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Crazy For FoodBy Marybeth Bizjak |
From April 2007
jaysoncarpenter.com
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• Are you a regular at the farmers market? • Do you insist on eating at every hot new restaurant as soon as it opens? • Do you drop phrases like “molecular gastronomy” and “artisanal cheese maker” into casual conversation? • Do you TiVo “Top Chef”? • Do you have your own food blog? If you answered yes to three or more of these questions, then you are officially crazy for food. You’re in good company. Here in the Sacramento region, plenty of us are more than a little food-obsessed. And why shouldn’t we be? We have not only great restaurants and cutting-edge chefs but high-quality ingredients being raised right here in River City. We at Sacramento magazine (being as crazy for food as you) did a little research on the best cooking classes and kitchenware stores in the region. Call it our little gift to you. We also looked at how Davis has become the area’s culinary crossroads and talked with some of the biggest food obsessives we could find. If you love food, read on . . . Foodies go to schoolFor people who are truly crazy for food, cooking classes are like catnip: They can’t get enough of them.Luckily, there are plenty of cooking classes of every type and stripe in the Sacramento region. For self-styled Emerils and Giadas who want to tie on their chef’s aprons and put their Wüsthof knives to work, there are hands-on classes. For those who would rather sit and be entertained while being wined and dined, there are demonstration classes. Some classes are taught by classically trained culinary educators, others led by self-taught amateurs. And a handful of the region’s top restaurant chefs, eager to get out of the kitchen and meet their public, teach as well. If you don’t know your way around a Wolf range, you can find “cooking for dummies” classes, like Learning Exchange’s Basic Cooking series, which routinely sells out. But plenty of excellent cooks also take classes: to learn new techniques or unfamiliar cuisines, to sharpen their skills, to meet (and learn from) a favorite chef or just to be around other food obsessives like themselves. “I love cooking classes,” says Dee Johnson, a Davis resident who has signed up for dozens. “I learn something every single time.” If she comes away with just one recipe that’s a keeper, she figures the class was worth the money. Kerry Rossi, a stay-at-home mom who lives in the Pocket, attends at least one class a month. It’s a great way to get ideas and recipes, she says—the perfect solution to her daily what-should-I-cook-tonight? dilemma. You’ll find classes wherever foodies congregate: at grocery and kitchenware stores. Food snobs sniff at such programs, saying they’re just a ruse to get people to buy products. But Terese Hollander Esperas, who teaches with her husband at Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op and other area markets, begs to differ. “Our goal is to teach people to cook,” she says. “If I can turn people on to the great ingredients available at the store, that’s a plus for my students.” So if you don’t want to be a dunce in the kitchen, read on. Cooking School and ProgramsAmerican River College—American River College offers a degree program in hospitality management and culinary arts for future professional chefs. But home cooks are welcome, too, says instructor Teresa Urkofsky-Collins. “About 25 percent of our students are hobbyists,” she notes.Semester-long classes (3 or 4 units) are offered in subjects like fine baking and pastry making, professional cooking and garde manger (that’s restaurant talk for the art of making sausages, pâtés, terrines and other charcuterie). In the introductory baking class, you’ll learn how to turn out yeast breads, croissants, puff pastry, pâte à choux, cakes, tortes, pies and meringues; in the advanced course, you’ll make artisan-style breads and wedding cakes. If you’re thinking of chucking it all for a life in the kitchen, sign up for Becoming a Chef, a warts-and-all view of the profession that covers the history of the culinary arts, looks at career opportunities and includes field trips to local restaurants. The instructors here don’t cut hobbyists any slack: You have to wear a chef’s uniform (hat, apron, chef’s jacket and black-and-white checked pants), buy textbooks and provide your own tools (instant-read thermometer, knives, diamond steel knife sharpener, etc.). Types of classes: Semester-long culinary courses for aspiring chefs and ambitious hobbyists Most popular: Mediterranean, regional American Upcoming: Registration for fall semester starts in May; classes fill up quickly Cost: $20 per unit per semester Info: arc.losrios.edu Learning Exchange—The region’s biggest purveyor of cooking classes, Learning Exchange offers hundreds every year, some taught by name-brand chefs, such as Mexican-cookbook author Diana Kennedy and local restaurateurs Biba Caggiano and