Chef Shanna Horner O’Hea is a lecturing instructor of Culinary Arts at CIA in Hyde Park, NY, where she teaches Culinary Fundamentals to first-year students. She brings decades of experience in fine dining, innkeeping, and as a private chef to the classroom, guiding students in the craft, management, and creativity required for success in professional kitchens.
O’Hea earned her associate degree in Culinary Arts from CIA in 1998 and a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from North Park University in Chicago, IL, in 1994. She is enrolled in CIA’s master’s program for Wine and Beverage Management with an expected graduation date of August 2026.
Before returning to her alma mater as a faculty member in 2022, she owned and operated for nearly 20 years The Kennebunk Inn & Academe Brasserie & Tavern in Kennebunk, ME, a 23-room inn and 100+ seat restaurant, with her husband, Brian O’Hea ’98, whom she met at CIA.
Having earned national recognition for her creative approach to regional cuisine and hospitality, O’Hea has been featured on the Food Network, including The Best Thing I Ever Ate for her lobster pot pie, which was also in O, The Oprah Magazine as one of Gayle King’s favorites. The O’Heas added MaineLobsterPotPie.com to their multi-faceted business, a national company that ships their fresh lobster creations overnight. Their White Truffle Lobster Pizza was on Oprah’s “O List” in 2013, which led to partnering with shipping distributor Goldbelly to expand the business.
She competed on Chopped season 11 in 2012, Rewrapped in 2014, and Beat Bobby Flay in 2015. Shanna won Rewrapped and received a year’s supply of Chef Boyardee Ravioli for her reimagined Chef Boyardee Ravioli Spice Cake with Raspberry coulis, which was happily donated to Maines Good Shepard Food Bank.
Previously, O’Hea was a private chef and estate manager for Matthew Bronfman and Lisa Belzberg in Katonah, NY, and a private chef and second chef to Chef Michel Boulard in both New York City and London. Earlier in her career, she externed at the Four Seasons Hotel in Palm Beach, FL, interned at ARAMARK at MIT in Cambridge, MA, and was a line cook at Holbrooks Restaurant in Cundy’s Harbor, ME.
When she’s not in the kitchen or classroom, she and Brian love to travel and have participated in culinary events around the world, including the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival, the Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair, Boca Bacchanal, and the Kennebunkport Festival. She loves to cook at home, go for walks around the national parks in Hudson Valley, do Pilates, and take road trips exploring beautiful places and their local food and beverages.