ^ Ilta-Sanomat, October 14, 2011.
- ^ Kämp Galleria Advertising Campaign Fall 2006.
- ^ Marimekko Advertising Campaign Spring 2007.
- ^ Intersport Finland Website, intersposrt.fi, Puma Women by Sara La Fountain, September 5, 2008.
- ^ a b Iltalehti, June 24–27, 2010.
- ^ Slow Food USA Homepage, slowfoodusa.org, Finlandia Vodka Launches Charity Events Tied to Sustainable Foods, June 24, 2010.
- ^ Ilta-Sanomat, March 27–28, 2010.
- ^ New Scandinavian Cooking on American Public Television Website, aptonline.org, June 27, 2010.
- ^ Iltalehti, September 26, 2011.
- ^ "Otavan keittokirjat menestyivät". Otava Publishing Company. April 24, 2006. http://www.otava.fi/medialle/tiedotteet/kustannustoiminta/2006/fi_FI/Otavan_keittokirjat_menestyivat.
- ^ The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards Official Website, cookbookfair.com, June 27, 2010.
- ^ Tammi Publishers, tammi.fi, June 27, 2010.
- ^ Sara La Fountain Blog, Passion for Fashion & Food, saralafountain.com, September 11, 2010.
- ^ Sara La Fountain Blog, Ruoka à la Sara, olivialehti.fi, October 14, 2011.
- ^ "Sara La Fountain tuo glamouria työkenkiin". Taloussanomat. March 10, 2008. http://www.taloussanomat.fi/yrittaja/2008/03/10/sara-la-fountain-tuo-glamouria-tyokenkiin/20087167/137.
External links
Categories:- 1981 births
- People from Santa Barbara, California
- Finnish people of French descent
- Living people
- Finnish chefs
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