Taro Arai. Classes range from small and hands-on (12 students max) to large and demonstration-style. Some take place in restaurant kitchens, others in rented halls. For big-name chefs, Learning Exchange uses Central Library’s Tsakopoulos Library Galleria.Types of classes: Runs the gamut from slow cooker to sushi Most popular: Basic Cooking series Upcoming: Freezer Cooking (May 9, June 27), Gourmet Truffle Making (May 23), A Week’s Worth of Meals in One Class (June 10) Cost: $25–$59 plus a materials fee ($5–$15); special classes with marquee-name chefs can run as high as $175 Info: (916) 929-9200; learningexchange.com; free course catalog available at area newsstands Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op—The co-op holds three to four classes a week (hands-on and demonstration) in its Community Learning Center, a converted restaurant adjacent to the store. Wines from the co-op are served. Four times a year, the store offers a free class to introduce people to the program.Types of classes: Ethnic, vegetarian and healthful foods; kids’ classes; private classes and corporate team-building classes available Most popular: Thai, sushi, Indian, Italian, knife skills Upcoming: Nothing scheduled at press time Assistant program: Save 50 percent on the cost of a class by volunteering as a prep or cleanup assistant Cost: $35–$45; $10 discount for co-op owners; buy three classes, get the fourth free Info: (916) 455-2667; sacfoodcoop.com; course catalog available at store Salud! Cooking & Lifestyle School, Whole Foods Market—Salud! holds four or five classes a week in a sleek demonstration kitchen at Whole Foods Market, at the corner of Arden Way and Eastern Avenue. Instructors use fresh produce and other store products, and a TV monitor and angled mirrors enable everyone to see the action.Types of classes: Everything from raw food to seafood, with a heavy emphasis on vegetarian and healthful cooking; kids’ classes; private classes available Most popular: Sushi, Thai, raw food, naturally healthy weight loss Upcoming: Raw, Healthy, Fit & Fabulous (April 3), Spring Salads and Spring Cleaning (April 9), Mini Cakes and Desserts (April 28), Simply Seafood (May 10), Introduction to Thai Cooking (May 17) Assistant program: Volunteers pay nothing for the class at which they work; after working four classes, the fifth is on the house (no work required) Cost: $25–$55; free classes occasionally offered Info: (916) 488-2800; wholefoodsmarket.com; course catalog available at store Shallots Cooking School, Nugget Markets, Vacaville—Nugget Markets operates a highly regarded cooking school out of its Vacaville store, but no classes at itsSacramento-area outposts. So food-loving Sacramentans have to trek down crowded I–80 to sit in Shallots’ gleaming, high-tech demonstration kitchen and learn from pros like Joseph Renner and Glen Wielosinksi, both instructors at California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. Types of classes: Skills classes (braising, kitchen essentials), world cuisines, healthful cooking and menu classes; hands-on kids’ classes Most popular: Hands-on sushi and tamale classes Upcoming: Seafood on the Grill (April 5), The Art of Stock and Sauce Making (April 12), Fun With Sushi (April 18), Flavors From Northern Italy (April 19), A Greek Feast (May 2), Dim Sum (May 16) Assistant program: Save 50 percent on the cost of a class by volunteering as a prep or cleanup assistant Cost: $45–$59 Info: (707) 469-6800; nuggetmarket.com; course catalog available at store Restaurant ClassesLe Bilig French Cafe—After Le Bilig co-owner Monica Deconinck began teaching kids’ cooking classes at her Auburn restaurant, people started clamoring for adult classes. So her husband and business partner, Marc Deconinck, obliged. Working through the Placer School for Adults, Deconinck offers twice-monthly French cooking classes, held Tuesday nights at the restaurant. The demonstration classes last about three hours and include dinner and wine.A typical class might feature sweetbreads, beef bourguignon and pear clafouti, or foie gras, coq au vin and maple crème briolette. Deconinck likes to showcase the ingredients, bringing out a whole fish or beef fillet to give participants a “different concept” of food. Because enrollment is limited, the classes are intimate affairs. Deconinck likes the opportunity to preach his message. “I don’t just teach techniques and practical aspects of cooking,” he says. “It’s more an awakening of consciousness about food.” Details: Limited to 12 people; private small-group classes and birthday parties available Extras: Dinner and wine Cost: $69 (includes administration and materials fees) Info: For course listings or to register, go to placeronline.org Masque Ristorante—At the upscale Masque Ristorante in El Dorado Hills, resident pastry chef and master chocolatier Ginger Elizabeth teaches dessert making in a beautiful kitchen classroom built specially for that purpose.Classes take place Saturdays (generally 