Candace J.
Yelp
I got to take Chef Bob's cooking class last night and wow what a fantastic experience!
My in-laws purchased a ticket for me for my birthday last year so it only took me 4 months to find the time (and an open spot) to go. I tried to convince my husband to go with me (I don't like going solo to anything...it makes my introverted self nervous) but he didn't want to spend money on the admittedly expensive ticket. So... alone I went. I ended up having a great time and it wasn't an issue that I didn't have a +1; if anything, it worked to my advantage (on the entree dish everyone else had to share a pan but I got my own).
Chef Bob did a great job with setting the ambiance of the space- lots of natural light from the windows while it is still light out, the player grand piano played music, the beautiful table setting. It all created such an elegant yet still somehow a casual feel. I was pretty envious of the tableware- the china is GORG! And, he has specially made signature flatware. Pretty cool.
The evening was a great opportunity to get ideas for a nice dinner with guests, maybe for Easter or some other special event.
On to the food- upon arrival Chef had everything individually portioned out for us so that we really only did minor knife work like slicing the 1/4 onion or bell pepper strips. For each course, he walked us through the ingredients, sent us to the cooktops, walked us through cooking and then we got to sit down and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Each course came with a tasting of wine paired for the dish (as they called it in the reservation) which really ended up being a full glass of wine (yay!). Throughout, Chef was entertaining us with stories of his time in France, his tv shows, and his life as well as giving us practical knowledge like how to properly place food in a pan to avoid splattering yourself with hot oil, what his favorite cooking oil is, or how to make a great sauce for any meal.
He didn't mind in the slightest that we were all photographing the evenings events, food, ingredients, etc. He does not provide recipe cards or a menu for the evening so if you want to remember what or how you made the food then snapping pictures is the easiest way to go about it.
We had one attendee that had a nut allergy and Chef was prepared ahead of time to accomodate her allergy. There must have been a place to make a note to the chef in the reservation but I didn't notice it.
Plan ahead!! The spots fill up quickly! Only 12 seats per class.