cooking classes around town
We've got a lot of great cooking class options in Charlotte, y'all! I've been working my way through a few of them and wanted to share the fun I've had along the way. Most recently (last night) I went to a South End Pub Fare class taught by Alyssa Wilen of Chef Alyssa's Kitchen.
The classes are held inside the Atherton Market in the South End neighborhood. If you haven't been, it's a great space, with exposed brick, high ceilings and great light. The class was fun and festive- they play music and allow you to BYOB your own beer or wine. I was at a table with 3 other people, and most of the class was separated into 4 top tables. Lots of couples, this is definitely a fun date night idea- or bring 3 friends, take over an entire table and share a bottle of vino during class.
Chef Alyssa would demonstrate each part of the menu, then assistants would pass out ingredients to each table and we cooked them on induction burners. The menu was great, especially the pork, and Chef Alyssa paired each item with beer from local breweries including Wooden Robot, The Unknown Brewery and Triple C. The class was 60 dollars and ran from 6:30-9pm.
Another great spot to take a cooking class is at Sur La Table inside of the Southpark Mall. They've got a lot of different times and topics available, take a look at the website. I can never resist anything that is all about appetizers and had to sign up for The Art of Antipasti, which was taught by Chef Meredith Suggs.
I'm not sure of the typical class size at Sur La Table, but this one had only three attendees. It was actually fantastic, we got lots of attention and it was very hands-on. It was held in the large kitchen in the back of the store, a nice open space. We took turns with the various steps in each dish, chopping, sautéing, etc., under the supervision of the instructor. Chef Meredith Suggs was great, very personable and helpful.
The class went from 11 to 2pm. The cost was $69. I loved the menu, I would serve any of the dishes, but my favorite was the Fig Jam and Gorgonzola Crostini.
Prosciutto Wrapped Shrimp with Salsa Verde Dipping Sauce
Pipettes with Burrata and Sweet Pepper Confit
Warm Baked Olives with Orange and Fennel
Crostini with Homemade Fig Jam and Gorgonzola
Crostini with Homemade Fig Jam and Gorgonzola from Sur La Table
I've take a few classes from the Salud Cooking School at Whole Foods Market in South Park. Over the holidays I attended the Feast of the Seven Fishes class to come up with some fresh ideas for Christmas Eve.
Salad's classes are held on the upper level of Whole Foods. It's a bit of a smaller space, so even when it's crowded it's always easy to see what the instructor is doing. This was purely a demonstration class, no active participation, so we sat at tables, drank wine and ate dishes as they were ready. Wine was provided and they were all about some generous pouring.
The chef, Michael Harrington was a lot of fun- energetic and very knowledgable. I would definitely take another class from him, questions were encouraged and he had through and helpful responses to all. The class was from 6:30-8:30pm and was 50 dollars. I've got a few more classes planned for the spring, so I'll keep you posted. Anybody got any favorites to share?