Had a fantastic cooking class at The Tasting Room on a Thursday night. The class is run by Chef Kurt Fleischfresser of The Coach House fame. I attended a class entitled "Chilling and Grilling," which, as you probably guessed, included grilled dishes that were hot and cold.
We arrived at 6 pm and had our choice of 2 long tables that seated about a dozen. There were also 6 or 8 seats right at the cooking station, but those were already taken. I imagine they are sought after, I will definitely try to get one of them in the future.
Our class was supposed to be partially outside and partially inside, but the unseasonably cold weather coupled with the rain prevented us from going outside. But, we had a TON of great dishes, including: chopped pork and grilled pineapple sandwiches, salmon and cantaloupe salad, grilled shrimp, lemon pound cake, beer braised bratwurst, okra stuffed with jalapeno and wrapped in bacon, and grilled peach salsa. I know I am forgetting some dishes, but you get so much, you absolutely get your money's worth. There were 6 wines that were paired with the dishes, and they were all fantastic. You get a list of the wines, so you can take them to your local wine shop if you want to buy some of the bottles later.
Chef Fleischfresser walks you through the entire preparation of every dish. They are created the morning of the event, so you don't get a recipe card, but you can take notes. Also, he is answering questions throughout the entire class, so if there is something you miss, feel free (feel encouraged, really) to ask. He buys the ingredients at a grocery store. The ingredients for our class came from Homeland. I like this because they are all products we could go buy ourselves, they weren't products only available to professional chefs or restaurants. The atmosphere was relaxed and fun. We talked quite a bit with our tablemates, as well as people at the other table.
The cost was $78 with the wine pairing, which may seem like a lot, but it was 3 hours of fun and fantastic food. I think it was about $15 less without the wine. I'd absolutely recommend attending classes held at The Tasting Room, I most certainly will be back. read more