Businesswoman

Alma Lach’s training at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school was the foundation for her commitment to expanding and perfecting her culinary skills and teaching others, which she accomplished through numerous business endeavors. She became food editor of the Chicago Sun-Times in 1957, where she wrote Sunday and Thursday columns on gourmet cookery, experimented with recipes in her test kitchen, and learned the art of food photography.

After leaving the Chicago Sun-Times in 1965, she launched the Alma Lach Cooking School. She started out leading classes on French cuisine, teaching her students the preparation and service of full French dinners and allowing them to develop their own “creative talents in the adventure of fine food.” She eventually expanded the curriculum to include classes on Chinese cuisine and the foods of Japan and India.

Alma made many local and national television appearances over the years to inspire a wide range of audiences. She created, produced, and starred in her own children’s cooking series, Let’s Cook (1955), first broadcast on WTTW and then on WGN-TV. She appeared weekly as nutritionist and cooking expert, preparing gourmet dishes for people of retirement age, on the PBS television series, Over Easy (1977-78), with Hugh Downs. She also did cooking demonstrations on the Lee Phillip Show on WBBM-TV and was a guest on many of the Today shows across the country.

As president of Alma Lach Kitchens, Inc., Alma tested recipes and products, created menus, and offered guidance on all aspects of food and dining. She was a consultant to Chicago restaurants The Pump Room, working with Rich Melman of Lettuce Entertain You, and The Berghoff, and she designed gourmet airline meals for Flying Food Fare that debuted on Midway Airlines flights from Chicago to New York.