Cooking Class at Chef Alyssa's Kitchen

Happy Sunday, friends! I hope you're having the perfect mix of productivity and Sunday funday.

As you may have seen in my last post, I just returned from a glorious week at the beach (Harbor Island, to be exact). I'm suffering from a bit of a vacation hangover and thought it might be fun to reminisce about a fun little date night from a few weeks ago!

For my birthday, Torsten signed us up for a cooking class at Chef Alyssa's Kitchen at Atherton Market in Charlotte. I've heard lots about her cooking classes on the interwebs and was very excited to try it out for myself! The classes focus on healthy and approachable meals and they offer classes for every level.

We attended a cooking class centered around local tomatoes (summertime!) that I believe was an "intermediate" class. The class was $65/person and you could BYOB (the best).

We ended up grabbing beers at Good Bottle Co. beforehand instead, but will definitely bring a bottle of wine next time! [Of note: Good Bottle Co. has started carrying pumpkin beers and I can hardly contain myself. I may have already purchased 4 for my October Pumpkin Beer Tasting 2k15 but please don't tell anyone because it's definitely still August...]

 

When we arrived, there was a little appetizer waiting for us and cucumber water to sip on. I need to add cucumber to all of my water! So refreshing. We were also provided with a fancy chef knife, a recipe book that we could take home featuring all of the recipes from the evening, and a cutting board.

 

 

Torsten and I were at a table with another couple who were our cooking buddies for the evening. For the next 2-ish hours we worked together, with instruction from Chef Alyssa, to prepare a 4-course meal!

 

 





 

At one point, we filled local zucchini blossoms with a mixture of ricotta, garlic, parmesan goodness. Apparently, it required the utmost concentration...

 

 

Even though we were cooking for 2 hours (about 4 times longer than I usually spend cooking dinner...) we had a blast learning new techniques and chatting with our table mates.

 

The best part.... EATING! After we had prepared everything, we sat down to taste the fruits of our labors. (This is punny because tomatoes are fruits).

 

 

We made ricotta stuffed zucchini blossoms with tomato jam (tomato jam is a revelation), eggplant involtini with buckwheat groats and tomato sauce, and a caramelized onion tart with a fresh tomato topping. For dessert we had a watermelon tomato sorbet!

 

Everything was so delicious. Many others in attendance needed take home boxes for their leftovers but, needless to say, Torsten and I left our class empty handed and bellies oh-so-full.

 

I'm already eyeing future classes at Chef Alyssa's. Game Day Favorites and Dim Sum are the current front-runners!

 

Have you ever taken a cooking class? What did you make?!



 



Friday Night at Kindred

Last Friday night, I made the 25 minute trek up to Davidson for dinner at Kindred. Kindred is a relatively new restaurant but has been on my "I really want to eat here soon" list for several months.

Spoiler alert: It was so. darn. good.

We got to Davidson a little early (possibly on purpose so we *had* to grab a drink at the bar).

 

 

The restaurant is really cozy inside (although there is a whole second floor I didn't even explore!). Charming dinner vibes = on point.

 

We asked to be seated outside because it was actually a tolerable temperature with a slight breeze... and the birds chirping... and the sun setting... and unicorns prancing... okay, I'm getting carried away. But if someone brought this milk bread to your table with salted butter and a glass of chardonnay, you would get carried away too. Trust me. 

 

 

Plates at Kindred are meant to be shared but aren't as tiny as tapas style plates. I appreciated this because tapas style plates tend to stress me out. What if my favorite dish is gone by its second trip around the table!? Kindred-sized portions didn't require as much aggressive food hoarding.

 

We ordered:

• Corn soup with lime, buttermilk and corn
• Heirloom tomato tartine with burrata
• Gnocchi with basil, parmigiano and garlic
• A fish that I'd never heard of and cannot for the life of me remember but was locally caught and delicious, pictured here. I'm afraid it wasn't very photogenic :( Edited to add: I found it! It is Wild North Carolina Cobia, cracked bulgur wheat, baba ghanoush, and tahini kefir sauce! Yum.
  

And last, but not least, the peach cobbler with sweet corn gelato.

 

Everything was delicious, we never felt rushed, and the whole experience was delightful.

 

 

Twinkly lights are the way to my heart. Also rose.

 

I will 100% be back to Kindred and highly recommend that you go as well if you're in the area! If you come to visit me in Charlotte, you probably won't have a choice.

 

I shall leave you with this sign I found in the bathroom at Kindred. If they hadn't already won me over with their good looks and dashing smile... this would have done it.