Calphalon Cooking Classes

Just a quick post to say that I recently took the 6 week "basics" series of cooking classes at the Calphalon Culinary Center in the West Loop and I loved it. I learned more in that one-class-a-week course than in almost any other class I've ever taken (cooking or otherwise), and have already applied the techniques we covered to my own cooking many times. They have a full calendar of one-off classes as well, and those are probably are good too.

I literally left every class SO EXCITED about what I had cooked/learned. The teacher was great, the facility was great, the recipes were great and easy to adapt/adjust, plus everyone went home with LOTS of left overs (which made my friends really happy). Plus it was BYOB, although unfortunately I couldn't really indulge since I had to get up way freakin' early the next mornings.

Anyway, anyone who wants details about what the class was like just send me a message. You can also go to their website www.calphalonculinarycenter.com

I don't work for Calphalon in any capacity, I just really enjoyed the classes and wanted to pass along the recommendation for anyone looking for good, hands-on cooking classes in Chicago. (Or Toronto, apparently!)

I thoroughly agree with you and I don't work for Calphalon either.

I think the Calpalon hands-on classes are the best I've taken in the city also.
When they say hands on they mean it. Every student gets their own work station so they go through the recipes from A to Z (except for some of the prep work). They aren't afraid to let you stir-fry or sear your own food.

They have quality support people working there to watch and help the students.

My only complaint is that the classes fill-up too quickly.

I couldn't agree any more -- Calphalon is the best place to take hands-on classes. I took the knife skills class, and I learned so much! We made a delicious stir-fry, and I was also sent home with lots of leftovers. The instructor was really great too - knowledgeable and friendly.

katdug wrote:I think the Calphalon hands-on classes are the best I've taken in the city also.

have you (or anyone else) taken a class at The Chopping Block - i'm wondering how they compare to the Calphalon classes?

some friends gave us a gift certificate to the Chopping Block as a wedding shower gift (a great idea, by the way - different and fun and probably something we would not have done otherwise). The four of us signed up for the hands-on dumpling class a couple of months ago and it was a lot of fun. Since each couple already did a fair amount of cooking at home, we wanted to choose a class that would be fun and interesting. This class fit the bill pretty well - while it included some basics like spring rolls and pot stickers, it added empanadas, pierogies, and lumpia (filipino egg rolls). Everything ended up quite tasty - the lumpia were delicious and extremely quick to make; the filling for the empanadas was delicious; i thought the pierogies would have been more complicated, but now think we might be inclined to try making them again on our own.

i thought we got a good and varied list of recipes, a good amount of food (some of which we ate there and the rest to take home), and the set-up allowed each group to have their own station with ingredients, pots, tools, etc. While we did think it was fun, and even more so since we were with friends, I'm not sure that I would do it again given the costs involved (iirc, $150/couple). It certainly is more convenient - having someone else put everything together in one nice setup and take care of cleanup - but at the same time, i think i'd probably rather spend the money to buy ingredients and get together with some friends to come up with a theme and experiement on our own...

shyne

I've never taken a class at the Chopping Block. It sounds like the group got it's own station at $75 per person. Was there much personal attention paid to the students?

Calphalon's hands-on for singles are $95. The couple's night is $160 for two. It is either one or two per station, with most of the prep work done. I also got some feed-back on the taste of the food.

I've also taken classes at Sur La Table, Marshall Field's and The Wooden Spoon. My main complaint is that there was not enough personal attention.
I spent much, too much time on prep work (ie: chopping garlic, slicing carrots, cleaning pea pods, etc.). I know prep work is important but for a hands-on class at $65 to $75, I want more actual cooking experience.

Working with friends sounds great, if several know the basics and have some experience.