773.472.6700Two weeks ago my wife and I participated in a Couple’s Cooking Class at this great little Cooking School in Lincoln Square. I have to fess up, she started working there last month as their Event Sales Associate, so we there was some incentive to check it out and take a class. It was a great experience and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in Cooking / Food / Wine etc. I bought her a class one time when we were dating back in 99 or 2000 when they were located in the heart of Lincoln Park at Webster and Sheffield and she loved it. Since then, this business has grown out of that location and now has a location at Lincoln Square and at the Merchandise Mart. They offer an array of cooking classes and demonstrations that suit a wide range of people.The class in which we participated was a couple’s cooking class where we made a menu from scratch and enjoyed the meal with the other 3 couples that participated as well. Rachel, the chef that led our class, and her Cooking Assistant Liza were not only knowledgeable and experienced in their field, but they were extremely entertaining and had a lot of fun with the class. The meal we made was as follows; Marinated Olives, Panzanella Salad, Roasted Chicken with Green Olive Sauce, finished with Sweet Olive Oil Cake. It was even better than it sounds!I have been having a lot of fun cooking over the years for myself and our friends and what really made this class exciting for me was the tips that I learned for each step of the preparation that will make preparing food at home more fun and improve the results with all types of meals. There were a couple of people in the class that had not spent as much time cooking and Rachel was sure to play to everyone’s needs. In addition to the class, The Chopping Block also allows you to enjoy some beverages during the class and the dinner. They allow you to bring your own wine for a small corkage fee or you can buy wine from their interesting and fun selection. (They employ a full-time sommelier)
Everyone in the class had a great time, ate good food, and got to meet new people. I will definitely be going back for more classes! The average class is about $80/person and is well worth it for the quality of instruction, food, and experience you get in return.
Check out their web site for more information at www.thechoppingblock.net.The Chopping Block is just another reason why I think Lincoln Square has so much to offer. If you haven’t spent any time there, give it a shot. You won’t be disappointed. Regarding living in the neighborhood, there are still some great deals to be had, and the value keeps going up. Living there, you will have access to the train and enough retail to suit everyone’s needs. The beach isn’t too terribly far away, about two miles to give you an idea. An median 2bed/2ba condo with Parking is running about $345k with the nicest unit costing only $499k at 1800 sq ft. The median 1bd/1ba w/out parking is listed at $225k. For those of you with a little more discretionary income, the largest condo is listed at $549,900 for 3bd/3ba. Single family homes in this square mile range from $400k to $1.849M . That last home has 6 bedrooms and 4 full and 2 half baths. It looks unbelievable.Cheers!
No Comments Yet
No comments yet.
Comments RSS TrackBack Identifier URI
Leave a comment
