Chef Caprial Pence is host of her own PBS television show, "Cooking with Caprial," which is going into its third year. A Caprial series is also produced by The Learning Channel and was a 1994 nominee for the James Beard Award for best television cooking show. It currently airs internationally.
Caprial graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and in 1986 began working at Fullers Restaurant at the Seattle Sheraton Hotel. Under Caprial's direction, Fullers was a leader in Seattle's nouvelle cuisine, and in 1990 the young chef was honored with the James Beard Award for Best Chef in the Northwest.
In order to be closer to her family, Caprial and her husband John, also a chef, moved to Portland in 1992 and opened their own small neighborhood restaurant, now called Caprial's Bistro. Acclaimed for its eclectic Northwest cuisine, the Bistro continues to draw a faithful crowd, while Caprial's and John's cooking classes are always a sellout.
Through her television program and cookbooks -- "Caprial's Seasonal Kitchen," "Cooking with Caprial: American Bistro Fare," and "Caprial's Bistro-Style Cuisine" to name a few -- Caprial inspires home cooks with accessible recipes that have impressive, delicious results. She co-authored her latest book, "Caprial's Soups & Sandwiches," with Mark Dowers, chef at Caprial's Bistro.