Sur La Table brings chefs
in for their cooking classes
By Suzanne Cristallo
Whether it's learning how to prepare the perfect birthday party for the kids, a classic French bistro dish for the next dinner party or chocolate and cognac tamales to knock the socks off the in-laws, Sur La Table in Los Gatos has a class for it next week.
The new kitchen supplies store in Old Town is offering three-hour-minimum cooking classes for the serious and not-so-serious lovers of food up to four times a week in its just-completed kitchen.
Through the efforts of the store's coordinator, Susie Dymoke, the cooking program features visiting dignitaries, local chefs and cookbook authors. "Generally, it's who people want to see," she says.
As a sample of what's planned for the fall/winter season, the program for Oct. 5 at 6:30 p.m. features Roland Passot, owner/chef of La Folie in San Francisco and co-owner of the Left Bank restaurants in Menlo Park and Larkspur.
Passot, a native of Lyon, France, will demonstrate the creation of a bistro menu, or what is regarded as solid, down-to-earth food in the French tradition. The menu, titled "Autumn on the Left Bank," consists of salade lyonnaise, characterized by the use of sautéed onions reduced with white wine and vinegar, then strained; beef bourguignonne, a classic stew; and tarte Tatin, an upside-down apple tart with a caramelized hard crust topped with cinnamon ice cream. Class fee is $55.
On Oct. 6 at 6:30 p.m., John Rivera Sedlar--termed "one of the most exciting" by Dymoke--will show a limited class of 16 how to prepare both classic and contemporary versions of the tamale. Sedlar, author of Modern Southwest Cuisine, Tamales, which presents his recipes for traditional Southwest foods combined with a French technique, will expand the Mexican dish into something quite different from the popular version for the hands-on class. Students first will learn how to make the traditional beef tamale wrapped in banana leaves and a sweet corn tamale with tomatillos. In the contemporary style, they will create a salmon mousse tamale with caviar and a chocolate and cognac tamale with candied chiles. Cost of the class is $75.
All the elements of the perfect children's birthday party--"fun, delicious and hassle-free," according to Dymoke--are outlined from start to finish by Betsy Reynolds Bateson on Oct. 9 at 9:30 a.m. A former food editor for Sunset magazine and now a food consultant, Bateson is the mother of two and experienced in theme-creation parties. She plans to show students how to decorate a cake, give them craft ideas for the party and suggest party favors around three themes: medieval revelry featuring a castle cake, jeweled tarts and "enchanted libation" for knights and fair maidens; a Choo-Choo Train Express with a three-foot cake and rail-and-tie snack mix; and a Fantasy Forest with Creepy Crawlers for wiggly preschoolers, spotlighting "black bat cake, worms and ladybug juice." Class fee is $40.
Later in the month, Miles Neal, executive chef at the Los Gatos California Cafe, presents "The Many Faces of the Pumpkin" in a variety of dishes. David Kinch, chef/owner of Saratoga's Sent Sovi, will cook up his Autumn Harvest menu, while Alice Waters, founder and owner of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, will be at the store to sign and discuss her latest book. Schedules for all upcoming classes and events may be obtained at the store.
Dymoke, a professional chef in England before settling in San Jose and taking on her position at Sur La Table, also is an after-hours caterer. But the hours for that calling have become very limited. "Business is incredible," she says of Sur La Table.
Sur La Table Cooking Classes, 23 University Ave., Los Gatos. 408.395.6946.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
