20 replies to this topic

[Mike K.]

I'd be interested in taking hands-on cooking courses if there are any in the region. I'm aware of courses where a group just watches a chef cook, but I'd prefer to follow along.

[Holden West]

Why pay, you schmuck? Get a job at a hotel restaurant and they pay you !

[Ms. B. Havin]

Why pay, you schmuck? Get a job at a hotel restaurant and they pay you !

Ah, well that would explain why the quality leaves much to be desired in some (many?) of those hotel restaurants?? I prefer to have the food I pay dearly for prepared by trained professionals, not wannabe amateurs....

I think Mike is on to a niche market opportunity, frankly. I bet there are plenty of people who would want to learn from hands-on courses, and one way to cater to that niche would be to open a kitchen-wares store with a working kitchen, and offer on-going classes. That way, you sell your retail wares, and you keep getting new clients, too...

[m0nkyman]

Isn't there a kitchen in the downtown Bay where they do courses... or was that back when it was Eatons?

[Mike K.]

I think Mike is on to a niche market opportunity, frankly. I bet there are plenty of people who would want to learn from hands-on courses, and one way to cater to that niche would be to open a kitchen-wares store with a working kitchen, and offer on-going classes. That way, you sell your retail wares, and you keep getting new clients, too...

Oh man, that is a fantastic business idea!

[larrobb]

learn from the best- Steve at Sec's On The Square in Centennial Sqaure. check out the website and click on cooking classes: http://www.secsonthesquare.com/

[Mike K.]

Sweet...

[Ms. B. Havin]

Cool, re. Sec's! Here's another one: The link Caramia posted to [url=http://www.charellis.com/p2.htm:8580d]Charelli's[/url:8580d] cheeses on Foul Bay Rd. (in the 'bakeries' thread) includes a link to LiquorPlus, which offers cooking classes at their Douglas Street Event Centre. See [url=http://www.liquorplus.ca/ecentre.php?type=demo:8580d]this page[/url:8580d].

[VicHockeyFan]

Sec's isn't where it was anymore. Now its called Detour or something. I don't know what happened, it was there last week. :|

[vandervalk]

Thanks for the info. I called Sec's this morning using the number found at the bottom of the PDF for cooking classes and it just rang though to a fax line. I then called the main # shown on the website and went into a recorded message saying the inbox was full and I couldn't leave a message.

Something doesn't seem right there.

[lushka]

My husband took some cooking lessons at Cheryl's Gourmet Pantry on Fort & Foul Bay. Does anyone know if that's still there?

[larrobb]

re the difficulty contacting Sec's..... i know that Chef Steve is in the process of taking over Ambrosia event centre on Fisgard, plus taking over Meals on Wheels. he's a busy guy and is likely in the midst of transition, haven't spoken to him in a few months. BUT, once he's settled in, check back to see if cooking classes are available. the man is literally world class, but a Victoria product who has come home. maybe the business has outgrown lessons, i don't know. but if i was going to pay for lessons, this is the guy i'd go with. being familiar with his catering, i have no hesitation to recommend his talent, or that of his wife. a culinary power couple, one of Victoria's best kept secrets.

[Mike K.]

Very good. I'm stoked about this.

Were the lessons that he offered hands on, by chance?

[larrobb]

hands on for sure, Steve was proud to stress the fact that he wanted his clients to take part and actually do the cooking with his guidance. his set-up at Sec's in Centennial Square was ideal for such a thing, don't know what the new operation will offer. jeez Mike, if only i'd seen your question a few months earlier, you'd be a sought after foodie by now! with luck you'll still have the chance, keep your ears open about Ambrosia. what the new operation will offer is anyone's guess, but i have no doubt it will be first class. just remember the name Steve Walker-Duncan. he does a tonne of stuff in the community and with the holidays just around the corner you're bound to hear his name attached to a number of local events. his gingerbread house at the Bay Centre fundraiser last year blew away the competition. and if you get the chance to sample his food....go for the venison...ooohhhh......

[Mike K.]

Thanks for the info, larrobb. I'm keen on this and will keep my eyes and ears open.

Speaking of which, I wonder if he'd enjoy this website...?

[seadrake]

...LiquorPlus, which offers cooking classes at their Douglas Street Event Centre. See this page[/url:8580d].

Sadly, it's set up as a large classroom, certainly doesn't appear to be hands-on.

The Ambrosia Event Centre (Steve Walker-Duncan's project?) website at www.ambrosiacatering.ca is still showing nothing much at all, but for a contact number. I understand from the business news from last October, he's got his hands full having taken on Meals On Wheels as an adjunct to or in addition to the Simply Elegant Cuisine catering business.

I've always been VERY interested in participating in a local cooking class, hands-on, with a chef I much admire, maybe Karen Barnaby from over the way or even a local well-respected chef such as Steve Walker-Duncan

So much so, that I am the lucky recipient of a Christmas gift I get to use in May, at the popular and heavily pre-booked hands-on Vancouver Chef-for-a-Day "course" offered via [url]www.edible-britishcolumbia.com.

I feel Victoria's underserved with such opportunities...sometimes I think such sites should be called Edible Vancouver....dang it.

[Rorschach]

You can always go to culinary school at Royal Roads.

[chefsteve]

Steve here from SEC's on the Square! Someone just told me about this blog and I'm flattered to read your comments. The recent expansion of our business has meant the cooking classes are on hold for a little while but we have been talking about relaunching them at Ambrosia Conference and Events Centre on Fisgard St. I take an enormous amount of satisfaction from expanding peoples horizons on a culinary level. We all have to eat and if we have the ability to cook for our selves and our loved ones we are doing two things, providing sustenance and creating community in our own environs. That may seem on the surface somewhat idealistic or even pompous but anybody who has participated in my classes will know that by the end of it they have learned at the very least one new culinary skill and more than likely met and interacted with new people. I believe that this is one of the ways our society will prevail in these days of; the internet (anyone notice the irony???), cell phones, television, take out food and the general isolationism we see all around us. When we get back to the family dinner table; parents and children communicate, issues are discussed, problems aired, experiences are shared.
The interesting thing is that we professional cooks do not do anything that is beyond 99% of the people in our community. We practice skills that make us faster and more precise but the basics of what we do is pretty simple. I should be careful here as I'm quickly talking myself out of a job and a business! What is important is that we as consumers stop relying on the food processors for all of our intake and learn some of the simple skills that make cooking fun and satisfying. That is my goal whenever I give a class, to make sure that everybody regardless of their competency level will leave with the confidence to try something new and be prepared to stretch themselves a little to really enjoy the art of cooking.
The new Ambrosia and Simply Elegant Cuisine web sites are up and while still under final construction will provide contact information and news about up-coming events.
www.ambrosiacentre.com
www.simplyelegantcuisine.com

[G-Man]

I couldn't agree more. The times I enjoy cooking the most is when it is done a social activity. Perhaps that is why I enjoyed cooking in restaurants for so long.

[Holden West]

True. I always try to bring my restaurant experiences into the home. Er, except for the excessive alcohol and cocaine.