Courtney Geilenfeldt Shares Passion for Cooking
Meet Courtney Geilenfeldt – a self-taught natural baker and chef whose ambition is to open her own café.
Born and raised in San Diego, Courtney moved to Seattle when she was 20 years old to finish college. She met her husband there and they moved to Germany when his employer relocated him. While there, she worked as an au pair for a wealthy family, taking care of the children and cooking for the family. The family had vacation homes throughout Europe and Courtney traveled with them, honing her cooking skills in each country they visited. She took her first formal training class in Berlin learning how to make sourdough bread. It was the beginning of her passion for breadmaking.
In 2019, she and her husband returned to Seattle. Inspired and confident in all that she learned abroad, Courtney got a job in a café. She apprenticed under two different bakers, eventually becoming the head baker. During the pandemic, she began a micro-bakery out of her home and was featured in the Seattle Times. Her skills and the exposure in the Times led to a job in a commercial kitchen. By 2022, Courtney left the commercial kitchen and started doing her own pop-up supper clubs in her home for up to 30 people. She used this experience to curate her menu and test out her recipes. By word of mouth and social media, her supper clubs became very popular. Again, she was featured in the Seattle Times, this time for her pop-up super clubs. Courtney enjoyed cooking and meeting new people with diversified tastes. As a one-woman show, Courtney developed relationships with various members of the food industry, including wine makers. It was a fulfilling and lucrative business.
In March of 2024, Courtney and her husband moved to San Diego so that Courtney could be closer to her family. In February of 2025, they bought a townhome on Adams Ave. across from Trolley Barn Park. Courtney and her husband love the neighborhood and the strong community that exists in University Heights. She joined the Women’s Walking group and is now one of the leaders. Her involvement with the walking group lead to the creation of a cooking club that meets once per month.
In May of this year, an acquaintance from Berlin reached out to her and offered her a chef residency job at a Bed & Breakfast in Provence. Despite being a tad intimidated by cooking for the French, Courtney jumped at the opportunity to stretch her cooking skills. She spent a month developing her own menus and doing all of the cooking (with two helpers).
Since returning to San Diego, Courtney has done some pop-up dinners in North Park based on some of her menus from Provence. Her meals are sourced only from local food and she bases her menus on seasonal availability. She accommodates all dietary needs, from vegetarian to vegan to gluten-free. Her specialty remains her original passion – homemade bread, especially sourdough. She also has achieved WSET II – the Wine & Spirit Education Trust, Level II (a global organization that offers qualifications in wine & spirits). She plans to continue to further her wine education in order to do wine pairings with her menus.
Courtney hopes to find the right storefront where she can open her own café in University Heights. She wants to combine her passion for the community with her passion for cooking and baking. Until that happens, she is available as a private chef for events or for weekly in-home menus. You can find her on Instagram: @diningwithcourt or on her web site: www.diningwithcourt.
