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Author Archives: Lily Cope

New Instructors Coming to COOK in September

This September, COOK is featuring a number of first-time instructors who are all bringing something new (and delicious) to the table. Here are some of COOK’s not-to-be-missed fall newbies:

Thursday 9/5 7PM Summer Corn Dinner with Jason Hook of H20 Kitchen
Local chef Jason Hook is making his COOK debut by partnering with Blue Moon Acres Farm to present a cornucopia of corn dishes. After years working in the elite kitchens of Alain Ducasse, Jean-Georges, Christian Delouvier and Philip Legendre, Hook has returned to the Berks County region, bringing with him his style of avant-garde fine dining. His H2O Kitchen special tasting events provide a full spectrum experience for local residents, with a taste of both the local and fresh and the international and rare. In September, each of the courses on Hook’s menu will include organic corn from Blue Moon Acres Farm in Pennington, NJ. Other local ingredients will be included on the menu, which also fuses exotic tastes and ingredients. Please note: this class is not vegetarian.

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Cheese-101 at Home

Missed Saturday’s Cheese-101 class at COOK? Well, here are the “deets” on how you can recreate the 10-cheese tasting in your own home.

This past Saturday, Di Bruno Bros.’ Emilio Mignucci was joined by cheese blogger and now author, Tenaya Darlington (AKA Madame Fromage), for an exceptional tutorial in cheese tasting and pairing. Emilio and Tenaya, who wrote the new Di Bruno’s textbook on cheese, “Di Bruno Bros. House of Cheese: A Guide to Wedges, Recipes, and Pairings“, have been out promoting the amazing cheese tome and doing special tastings across the region.

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COOK MASTERS PROGRAM: Butchery with Chef Andrew Wood of Russet

This little piggy went to COOK… and so did a bunch of his chicken friends.

Yesterday, Andrew Wood, Chef-Owner of Center City’s Russet, brought his butchery A-game to COOK for a Masters Program tutorial in butchery.

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Roof To Table: An Edible Oasis Atop The Four Seasons Hotel

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to revisit the rooftop garden of the Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia. I went about 3 years ago when the “edible landscape” was first installed by my old friend Grace Wicks of Graceful Gardens.

Over the past 3 years, Executive Chef Rafael Gonzalez (who took me up there yesterday) has worked with a new gardening pro to double the garden’s size and capacity. And while we are still weeks out from really seeing major growth up there, there were plenty of signs of a fruitful season to come.

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New Chefs Coming to COOK This June

Next month at COOK, there are a number of first timers coming to lead their own classes. Below are a couple of the newbies not to be missed in June (seats can be purchased online by clicking on the class titles):

Sun 6/9, 6pm: A Good For You Drive Thru with Ryan Sulikowski of Farmers Road Drive Thru
Chef Ryan Sulikowski began his culinary career as a high school freshman in a neighbor’s Mediterranean-style restaurant. From there he attended Drexel University with a major in Biology and then went to pursue a formal culinary education at Le Cordon Bleu at the Atlantic Culinary Academy in Dover, New Hampshire.

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COOK Recipe: Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Pie

This past Sunday, Holly Ricciardi of Magpie Artisan Pie Boutique taught a packed house how to make a delicious, seasonal, strawberry rhubarb crumb pie. Here is the recipe (courtesy of Holly Ricciardi):

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Boston Chef Barbara Lynch Comes to COOK

Recently COOK had the great pleasure to host a class led by superstar Boston chef and restaurateur, Barbara Lynch: the brains and spoons behind Boston restaurants including Menton, No.9 Park, The Butcher Shop and B&G Oysters.

Chef Barbara (with the help of sous chef Stephanie Cmar and Elle Jarvis, GM of her COOK-like Boston demonstration kitchen, Stir) served a menu of recipes that can all be found in her cookbook, Stir: Mixing It Up In The Italian Tradition.

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Le Bec Fin 2.0

When Georges Perrier opened the doors on Walnut Street’s haute cuisine mecca, Le Bec Fin forty years ago, he single-handedly started a restaurant revolution in this city that is still going strong today. Next week, when new owners Nicolas and Fazilet Fanucci re-open the doors of the dining institution to the public, chances are, Le Bec Fin 2.0 will once again change face of dining in Philadelphia.

COOK had the distinct pleasure of being invited to the see the renovated space during the final stages of construction last week. We took a few less-than-Leibowitz-esque pics on our phones but it gives you a sense of the major team effort going on to get the new Le Bec Fin ready for its close-up.

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Froggy Style with Pierre Calmels of Bibou

There are many things that distinguish Pierre Calmels, Chef/Owner of Bibou, from other chefs in Philadelphia – his height, his thick French accent, his “four bell” rating by the Inquirer’s Craig Laban – to name a few. At COOK, what distinguishes Pierre is the fact that he is the only chef who comes without a sous chef or assistant of any kind and manages to plate 5 courses – 16 times each – over the course of the evening in amazing time, knocking our socks off with every delicious bite (most chefs knock our socks off though!).

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A Valentine’s Day To Remember Starring Top Chef’s Jen Carroll As Our Culinary Cupid

It was COOK’s first ever Valentine’s Day class – and we wanted to do it up big. So who did we enlist as our culinary cupid? Why, the lovely and extremely talented Jennifer Carroll of Top Chef and 10 Arts fame.

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