If one of your new year’s resolutions was to better yourself by partaking in further culinary education, we’ve got some fine options for you coming up in the next few months. In addition to the University School of Nashville Evening Classes I shared with you earlier this month, a restaurant, a favorite farm and a new cheese shop are all offering educational opportunities — with the bonus that, unlike in high school, you can eat and drink in class! Read along. If you’re not careful, you might learn something.
Henley wants to help you make your Valentine’s Day a romantic and divine experience, even if you’re not eating in the excellent Midtown restaurant on the big night. They’re offering classes in truffle making and cocktail shaking to get you ready to impress your sweetie. Here are the deets, as shared by the Henley folks:
Truffle-Making Class: Feb. 11 at 1 p.m.
Learn from Henley's own pastry chef Casey Carr on how to make and customize your very own chocolate truffles just in time for Valentine's Day. Come ready to roll up your sleeves and make your very own assorted truffle box! Purchase includes complimentary bubbles, as well as truffles to taste and also to take home for you or your very special Valentine.
Price: $35 per person
Prepaid reservation for parties of one to 20. Reservations can be made via Tock.com.
Valentine's Day Cocktail Class: Feb. 14 at 1 p.m.
Join us on Valentine's Day with Henley bar supervisor, Eli Akowski, to learn all things boozy and romantic! He will be sharing tips and tricks on love-inspired cocktail creations for you to enjoy with yourself or someone you love. Purchase includes fruit and cheese for snacking, as well as two beverages per person (recipes included).
Price: $40 per person
Prepaid reservation for parties of one to 20. Reservations can be made via Tock.com.
Photo: Green Door Gourmet
Green Door Gourmet has reopened its farm store at 7007 River Road after a few weeks to tidy up and recover from the serious cold snap of late December. In addition to the cornucopia of produce and other local products they’re offering in the store, they’re planning a busy calendar of classes featuring guest instructors connected to the farm.
Chef Paulette Licitra has offered Italian cooking classes for years, and now she’s put together a roster of topics and techniques she’ll be sharing in the kitchen of the Cumberland Cottage at Green Door Gourmet. Her February schedule has already sold out, but bookmark that link to keep track of what she’s offering going forward.
Thru the Vines is a wine education program taught by Billie Joyce, a longtime oenophile and professional bottle buyer. She’s teaching classes at Green Door Gourmet that range from a basic Wine 101 course to deep dives into topics like sustainable wines that explore natural, organic and biodynamic production. You can make your own dive into her schedule and register for a class at the Thru the Vines website.
If you’re a honey lover, mark March 25 on your calendar, as Green Door Gourmet owner Sylvia Ganier and the farm’s head beekeeper Jay Williams lead a “4-Pour” honey tasting of some of the best products from around the country that are sold at the farm store. Sign up for the class and you’ll also enjoy pours of complementary wines for each honey and small bites from the GDG kitchen.
Grey’s Fine Cheese and Entertaining is a new cheese shop in the Sylvan Supply complex on Charlotte, joining the shop's original East Memphis location. (Read more on Grey's in this week's forthcoming issue of the Scene.) Conveniently located next door to favorite wine shop Woodland Wine Merchant, this makes for a pretty darned good one-stop (well, two-stop) shopping experience for your entertaining needs.
Grey's is a very attractive space stocked with exotic cheeses from around the globe plus some from more local sources. They also sell a variety of specialty products that would be useful in making your own “boards,” as seems to be the rage lately.
Grey’s offers dine-in experiences as well, with several different “planches” (fancy talk for “boards”) available along with sandwiches and wine by the glass to enjoy as you take a break from strolling the massive Sylvan Station complex.
The staff teaches a series of fun classes on Wednesdays and Saturdays, although some of them are closer to cocktail parties than real educational opportunities. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Topics on the syllabus include Cheese & Chocolate, Wine Pairings, Charcuterie and even a Girl Scout Cookie and Cheese Pairing class. They tend to sell out well in advance, so take a peek at the upcoming schedule and give one a try.
See, don’t you feel smarter already?
