Husband and wife team Jen and Charles are experienced food business operators with successful Champagne bar and restaurant concepts in San Francisco That they’ve brought to New York City. The Riddler opened to much acclaim in the West Village in the fall, and Souvla is opening in April. They’ll share their unique perspectives on strategic branding, organic marketing and restaurant management with aspiring chefs, operators and entrepreneurs. Jen Pelka is the founder and CEO of The Riddler, a popular, all-women-funded champagne bar in San Francisco and New York. The Riddler's first location in San Francisco was named Wine Bar of the Year by Eater and Best Concept by StarChefs, and the second location opened in the West Village in October 2019 at the top of Grub Street’s Power Rankings. It was named one of Eater’s 2019 Most Beautiful New Restaurants. With over 15 years of experience in restaurant and food marketing, Jen is an ace at community building and an experienced, profit-focused operator. Charles Bililies is the founder and CEO of Souvla. The Greek-American comes from a family tradition of restaurateurs and is deeply passionate about the hospitality experience. Bon Appetit Magazine dubbed Charles “the Mark Zuckerberg of fast fine restaurants,” and Souvla is among the San Francisco Chronicle‘s Top 100 restaurants, a recipient of the StarChefs award for Best Concept and has been featured in such media outlets as Today Show, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes and Bloomberg.
You will work in teams to execute the class menu. At the end of class, participants gather to enjoy the food they have prepared. Wine is served with meals in most classes. All class menus are subject to change. While a snack platter is offered in both morning and evening classes, you may want to consider a light snack before joining us for class. Students are encouraged to bring a light lunch or dinner to all pastry classes.
You will work in teams to execute the class menu. At the end of class, participants gather to enjoy the food they have prepared. Wine is served with meals in most classes. All class menus are subject to change. While a snack platter is offered in both morning and evening classes, you may want to consider a light snack before joining us for class. Students are encouraged to bring a light lunch or dinner to all pastry classes.
ICE’s Fine Cooking series are the classes on which our recreational program’s reputation was built. This intensive course expands on our Fine Cooking 1 series and takes a deeper dive into essential culinary techniques. These full-participation classes teach fundamental skills, not recipes. This course covers everything from fileting a fish, to properly sautéing, to cover poaching techniques and fundamental sauce making. As you advance through the series, you’ll gradually come to understand each cooking concept. You’ll have a firm grasp of ingredients and equipment; you’ll know why things happen; you'll learn how to avoid and correct mistakes. Most importantly, you’ll gain the experience you need to cook with confidence and pleasure - without relying strictly on recipes. Each class culminates with a student-prepared meal. Prerequisite: Fine Cooking 1.
Bordered by both the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, with snow-capped peaks and lush green valleys, the diverse geography of France offers the best ingredients from the land and sea. You'll get a taste of the best of all those regions in this class. For your Francophile meal, you will prepare and enjoy frisée salad with shallot-bacon vinaigrette; steak frites (sautéed steak with hand-cut french fries); bouillabaisse (seafood soup from Marseille); and honey lavender blanc mange.
Whether you're making a casual dinner or a gourmet multicourse meal. We'll cover techniques including poaching, sautéing, grilling and cooking risotto. Using your newly acquired skills, we'll make and dine on a complete meal of: grilled vegetable gratin; mushroom risotto; pan-seared steak with compound butter and mesclun salad with Dijon vinaigrette.
Ranked as America’s Best Culinary School (USAToday 2019), our roster of Chef-Instructors have run top kitchens around the globe.
(Separate multiple addresses with commas like: john@aol.com, jane@aol.com) | |