Sunday, January 4, 2009

Kicking the New Year off in the Kitchen

Are you looking for some fun activities to start the New Year off right? Consider cooking classes. There are many cooking schools around the Bay Area that offer one-day or week-long courses. You can bring together a group of friends to learn how to make a fabulous 3-course meal, then sit down and enjoy the meal together over some great wine. Or take your next vacation locally and spend a week learning how to become an expert in the kitchen. Even if you aren’t ready to run the kitchen at a five-star restaurant, you’ll likely bring home some delicious new recipes to impress your friends and family.


Ramekins – Located in downtown Sonoma, Ramekins offers many classes for the home chef. With two teaching kitchens that include a 36-seat culinary demonstration kitchen and a complete restaurant kitchen for a more hands-on experience, you will be able to find a class that fits your style of learning. You can also stay at the Inn at Ramekins, making a vacation of cooking classes, winery tours and great meals at Sonoma’s local restaurants. www.ramekins.com


Relish Culinary Adventures – For the past five years, Relish has been a “roving” culinary school offering classes at various wineries, restaurants and private homes throughout wine country. They just recently opened up the Relish Culinary Center in downtown Healdsburg. With a rugged, farmhouse atmosphere, you feel as though you are in someone’s country kitchen. And in the warmer months, their outdoor kitchen creates the perfect atmosphere for a party. www.relishculinary.com


CasaLana – Located in Calistoga, this small cooking school offers everything from one-day classes to five-day cooking retreats. The classes are limited to 8 participants which allows for more one-on-one instruction. CasaLana is also a Bed & Breakfast allowing class participants to create a complete vacation out of their culinary retreat. www.gourmetretreats.com


The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone – located in the heart of the Napa Valley, the Culinary Institute in St. Helena offers both professional and enthusiast cooking classes. If you are an enthusiast, check out their Sophisticated Palate classes where you can explore food and wine pairing techniques and participate in hands-on cooking classes. http://www.ciachef.edu/enthusiasts/


First Class Cooking – If you are looking for casual cooking classes taught out of the instructor’s home, First Class Cooking is a great option. Each of the standard cooking classes is $55 and includes instructions for the meal, copies of the recipes and a sit-down dinner following the class. www.firstclasscooking.com


Tante Marie’s Cooking School – located in San Francisco, this small cooking school offers courses for non-students that include Weekend Workshops, One-Day Workshops and Cooking Vacations. You can also host your own private cooking parties. Bring together 20 to 30 of your friends to prepare a 3-course meal in Tante Marie’s kitchen. Then enjoy the meal over wine and good conversation. www.tantemarie.com


Written by Linzi

2 comments:

Unknown said...

HI Linzi,
Great blog post! Why not have everyone be where they really want to be - in the kitchen. I also wanted to share that my company, Parties That Cook (www.partiesthatcook.com) offered cooking parties in the home and we also offer cooking classes. Check out some of our offerings this year (we have some fun single and then couples cooking classes for Valentine's Day).

Karen and Linzi said...

Thanks for letting us know about Parties That Cook. We'll include the Valentine's Day classes in our Local Events section of our email newsletter as we get closer to the date. The classes sound like a lot of fun!