The Fermentation School

Meet Your Instructor

Jori Jayne Emde is a chef, fermentationist and alchemist. Jori practices her unique process of whole utilization: maximizing the yield from each ingredient through the processes of fermentation, preservation, and extraction. An Austin, TX native, Jori completed an associate degree in culinary arts from Le Cordon Bleu in 2002 before immediately moving to New York City. She promptly worked her way into the kitchen at Lupa Osteria Romana, where she was the first female to ever work the pasta station in any of the then Batali/Bastianich establishments. From Lupa, Jori transferred to another Batali/Bastianich property, Esca, where she honed her skills and cultivated her passion for working with fresh fish. In 2004, Jori left the Batali/Bastianich empire and started working with Zakary Pelaccio at 5 Ninth Restaurant and then continued on to Fatty Crab. Working with Zak refined her palate and knowledge further, as she absorbed the techniques and flavors heavily influenced by the Southeast Asian cuisines that Zak mastered while living in Thailand and Malaysia. In 2011, Jori and Zak moved to the Hudson Valley and renovated a 150-year-old carriage house that became the widely acclaimed and award-winning restaurant Fish & Game. She was Co-Chef and responsible for the restaurant's impressive larder of ferments and preserves, both sweet and savory. In 2018, Jori presented at Yale University for a Fermentation Intensive put on by Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking. In 2019 Fish & Game was listed in Esquire's 40 Most Important Restaurants of the Decade. In 2020, Fish & Game closed and Jori and Zak moved to Taos, New Mexico, where she launched a comprehensive online fermentation school that she merged with the female owned and operated The Fermentation School. Jori is a member of Psychedelic Support and has a certificate in Understanding Psilocybin: Effects, Neurobiology, and Therapeutic Approaches. She also has an accredited certification on Medicinal Plants from Cornell University, and holds many certificates from Alchemy Guild. Currently Jori is running her natural wine bar, Corner Office, in Taos, NM which received Esquire’s 50 Best New Restaurants in 2023.