CLASS Culinary Lessons at A Southern Season

A little bit of class at Southern Season? Yep, that’s what they call their cooking classes here and they can be a lot of fun! Hit up the Southern Season website and peruse their long schedule of offerings ranging from baked goods, seasonal specials, sweets and more, appealing to a huge variety of foodies. While CLASS typically features a rotation of staff and local chefs leading their classes, there are also visiting chefs from local restaurants which is what really gets me excited. It’s a chance to sample the fare of a high-​end restaurant while not making a full commitment. I’ve had the chance to hit up two classes run by the chef from the Fairview Dining Room and Herons, two very high-​end spots.
You can now register online but once you get to Southern Season, head to the very back and go up the stairs by the ice cream parlor. At the top you’ll find the ladies-men’s room and a mod desk in the corner. Register in, grab a name tag and grab a seat in the demo kitchen (first come, first served). And what a nice kitchen it is at Southern Season! Granite counter tops, tons of cabinets and chopping area, overhead mirrors to display the actions and some serious stoves and ovens. They’ve got water and tea to tide you over until class starts. Typically you’ll have a couple of glasses of good wine along with the plates from the chef’s menu. Sometimes they will do it real-​time, other times they will have all the food prepped and the demo is just that.
But overall a fun night where you drink wine, eat good food, pick up some tips on cooking and do a Q&A with great chefs in the area. For $ 45 it’s really not a bad deal at all! And on the way out, go check out Southern Season in its quiet mode. Really odd to see the place nearly deserted but also very cool at the same time…

What a great date night or ladies night out! A Southern Season offers fun and informative classes in a state of the art facility. Love the stadium seating in the cooking «theatre», where you sit back and watch the show. I’ve been to a number of classes and enjoyed every one of them. While some are a bit pricey, and you don’t actually do any cooking — you get gourmet food served to you, printed menus (with instructions) and in some cases wine/​beer pairings. With engaging chefs, live feed TV showing you the techniques and comfortable seating it’s like dinner and a show! The best part is that you walk away feeling rejuvenated about cooking. A fun experience for the gourmet or the gourmet at heart.

In a vain attempt to expand my cooking repertoire, I took a class here; and I dragged my boyfriend along. It had its pros and cons. The kitchen space is on the second floor of Southern Season and is actually pretty impressive. Everything I wish my kitchen was — granite countertops, giant oven, stainless steel appliances, flat-​screen TV (alright, so that would go better in my living room, but at CLASS they use it to show the birds-​eye view of what’s happening in the kitchen). The chairs are lined up in rows facing the kitchen set. I’d recommend getting there a little early, especially if you’re doing it with friends, just to ensure that you get seating together. Also, aim to sit on the right-​hand or left-​hand side, rather than in the middle. My beau and I learned with disappointment that food is served from the outside in and from the front to back, so we managed to be the last people to get any of the courses — and a few times that meant getting the ‘bottom of the barrel’. Boo. When we weren’t distracted by how quickly the food would get to us and how much of it we’d be served, we payed close attention to the guest chef, Sheri Castle (who is actually local and does a number of appearances there). We had a print-​out of the menu along with recipes for making each of the dishes. What we didn’t have was our own kitchen, so know that this cooking class is very non-​hands-​on. You can take notes, you can ask questions, you might even walk away with a full tummy (sit on the outside edges!), remembering a few tid-​bits (how to caramelize a green pepper! [even though I have yet to attempt this]), but you’re not necessarily: learning: to cook.
Events. Check the schedule online to see what’s offered in the coming months. They pretty much have something going on every day of the week. And it’s not always a full dinner — you can do a pastry session, a focus-​class on chocolate, a kids’ class for making pizzas, a Valentine-​themed meal, etc. You can register and pay online (prices range, but generally are around $ 15 to 40 a class depending on what you’ll be served). Definitely check out Friday’s wine tasting. Great way to socialize, try some new wines, and kick off the weekend.