We are so excited to share with you a New Experience at A Chef’s!
Our New Food Lab’s are the brainchild of Chef Andrea and Chef Greg, and you!
Your feedback in recent years has been overwhelmingly in favor of more “in-depth” hands on options. We took time to consider how that could look, and it truthfully worked right into the path that Chef Andrea has been on for some time as well; one that leads to a slower pace in teaching style at The Studio with more time for deep dives into all the nuances found in many recipes. A chance to really take students step by step through each stage of a dish. So many recipes are actually a small collection of sub-recipes and this platform allows us to allow you to experience each level in real time.
Meanwhile, Chef Greg has been longing for the “chefing” we got to do with our Chef Table program, and has been itching to stretch his culinary legs and share exciting dishes he’s been dreaming up. This Food Lab platform, will allow for that as well! More focus on individual sauces, and perfect plating and pairing can be a core feature in this Lab series.
The Food Lab is a 3 hour workshop that is 100% entirely hands on with each student working at their own station and following along with our Chef’s in a step-by-step recipe building experience.
Students will be provided with washed veggies and some measured ingredients but for the most part, all parts of the recipe will be handled by the student from veggie prep to pasta making and dough preparations when applicable, sauce making, and cooking and assembling their final dish.
Each stage of the day’s recipe is fully hands on, student created.
All stages of each recipe are made from scratch including breads, sauces, dressings, etc.
The class will be set up as two, “islands” with four students per island and an instructor at each island.
Each student will have their own heat source (a gas burner) and will be provided with a clipboard with that afternoon’s recipes which are laminated to take home.
You will be provided with knives and cookware as needed, but we will also indicate classes that you are free to bring a pan or baking dish with you to both use in class and take your finished dish home in; check class description details for this information each time you sign up.
Any level experience is welcome as we will be a One-Chef-Per-Four-Student ratio so we are right there with you for each step of the way. This class experience will be a great addition to your time with us if you are a return customer, repeat demonstration customer ready to try hands on, or for our many Home Chef Series Graduates looking to take the hands on experience up a level.
Pasta making in various forms such as large no boil lasagna sheets for building a decadent white lasagna, three cheese ravioli, and even the amazing baked dish, timpano.
Soups from scratch with accompanying yeast breads and biscuits or crackers
International dishes in a deep dive covering history, concept, cooking and building with a focus on heritage, agricultural and cultural history.
Advanced preparation and presentation of high-end appetizers and entrees that in the past were offered by us for a dining experience only – now hands on with you.
Vegetarian dishes, and entrees that will for sure become signature dishes for you and your family.
We have always been customer-response driven and that continues in this awesome series.
Space is intentionally limited in these workshops to give everyone plenty of room to do their prep work which includes veggie and meat preparations as well as cooking each layer of the dish. We ask for one paid attendee for each reservation for this reason. Your premium price is in part due to the value of the extra space our very limited class number allows for.
You may reserve two paid separate spaces in the class per our usual method of leaving a message with your reservation but there will not be room for “shared” stations.
If you are a home chef graduate, please feel free to bring your apron, however, an apron for all will be provided for use during class.
When you sign up for your lab take a moment to read the details about the dish, we are preparing so you can make some choices about pans/baking dishes and inform us of any dietary concerns. Some classes will offer you a choice between two flavor profiles and we will ask you to let us know in advance in some of those instances so just read carefully.
In our Food Lab set up, we prepare a dish that is one you will take home to share. Your final dish is ready to go by the end of class – in some cases you may choose to bake it at home to serve – or set on the stove for a rewarm before serving that same day. We will also provide clear instructions for both storing and serving your creation later.
The pace of these labs is slow. We are offering ample time to receive tips and instruction on proper veggie preparation and mise en place for your recipes. We are taking you through each step in real-time as our chefs prepare the same stage of each dish with you. Plan for a full 3 hours with us. We will provide light snacks during class and will offer our Chef’s version of the day’s handiwork for your tasting at the end of class as well. Staying to snack a bit longer is fine and do plan for that when considering your timeframe that afternoon.
Studio Food Labs will run for a one week a month trial basis for now. We will list the theme on our regular calendar. There will be three workshop days to choose from in that week (all are the same theme). We will offer our Food Labs on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday 12pm-3pm. You chose the date that’s best for you. We plan to launch this exciting program in May 2024.
Our opening theme will be The Ultimate Chicken Pot Pie and here’s what to expect:
Each student will begin our session by setting up a Chicken Broth and Poached Chicken. As that simmers, we will dice our veggies and prepare a from scratch pie dough. We will be making a roux, sauteeing veggies, making a classic béchamel and a classic velouté, and will bring both together to form the sauce for the pie. We will use our broth for our velouté. We will fully assemble (and bake if you like) the pot pie. You can choose to make one 9x11 pot pie or two 6x7 pot pies. Dishes to prepare are provided and are refrigerator, freezer and oven safe. This class will give us a chance to review how to turn a few fundamentals in this recipe into homemade condensed chicken soup, as well as a fun twist that turns our sauces into a Cajun corn and chicken chowder – Chef Andrea and Chef Greg will have samples of both to sample. We plan to have plenty of time to talk, answer questions, build cook and eat. You take your afternoon’s handiwork home to share. Freezing and reheating tips provided.
Each food lab class is three full hours- 12pm – 3pm, and the cost is $125.00. All foods, recipes, and supplies are provided. As always help yourself wine, sparking water, coffee are also included. We will dine on snacks throughout, as well as finished versions of the main dish, and some special treats from the Chefs.
We have been serving this incredible community in our Hilden Road location for 17 years. Yeh. No kidding! And we have only you to thank for this. We are beyond honored to have been a part of this growing area for all of this time and have had an incredible time cooking and eating with you all.
In the years we have been working with you all, pricing is something I have worked hard to keep as accessible as possible. We have raised our prices only once from our initial offerings. And we are not raising prices for general calendar classes at this time, however, the Food Lab will require a very different level of sourcing, storage and time for our Staff. And we too are battling the ever-increasing food costs we all are so aware of these days. For these reasons the Food Lab will be offered at a higher fee than our standard calendar offerings. We believe the ingredients provided, the lesson and the experience are well worth the cost and we hope you will too.
As we have grown and moved through the years, our offerings have changed and we hope, also grown. We offer this Food Lab as the ultimate hands-on experience and are so excited to have you join us for this New Journey.
Lets get cooking! —Chef A.
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