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) on an irregular schedule, about once every other month. Most are demonstration-style, although Elizabeth occasionally offers hands-on cookie- and cupcake-decorating classes. Elizabeth, who also teaches at Williams-Sonoma and Whole Foods Market, shows students how to make elegant desserts such as soufflés and tarts and does an afternoon tea class with scones and petit fours. She always includes a brief lecture on chocolate. “My mission is to bring about awareness of fine chocolate,” she says. Details: Limited to 25 people Extras: Samples provided Cost: $45; culinary students get a 25 percent discount Info: (916) 933-8555; e-mail ginger@couturechocolates.net to get on e-mail notification list Mulvaney’s Building & Loan—Yes, you can learn to cook at Mulvaney’s, the 19th Street restaurant owned by the wickedly charming Patrick Mulvaney. But these are not your grandmother’s cooking classes. For small groups (up to 50 people), Mulvaney offers kamikaze-style “Iron Chef” events, loosely modeled after the campy Food Network TV show of the same name. He breaks the group into two or more teams, announces their “battle” and gives them the run of the kitchen and pantry. (In Battle: Appetizer, for instance, each team gets one hour to make two appetizers.) A chef from the restaurant works with each team as an adviser, imparting food knowledge and kitchen tips along the way. At the end, the results are judged and the winning team receives Mulvaney’s Golden Whisk award. Afterward, the group sits down, family-style, in the restaurant and eats the food they’ve prepared. “It’s cool if you’re into the competitive thing,” says Mulvaney.For less-competitive types, he offers small-group team-building classes. Again, he breaks the group into teams, and each prepares a different course for a meal, using recipes Mulvaney provides. While prepping and cooking, participants learn skills such as how to cut an onion or properly season food. “We’re trying to teach people without force-feeding them,” Mulvaney explains. They, too, eat what they cook. Both the Iron Chef and small-group classes are perfect for birthday parties, corporate retreats and team-building exercises. Details: Classes offered Sundays and Mondays only; you provide the group (no individual sign-ups) Extras: Participants receive printed recipes and an apron, chef’s jacket or chef’s hat to take home Cost: $65–$125 per person Info: (916) 441-6022 Supper Club—Matt Woolston, the inventive chef at Supper Club, has figured out a way to introduce people to his exquisite seven-course tasting menus: Offer classes. Like at a dinner party, you’re greeted with a glass of wine and mingle with other students. Then you sit down with a clipboard of recipes and watch as Woolston zips through a quickie demonstration. When he’s done, everyone heads out to the restaurant courtyard for some hands-on action. Prepped ingredients are laid out on long tables, reminiscent of preschool play stations; all you have to do is some simple assembly. At a recent class, students flipped crêpes over a portable burner. It was fun—and, thanks to the wine, a little raucous. Afterward, everyone sits down at long tables and eats.Details: Classes offered once about every six weeks; limited to about 25 people Extras: Seven-course tasting menu served, plus wine Cost: $80 (a bargain; regular prix-fixe dinners cost $130) Info: (916) 920-2885; supperclubsacramento.com The Waterboy—People flock to The Waterboy in midtown for chef/owner Rick Mahan’s inspired take on Mediterranean cuisine. Many of those same devotees fill the seats at Mahan’s once-a-month, Saturday-morning cooking classes for the chance to see the artist at work.Classes start at 10 a.m. in the restaurant’s dining room, where Mahan sets up a table with portable burners in front of two rows of chairs. All classes are demonstration-style, but Mahan invites students up to the table to better see what he’s doing. He runs theme classes—salads, soups or braised foods, for instance—and prepares recipes from the restaurant menu. (If you love The Waterboy’s cassoulet, here’s your chance to learn how to make it from the master himself.) He spends a lot of time in class talking about ingredients. “You can’t possibly make great food without great ingredients,” Mahan explains. When he’s finished teaching, everyone eats. Participants leave with a recipe packet and often a little gift. If you take the soup class, for instance, you’ll come home with a stock-making kit: chicken bones, onions, carrots, celery and seasonings. The self-taught Mahan loves to share his knowledge and passion for cooking. “I’m a pretty good teacher,” he says. “If I didn’t have a restaurant, I’d be teaching something to somebody.” Details: Limited to 24 people (classes fill up quickly); private team-building classes available Extras: Come 15 minutes early for coffee and scones Cost: $90 Info: (916) 498-9891; waterboyrestaurant.com Stores
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