This is simply a journal of my food adventures, mainly in Vancouver, BC. Basically, a place for me to live out my long-time fantasy of being a restaurant reviewer. I hope that readers will find the reviews useful. I will include random bits about other foodie adventures like grocery and cookware shopping, cooking/baking projects, cooking classes, and eventually I’ll add a cartoon – The Adventures of Ha Gow, my little Chinese dim sum shrimp-filled dumpling dude. Foodies of the city, unite!
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Cookshop Classes
I was given the fun gift of cooking class certificates from the Cookshop a while back. When I take the classes, I'll blog them of course! In the meantime, anyone ever taken classes there? Any recommendations for particular classes/presenters?
I've taken two classes there last fall. One was Thai cooking. The other was a demo from the staff of the new Vintropolis restaurant. The Thai class was basic and didn't do much for me. However the Vintropolis class was also a wine-pairing event so for each course that Chef Mike Lamppu made we were able to sample a different wine recommended by their sommelier Deanna. Needless to say I had a good time. The piece de resistance was the molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, candied pecans and a Whiskey sauce, paired with an ice wine I forget the name to (by that time in the evening I couldn't care less .....). Folks if you got a sweet tooth like I do, the molten chocolate cake is an experience to remember.
Back to reality ... anyway where was I ? Oh yeah, cooking classes. Most of Cookshop's classes are "hands-off" demos which I find far less appealing than hands-on classes where you actually practice the techniques. I've been enrolling in class series at the new Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver (NWCAV) on Main and 12th. The chefs Tony Minichiello and Christophe Kwiatkowsky are ex-Dubrulle instructors very passionate about their craft but more importantly are excellent instructors. I'm in the middle of the French Regional Cuisine right now and loving it. Last fall I took the Serious Foodies Part I which got me hooked on NWCAV (probably for life).
Thanks for your comments, Ken! I have been considering some of the classes given by the restaurant chefs. I am also considering the Cupcakes class, since I recently tried making cupcakes with buttercream icing, and they were yummy, but the icing wasn't exactly what I was going for, and I have really enjoyed what I've had from Cupcakes (on Denman). I was browsing the NWCAV website recently. Sounds like fun. I once took a 10-week chocolate course from Vancouver Community College (where most of the class were in or wanting to be in the food industry) - another great gift that I received from a friend - and I think it only cost something like $65 for the whole course. An exceptional value, especially since I think I ate that much in chocolate while I was there...
Local college classes and/or VSB classes are inexpensive and easy on the wallet. I've taken my share over the years myself. I have to say though that chef-taught classes are in a league of their own. They cost much more, but in the long run you get more quality instruction for your money.
Hi, I took a hands-on breadmaking class in July at the Cookshop and was very disappointed because we worked in groups of 6 (way too many) and in my group of 6, 2 of the people were Cookshop employees (i.e. people not even paying for this class that was not cheap). One of the 2 employees was totally hogging the bread so the 5 of us spent most of the time watching. I DID try a few times to ask if I could have a turn but gave up after a while. I brought a co-worker to this class and she too was disappointed for the same reason (since she was in my group of 6). I complained to Cookshop and they told me that it was not their problem so I'm very disappointed with their customer service (or lack thereof). Even VSB has a "customer satisfaction" policy. I think Cookshop has a bit of a snobbish attitude since there aren't many choices for cooking classes in Vancouver. Since then, I've also taken a VSB 4-session cooking class. It was much cheaper than Cookshop, fun and hands-on, but a bit disorganized. I think it might depend on the instructor though so maybe other ones might be more organized.
DON'T TAKE CLASSES AT THE COOKSHOP located at City Square Shopper Center in Vancouver, BC. My experience with the Cookshop was incredibly negative and I didn't even get the opportunity to attend the class! Please read on... I registered for an Indian cooking class with my daughter (a birthday gift) in December, 2010 and 5 days before the class was to begin, I received news that my mother, who lives in Ontario, was very ill. I needed to travel to Ontario immediately. I called the Cookshop and asked if I could transfer to the January 7th Indian cooking class. I was told that I COULD NOT because I had not called within 7 days of the class. I explained that my mother was ill and I had to go away but would like to take the class the following month. Both the manager and the owner were adamant that they could do nothing to help me. If I didn't attend the class, I would lose my money. There was no consideration given to the reason for my request, a very ill parent who lived in a different part of Canada. No compassion. There were several unpleasant phone calls and emails as well as unreturned calls from the owner of the store. I lost $180 and will never attend another class at the Cookshop. DO NOT BOOK A CLASS AT THE COOKSHOP, A STORE THAT HAS NO CONCEPT OF CUSTOMER SERVICE AND ARE INCONSIDERATE OF CUSTOMER NEEDS.
DON'T TAKE CLASSES AT THE COOKSHOP located at City Square Shopper Center in Vancouver, BC. My experience with the Cookshop was incredibly negative and I didn't even get the opportunity to attend the class! Please read on... I registered for an Indian cooking class with my daughter (a birthday gift) in December, 2010 and 5 days before the class was to begin, I received news that my mother, who lives in Ontario, was very ill. I needed to travel to Ontario immediately. I called the Cookshop and asked if I could transfer to the January 7th Indian cooking class. I was told that I COULD NOT because I had not called within 7 days of the class. I explained that my mother was ill and I had to go away but would like to take the class the following month. Both the manager and the owner were adamant that they could do nothing to help me. If I didn't attend the class, I would lose my money. There was no consideration given to the reason for my request, a very ill parent who lived in a different part of Canada. No compassion. There were several unpleasant phone calls and emails as well as unreturned calls from the owner of the store. I lost $180 and will never attend another class at the Cookshop. DO NOT BOOK A CLASS AT THE COOKSHOP, A STORE THAT HAS NO CONCEPT OF CUSTOMER SERVICE AND ARE INCONSIDERATE OF CUSTOMER NEEDS.
