Chicago Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Kitchen Rental for Cooking Classes
Those of us who attended the book club meeting this month mentioned something about cooking classes as a potential GTG. I was reading the Chicago Tribune's Good Eating Awards and they mentioned this company called Kitchen Chicago in Ravenswood. It is a kitchen facility to rent. Rental for 1-10 hours is about $20-$24/hour. Check them out at kitchenchicago.com. One catch is that each customer is responsible for cleaning the kitchen, including all equipment, tables, and floors. You also need to bring utensils and items such as tin foil or plastic wrap. You can bring your own food or order food from them. I just wanted to throw this out there.
Noticed that you also need these items. Not sure what it costs or how to obtain them.
- A valid City of Chicago Food Service Sanitation Certificate
- Proof of liability insurance with Kitchen Chicago listed as additional insured
- A signed operating agreement with Kitchen Chicago
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Re: Kitchen Rental for Cooking Classes
There is also Parties That Cook which can hold private cooking classes, but prices range from Prices range from $65 to $115 per person. Might be nice as a one time thing. Given all the stipulations to what is above for the kitchen rental, it may cost that in the end anyway and this way we have an expert teaching.
At The Wooden Spoon in Andersonville for a demonstration party:
Size: Minimum 14 participants
Cost: $60.00 per person
BYOB: You and your guests are invited to bring your own wine or any other beverage of choice. If you would like wine pairing with your meal, we will be happy to provide a wine sommelier for an additional $150.00 per event, plus the cost of the wine.
Class length: A 2-1/2 hour cooking demonstration instructed by one of The Spoon's chefs
Party length: Your party is welcome to enjoy The Spoon's spacious facilities for up to three hours, including class time. Before or after class, be sure to stroll through the historic Andersonville neighborhood.
Recipes: Each guest will receive copies of all recipes presented in the class
Just wanted to throw it out there, but I host culinary events/parties and have done private parties and cooking events for individuals/groups.I'm in the process of coordinating with folks in the food industry here to put together some cooking/baking events for the National What's Cooking Nest Board GTG later this year.
My group is What's Cooking Chicago and we've been featured on WGN News, RedEye, Chicago Tribune, The Nest, etc. You can read about our media exposure HERE.
I've worked and used Kitchen Chicago for my culinary events and know the owners. If you're interested in doing an event there, I have the required docs/licenses to use their facilities.
For an idea of what kinds of [private] events I host, you can view THIS PAGE. Events cost between $5-$10 per person for potlucks, $20-$30 per person for hands on interactive cooking/baking sessions and are all negotiable depending on culinary themes or menus we would create together.
If you're interested in wanting to do a PRIVATE (meaning, only those you wish to invite) culinary event, hands on cooking session or anything involving cooking or baking at home or at a specific venue, feel free to check out my website, our culinary group, What's Cookin Chicago or email me at itsjoelen@gmail.com
For reference, here are the culinary events/GTG I've hosted in the past and continue to do:
CHEF SPOTLIGHT DINNERS
My Chef Spotlight Dinners highlight a specific chef or a group of chefs for the contributions they have made to the culinary community. Each month friends prepare a dish of the chosen chef(s) to share for a potluck dinner I host. Together we enjoy & talk about our dishes, the chef(s) & their contributions and have a wonderful evening with friends & food.
IN THE KITCHEN
Being an organizer of a cooking group, my friends and I definitely spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen. In the past, we started out working in a commercial kitchen but we got too big! So these days I'll host various cooking classes & interactive cooking events in my home. Here you'll find the different events I've hosted focused on specific foods and/or food themes.
FOODIE FILMS
As an avid movie fan, I especially like movies that that has a definite culinary viewpoint as part of the story line. To combine both food and film, I created these events where attendees prepare a potluck dish inspired by the chosen culinary inspired movie and we watch the movie together.
WINE & DINES
After a trip to the wine country of Sonoma & Napa, CA, I was inspired to learn more about wine. I love researching about food and sharing what I've learned with others. Every month I host an event, 'Wine & Dine', and friends come over to learn about specific wine varietals and enjoy tasting many of them over paired foods of a certain theme/cuisine. These links capture the wines we've tasted along with the types of foods we served them with.
TASTING SESSIONS
FOOD SWAPSTasting Sessions takes the principle behind a wine tasting nine steps further and features step-by-step instructions for hosting different types of tastings including: wine, chocolate, tea, honey, balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, cheese, apples, beer and cured meats. It's a unique concept of 'deep tasting,' opening up the palate by slowly savoring a food or drink in a structured fashion.
Most people are familiar with Holiday Cookie Swaps, but I've taken it a step further to incorporate the idea & concept throughout the year. Every month, friends prepare the chosen food that can be easily shared and/or portioned. When we get together, everyone takes home their portion of all our offerings to enjoy for themselves.
Hey Celiabeth,
Yeah, since I've been laid off from my corporate job, I have quite a bit of time now and I'm doing culinary events full time and have been doing smaller private catering and personal group events outside of the Meetup group. If the Chicago nestie gals want to do an event, I'd be happy to share tips, host an event to do hands on/interactive cooking/baking in the kitchen or whatever the ladies had in mind. This would be strictly for those invited as a private event (like Chicago nesties only), not opened up to Meetup members or anything.
I think it would be great to have a Chicago nesties only event to get to know each other better. The links above are just some ideas of the types of GTGs we could do - wine tastings, hands on interactive cooking/baking in a kitchen, potlucks, culinary neighborhood tours, etc. These are events I've done for my culinary group and could certainly do them for Chicago nesties only if others are interested. Let me know if/how you'd like me to help.
For other places offering cooking classes, here's a comprehensive list of places in the city/burbs, also broken down by time and location. There's about 100+ places if you want to review and compare costs, what's included, etc.
If there are any you're interested in, let me know as I may know the folks behind the facility and could get a group or food industry discount.
Joelen,
I love the list. Definitely something we need to think about. I believe two of the Chicago Nesties are going to co-host a wine night next month and this may help them. I think we discussed potentially doing a general GTG every other month, this may be a great option for May. Other nesties, please chime in!
Thanks for doing this! I think the cooking class sounds great. I also think May sounds good. I don't have the time to check out all the links atm, but I will as soon as I can!