Terri Davlantes Offers a Lifetime of Skills at Jax Cooking Studio

As the owner of JAX Cooking Studio in Jacksonville, Terri is drawing on her background in law, nursing and academia to design classes that inspire, entertain and educate her students. Her cooking classes range from corporate team-building events, adult and children's cooking classes, cooking classes for chronic illness, healthy eating classes and fun Date Night and Girls Night Out events. Terri particularly enjoys sharing tips to organize and declutter the kitchen to erase frustration and maximize enjoyment and believes there is no place like the kitchen to cultivate community and share conversations. We caught up with Terri in between classes at JAX Cooking Studio.

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You grew up in a large family here in Jacksonville - eight brothers and you were the only girl. What important life lessons were imparted to you from your family members?

Growing up in a large family was like being on a sports team — you learned from each other and you supported each other through thick and thin. My mother always cooked dinner each night, and we dined together as a family. There was such value in those family meals in terms of sharing important news, learning how to interact with each other and developing a healthy relationship with food.

As a native of the area, what changes have you seen in the past decade?

Jacksonville has always been beautiful and home to some of the nicest people in the world, although it was often referred to a well-kept secret. Lately, though, through the collective efforts of many forward-thinking leaders, our city is no longer a well-kept secret and is the gaining recognition it deserves for being a robust city and a wonderful place to live and work. As a native Jacksonvilian, that is rewarding to see.

What are you most proud of accomplishing in the past few years?

While at Jacksonville University, I had been working with the team at OneSpark to provide locations for the event's presenters. After doing that for a couple of years, I realized that it was a great opportunity for me to pitch my business idea. And I was so surprised when I won a HealthSpark award!

I had been thinking about opening a cooking studio for several years, but making the decision to actually give up my senior position in higher education that came with a nice salary, vacation and a retirement plan to pursue my dream was a very tough decision. I am proud I made it, although sometimes I long for the days of getting off work at 6 and having the evening to relax before heading into work again the next morning!

Your previous career roles were as lawyer, nurse and professor. Now you're an entrepreneur who wants to teach healthy cooking. What prompted you to open a teaching cooking studio in Jacksonville? 

Cooking is a tremendously important life skill, but unfortunately it is not being taught in our schools or our homes very often. Many parents never learned to cook themselves and feel ill-prepared to teach their children to cook. As a result, we are eating far too many meals outside of the home. Those meals are almost always less healthy than meals prepared in the home. This is leading to an epidemic of obesity and chronic illness. Evidence-based research indicates that we can make a huge impact on our health by consuming more plants. Adopting a more plant-forward diet can keep us from getting ill in the first place and can even help those who have been diagnosed with chronic illnesses achieve better health outcomes. But many people don’t know how to cook a plant-forward meal that tastes delicious, and, therefore, they are reluctant to move away from fast food. JAX Cooking Studio offers classes to help people understand how to cook plant-forward meals that are delicious, affordable and easy!

What does Jacksonville need or is lacking in terms of the local food scene?

We have had a few new restaurants open recently such as House of Leaf & Bean and Kairos Juices that offer healthy and organic menu items. I hope people support these restaurants so that we have continue to have healthy eating options and others might be encouraged join that space.

We learned of a fun fact that you love all things lime. What is your favorite food with lime in it?

Everything is better with lime in it! My favorite lime appetizer is guacamole; my favorite lime dinner is fish tacos with a squeeze of lime; my favorite lime dessert is Key Lime pie (although I use the lime juice from the Persian lime tree in my backyard, so I guess it is a Persian Lime Pie!); and my favorite lime drink is a skinny margarita. YUM!

Ready to brush up on basic cooking skills or expand your meal prep repertoire? Visit Jax Cooking Studio for a complete lineup of classes.