By: Michael Sarko | December 10 2010
Posted in Seattle - Cook It - Seattle

Photo by Michael Sarko

What do you get for the budding foodie who has already collected all the kitchen equipment, top-notch cookbooks and rare oil infusions one could want? Well, you could certainly do worse than paying their way to a cooking class that suits their adventurous, refined tastes. Seattle is home to a variety of excellent schools of cuisine that are open to the public. It doesn't take years at Le Cordon Bleu to get access to skilled chef-teachers and five-star restaurant recipes. Some cooking classes are one-off crash courses in a particular dish, others are longer surveys on whole areas of cuisine, much like the friendly format of ballroom dance classes. Whether you're in it to pick up some new moves in the kitchen or looking for the perfect gift for that amateur gourmet in your life, be sure to check out some of Seattle's most impressive public culinary programs.
Just north of University Village you'll find the campus of Cook's World, a teaching kitchen that has been training aspiring chefs in Seattle for over 20 years. Their year-round classes cover every point on the cooking spectrum, from the basics of bread-making to the fundamentals of knife work and the nuances of regional cuisine. Cook's World ensures its students get a proper education from proven masters. They pull in guest teachers from some of Seattle's finest restaurants, including Dylan Giordan of the Italian eatery Serafina in Eastlake and Nick Musser of the 5^th Avenue favorite Icon Grill. Don't let this intimidate you, though. Cook's World offers classes for people at every skill level. If need be, they'll teach you how to boil water before you dive into the subtleties of gourmet pasta.

If you're looking for a way to introduce a young person who dreams of being a chef to the culinary arts, there's no better way than a kitchen camp experience at Blue Ribbon. The Children's Cooking Camp is the invention of Blue Ribbon founder Virginia Johns-Duppenthaler. A long-time resident of Madison Park, Virginia decided to bring kids into the kitchen for some serious (and seriously fun) cooking that went beyond the cookies and s'mores of the average summer program. 15 years later and the camp is going strong.

If fresh and local is your thing-- and why shouldn't it be? --the place to look in Seattle is at Diane's Market Kitchen. Minnesota native Diane LaVonne parlayed her career in catering and hospitality into a Seattle business aimed at bringing local foodies together with local ingredients to make intrepid chefs and proud cuisine. Located in Post Alley, that go-to spot for savvy Seattleites with big appetites, Diane's Market Kitchen is just around the corner from Pike Place Market and it uses that geographic convenience to its advantage. Diane's cooking classes focus on Northwestern food and wine, using the region's abundance of fresh ingredients to make truly stunning food. And hey, you might make some new friends while you're at it.

Cooking classes are great gifts because they provide lifelong skills and open up a world of possibilities for the essential experience of eating. Improve what's on your plate and you'll improve a fundamental aspect of your life. Seattle has plenty to offer in that realm, so get out there, get cooking and start eating better.

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