How are the cooking classes at the Chopping Block???

I was wondering if anyone has taken the ‘intensive culinary bootcamp’ at the Chopping Block at the Merchandise Mart location.

I saw negative reviews at hxxp://kitchen.apartmenttherapy.com/foo ... -il-011916

The reviews did not refer to the Bootcamp per say and were dated so things may have changed. The program is not cheap. There does not seem to be anything comparable in the area a 1 week culinary intro. If anyone could provide insight that would be valuable!!

Thanks

Jon

Don't know about that particular class, but I think it entirely depends on your instructor, the class size, and what you're hoping to get out of it.

If you know the name of the instructor, you might ask if anyone has experience with that person.

I think more important, though, is to make sure this class is covering stuff that you want to learn and don't already know.

Also, class size and interactivity. Some Chopping Block classes are demos, others, you do stuff. Sounds like this is you do stuff.

If there are few people in the class, and you can ask questions and get could hands-on answers to your hearts content, you may find that valuable.

Aaron

Hi !!!

Thanks for your reply Aaron!! The class I'm planning to take looks like 2 other students + is hands on. AM lecture PM cooking. The content sounds OK. 1 day grain; 1 day sauces; 1 day flavor dynamics; 1 day basic knife skills; 1 day meats (more or less).

So to answer the question I spoke with the 'Director' the instructors are:

Lisa Futterman (LF)
Rachel Humphrey (RH)
Ariel Bagadiong (AB)
Peter Tignor (PT)
Malcolm Jessop (MJ)

Bios & Pics are at: http://www.thechoppingblock.net/classes.html

Please let me know if anyone has had experience with any of them!!

Jon

I've had two classes there - one knife skills and one all day intensive Bistro cooking. The first was good, basic stuff. Instructor mediocre but her assistant was quite good and I spent a lot of time getting ideas from him. I most like the ability to try out a dozen different knives to find the ones that suited me best.

All day intensive with Lisa Futterman. She was very good. It was a big class - maybe 15 people? We cooked about a dozen different dishes. I enjoyed the whole experience. I cook quite a bit, so preferred this cuisine - focused class to hone in on something new, although there were many beginner cooks as well.

I think its a great way to get some in-person feedback on your cooking technique, but as with many things you will get out of it what you put into it. Don't be shy about asking questions.

I did my classes at the Mart. An excellent learning facility.

Just returned home from taking the Pasta Workshop class at the Lincoln Square location. I took the class as a result of receiving a gift card as a birthday present.

There were about 15 students in our class. Mostly young couples and some singles. It was led by Carrie Bradley. She had two assistants. Our class was held in the 2nd floor kitchen. We were in groups of 4-5. Each group worked around a large butcher block counter in the middle of the room. The stoves and ovens are located along the perimeter.

Class moved at a decent, not hectic pace. Lot's of hands on get your hands dirty time. Good clear explanation by Carrie and her assistants were helpful. We made three different types of pasta along with three different sauces. The last 20-30 minutes of our 3 hour class were devoted to eating the results of our work. Good eats indeed.

I took a date to a class at the LS Chopping Block about 7-8 years ago. Made something, went to the Huttenbar, got a bit drunk then made out in my car.

She never called me again

Never went back for another