The 2026 Demo Kitchen is presented by chester county food bank. While the Demo Kitchen is FREE to enter, CCFB will be accepting donations which help support their efforts to mobilize our community to ensure access to nutritious AND familiar food.

WELCOME TO THE DEMO KITCHEN @ GOOD FOOD FEST 2026!

Fresh + local = GOOD FOOD. At this year’s Demo Kitchen, you’ll learn just how simple and rewarding it is to cook with seasonal, local ingredients from our region.

Our presenters will walk you through everything—from sourcing fresh ingredients to creating delicious, seasonal dishes in your own kitchen. Whether you’re an experienced locavore or just starting your local food journey, you’ll learn firsthand how local & seasonal ingredients can elevate your recipes and make every meal unforgettable. 

CULINARY DEMO SCHEDULE

11:30 AM
FUNGI
TO FORK

presented by
James Coleman OF Fungus Aurelius

Join chef-turned-mushroom farmer James Coleman of Fungus Aurelius for a deep dive into the art of cooking gourmet mushrooms! Drawing on 25 years of professional culinary experience, James will share his favorite techniques for preparing, sautéing, and caramelizing mushrooms to bring out their incredible flavor and texture. He'll put those skills to work with a delicious recipe for creamy oyster mushrooms on sourdough toast, sharing tips and tricks you can bring into your own kitchen.

After 25 years as a commercial and private chef, James Coleman left the industry to pursue a different passion: the cultivation of gourmet mushrooms. Fungi have the ability to bring both delicious flavor and texture profiles to our favorite recipes, along with many added nutritional and health benefits that are still being discovered today.

In 2019, James began researching and building his farm, Fungus Aurelius, and by 2020, he began supplying high-quality mushrooms to farmers markets for people to incorporate into their everyday meals.

Mushrooms are fascinating! Along with their delicious flavor, they offer numerous medicinal benefits while also being nature's ideal recyclers, decomposing organic matter into useful soil for the benefit of other organisms.

James's goal has always been to create something delicious that is beneficial for people and the environment. With mushroom cultivation, he has achieved that goal.

12:30 PM
LOCAL CHIMICHURRI

presented by
Carmen Guzman-Francesco OF Is It Spicy? Sauce Co

Learn how to make a fresh, flavorful chimichurri with Carmen Guzman-Francesco of Is It Spicy? Sauce Co.! Using fresh herbs, garlic, vinegar, olive oil, and spices, Carmen will demonstrate how to create this versatile sauce from scratch. Perfect as a marinade, topping, or dip, chimichurri is an easy way to bring bold flavor to seasonal ingredients all year long.

Carmen Guzman-Francesco is the owner and operator of Is It Spicy? Sauce Co., a woman- and minority-owned, boutique, small-batch sauce company obsessed with bringing customers the best New Jersey sauces.

Carmen is a firm believer in embracing all forms of personality within her business. Throughout her life, she has been a farmer, dancer, educator, community organizer, camp director, burlesque performer, caseworker, cook, and more. She believes that women can have many roles in life, and she aims for her brand to embody that experience.

1:30 PM
FRESH
RICOTTA

Discover the surprisingly simple process of making fresh ricotta at home with chef, cookbook author, and television host Ian Knauer. Using just a handful of ingredients, Ian will demonstrate how to transform milk and cream into delicate, homemade ricotta. He'll also share his technique for salt-roasting beets, showing how simple preparations can bring out incredible flavor in seasonal ingredients.

Nestled in the heart of Bucks County, PA, Roots to River Farm is dedicated to sustainable, organic farming and celebrated for growing vibrant, high-quality vegetables. Established in 2013 as New Hope's first CSA farm, Roots to River supplies fresh produce to its CSA members, local restaurants, and for its cooking classes and dinners.

Ian Knauer is the visionary behind Amara Kitchen. He developed his craft during nearly a decade in the world-renowned test kitchens of Gourmet Magazine before returning to his family's farm in Pennsylvania. There, he authored the cookbook The Farm: Rustic Recipes for a Year of Incredible Food and created the series The Farm, available on PBS and Amazon Prime.

2:30 PM
LEMON HERB
FALL SALAD

presented by Billy McCullough & Veronica Rosenberger of Blue Sun Growers

Celebrate the flavors of fall with Billy McCullough and Veronica Rosenberger of Blue Sun Growers! Learn how to create a fresh, seasonal salad featuring locally grown apples, fennel, carrots, and baby greens, tossed in a homemade vinaigrette infused with Blue Sun Growers' Lemon Herb Blend. This demonstration will show how locally grown herbs and spices can transform simple seasonal ingredients into something delicious.

Blue Sun Growers is a culinary herb and spice farm that grows, dries, and creates a variety of high-quality seasonings. Billy and Veronica have a strong passion for local food and supporting food systems that can supply all people's cooking needs.

They noticed there was an abundance of local food, but not as many local options to add flavor to those foods. Once they started cooking with their own homegrown, dried, and ground seasonings, they knew they had to bring them to everyone else.

Your dried herbs deserve to have strong flavor and good aroma, be responsibly grown, and be processed to retain quality. They believe delicious local food deserves to be seasoned with equally delicious seasonings!

Veronica is a local food aficionado by hobby and has a heart for sustainability. Her career in environmental nonprofits has expanded into forging a future for food that is tasty and green, both in the ecological sense and in the color of culinary herbs.

She and her partner Billy enjoy cooking together, gathering with friends around the table, and excitedly sharing that experience through their products and workshops.