Bespoke Cuisine

July 30, 2010

Bespoke Cuisine

Our fun group with the chef!

A friend of mine invited me to a "cooking party" at Bespoke Cuisine and I decided to go with her and some friends a few weeks back now. I've taken a few cooking classes over the years and have enjoyed dabbling in some gourmet cooking (the best part is eating gourmet cooking, but I enjoy making it too ;). I wasn't sure what to expect from this cooking night, but knew we would be in an actual chef's kitchen and we would help prepare some of the food.

Our group of 5 ladies had a fabulous time. We were advised ahead of time that the party was BYOB, so we visited a wine store across the street on the way in. Then we waited in a short line to enter the kitchen and select which part of meal we would cook (4 course meal with two appetizers). The tables were all nicely set up for us and we dropped off our wine at the bar to be served to us upon request. Though a bit tight of an area for a lot of people, we mingled and sampled appetizers before the cooking began. While heading into the kitchen to meet our chef, we were told that they subscribed to the Julia Child cooking method there, which was, "Bringing your wine with you in the kitchen while you cook!" :)

Our group assembled an olive tapenade & goat cheese that was absolutely delicious! And I'm not really that fond of olives, but the balance of flavors really went well together. The ingredients included a few types of olives, goat cheese, canned chopped tomatoes and some herbs and spices (hold the salt! Olives are very salty). We were encouraged to ask our chef any questions about being in the restaurant business, for cooking tips, specific questions about our dish or anything else we were wondering about working in a restaurant.

One thing that was different from this cooking party versus other cooking classes I'd taken was that we prepared only one dish per group and there were probably too many "helpers" per dish. Some people were content to observe (and drink ;) a little more, however, and others jumped right in to chop, mix, etc. It was a crowded and noisy kitchen, but we were able to follow the instructions to get our appetizer in the oven and ready to go. Once we were done, our "cooking" was over for the night and we observed other people still working on their courses. My friend and I both agreed that although we had a wonderful time, this was more of an "eating a great meal with some cooking tips" rather than a "cooking class." As long as your expectations are set at that level, you will have a great time.

A definite "perk" of this style of cooking party was that there were waiters and staff around to clean up EVERYTHING, from the dishes we cooked with to the plates we ate on and we were served drinks and our food at our table. This was a nice change from a classic cooking class where I'd be feeling tired from being on my feet cooking all evening and knowing that the clean up was still to come. This cooking party came with first class service, which I really enjoyed- especially after all that wine! :)

The meal was AMAZING. The base cost per person of a party is $80 (not including gratuity) or $60 per person for a group of two or more. I felt the evening was well worth the group price. It was a fun event, gave some cooking instruction and we had a fabulous 4 course meal. Our meal was: Olive tapenade & goat cheese, Onion soup sips (appetizers), Arugula & mixed green salad (salad course), Beef strips with very tasty herb roasted fingerling potatoes (entree) and a molten chocolate cakes for dessert! I'll definitely be back again in the future!