Chef Joe Sochor has a passionate interest in any cuisine making extensive use of chiles, spices, and tropical herbs. He has studied Thai, Mexican and, later, Indian cuisine since 1986, here in the United States and abroad. He completed a Culinary Management program at the Cordon Bleu Cooking School in Chicago.

In 1994 -1995 he created and ran a traveling restaurant, FoodRave Chicago, that introduced diners to unusual ingredients and flavors found in the Midwest. The restaurant gained a larger following after being profiled in the Chicago Reader. With referrals from the diners, he opened a private catering company, eventually specializing in multi-themed dinner parties.

In 2000, after teaching a weekend series of cooking classes, he opened Heat and Spice Cooking School. He teaches many of the classes here and takes the curriculum to local "outposts" - external cooking and adult education programs. He continues to travel on learning trips and meet with all those interested in this explosively flavorful type of cuisine.

Places he has taught include the Field Museum, Chicago Botanic Garden, Columbia College and the evening programs of Francis Parker School and Latin School. He appears annually at Taste of Chicago.

When not cooking, Joe is kicking and punching with Chinese and Thai martial arts or developing his love of cinema history and moviegoing.

More to come in this section soon…