7 comments:
I've taken two classes there last fall. One was Thai cooking. The other was a demo from the staff of the new Vintropolis restaurant. The Thai class was basic and didn't do much for me. However the Vintropolis class was also a wine-pairing event so for each course that Chef Mike Lamppu made we were able to sample a different wine recommended by their sommelier Deanna. Needless to say I had a good time. The piece de resistance was the molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, candied pecans and a Whiskey sauce, paired with an ice wine I forget the name to (by that time in the evening I couldn't care less .....). Folks if you got a sweet tooth like I do, the molten chocolate cake is an experience to remember.
Back to reality ... anyway where was I ? Oh yeah, cooking classes. Most of Cookshop's classes are "hands-off" demos which I find far less appealing than hands-on classes where you actually practice the techniques. I've been enrolling in class series at the new Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver (NWCAV) on Main and 12th. The chefs Tony Minichiello and Christophe Kwiatkowsky are ex-Dubrulle instructors very passionate about their craft but more importantly are excellent instructors. I'm in the middle of the French Regional Cuisine right now and loving it. Last fall I took the Serious Foodies Part I which got me hooked on NWCAV (probably for life).
Check out: www.nwcav.com
That reminds me, I still have two more gift certificates at The Cookshop that I have to use sometime soon.
Thanks for your comments, Ken! I have been considering some of the classes given by the restaurant chefs. I am also considering the Cupcakes class, since I recently tried making cupcakes with buttercream icing, and they were yummy, but the icing wasn't exactly what I was going for, and I have really enjoyed what I've had from Cupcakes (on Denman). I was browsing the NWCAV website recently. Sounds like fun. I once took a 10-week chocolate course from Vancouver Community College (where most of the class were in or wanting to be in the food industry) - another great gift that I received from a friend - and I think it only cost something like $65 for the whole course. An exceptional value, especially since I think I ate that much in chocolate while I was there...
Local college classes and/or VSB classes are inexpensive and easy on the wallet. I've taken my share over the years myself. I have to say though that chef-taught classes are in a league of their own. They cost much more, but in the long run you get more quality instruction for your money.
Cupcakes classes mmmm.
Hi, I took a hands-on breadmaking class in July at the Cookshop and was very disappointed because we worked in groups of 6 (way too many) and in my group of 6, 2 of the people were Cookshop employees (i.e. people not even paying for this class that was not cheap). One of the 2 employees was totally hogging the bread so the 5 of us spent most of the time watching. I DID try a few times to ask if I could have a turn but gave up after a while. I brought a co-worker to this class and she too was disappointed for the same reason (since she was in my group of 6). I complained to Cookshop and they told me that it was not their problem so I'm very disappointed with their customer service (or lack thereof). Even VSB has a "customer satisfaction" policy. I think Cookshop has a bit of a snobbish attitude since there aren't many choices for cooking classes in Vancouver. Since then, I've also taken a VSB 4-session cooking class. It was much cheaper than Cookshop, fun and hands-on, but a bit disorganized. I think it might depend on the instructor though so maybe other ones might be more organized.
DON'T TAKE CLASSES AT THE COOKSHOP located at City Square Shopper Center in Vancouver, BC. My experience with the Cookshop was incredibly negative and I didn't even get the opportunity to attend the class! Please read on... I registered for an Indian cooking class with my daughter (a birthday gift) in December, 2010 and 5 days before the class was to begin, I received news that my mother, who lives in Ontario, was very ill. I needed to travel to Ontario immediately. I called the Cookshop and asked if I could transfer to the January 7th Indian cooking class. I was told that I COULD NOT because I had not called within 7 days of the class. I explained that my mother was ill and I had to go away but would like to take the class the following month. Both the manager and the owner were adamant that they could do nothing to help me. If I didn't attend the class, I would lose my money. There was no consideration given to the reason for my request, a very ill parent who lived in a different part of Canada. No compassion. There were several unpleasant phone calls and emails as well as unreturned calls from the owner of the store. I lost $180 and will never attend another class at the Cookshop. DO NOT BOOK A CLASS AT THE COOKSHOP, A STORE THAT HAS NO CONCEPT OF CUSTOMER SERVICE AND ARE INCONSIDERATE OF CUSTOMER NEEDS.
DON'T TAKE CLASSES AT THE COOKSHOP located at City Square Shopper Center in Vancouver, BC. My experience with the Cookshop was incredibly negative and I didn't even get the opportunity to attend the class! Please read on... I registered for an Indian cooking class with my daughter (a birthday gift) in December, 2010 and 5 days before the class was to begin, I received news that my mother, who lives in Ontario, was very ill. I needed to travel to Ontario immediately. I called the Cookshop and asked if I could transfer to the January 7th Indian cooking class. I was told that I COULD NOT because I had not called within 7 days of the class. I explained that my mother was ill and I had to go away but would like to take the class the following month. Both the manager and the owner were adamant that they could do nothing to help me. If I didn't attend the class, I would lose my money. There was no consideration given to the reason for my request, a very ill parent who lived in a different part of Canada. No compassion. There were several unpleasant phone calls and emails as well as unreturned calls from the owner of the store. I lost $180 and will never attend another class at the Cookshop. DO NOT BOOK A CLASS AT THE COOKSHOP, A STORE THAT HAS NO CONCEPT OF CUSTOMER SERVICE AND ARE INCONSIDERATE OF CUSTOMER NEEDS.
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