San Francisco For The Cuisinely Curious

Ever wonder how to braise an apricot or chiffonade some basil?  Hey, what's the difference between aioli and mayonnaise anyway?  

I drove to San Francisco's cool SoMo District today, curious to know the answers to that and more.  I'm a cooking show junkie, but even so, certain phrases never seem to get answered in the 30-minute formats the shows offer.

I'd signed up for a cooking class with Emily Dellas, head chef and teacher at First Class Cooking.  She welcomed me and four other students to her South of Market (SoMo) loft apartment where we encouraged to satisfy our curiosity.

Everything about the food, flavors and locale that Emily has to offer sings young modern San Francisco. She was raised in the city and has had a life-long personal curiosity about foods, cooking techniques and cooking tools. After being asked often by college friends to cook and share her knowledge, she decided to go pro and teach.  She's been at it for six years and just recently opened up her own self-designed kitchen, offering classes three or four days a week.

Emily shops locally at Farmer's Markets and stores that offer the best that the San Francisco bay region produces.  Today, her teaching space was prepped and ready for making braised chicken with apricots, herbed stuffed tomatoes, toast points with aioli and olive tapenade.  We had plum sorbet-stuffed profiteroles for dessert and some light conversation accompanied with a bottle or two of wine.

Her classes fill up very quickly; I'd been trying to land a reservation for a few months after a gift certificate was given to me for Christmas.  Compared to other classes that are more formal, this class felt a lot like being in a friend's kitchen, nibbling on samples and helping out.  Emily moves quickly from stove to sink to counter, multitasking and explaining recipes.  She keeps it light and easy with her guests; a style that is not so much pedantic as it is friendly and inclusive.

You're free to join in the preparations as it suits your mood.  I grated parmesan cheese, helped prepare the profiterole puffs and sliced the baguettes.  Other students seared apricots, whipped up aioli and tapenade and got the plum puree into a growling beast of an ice cream maker.

I was focusing on using tools I don't yet own to see how they felt in action.  I spotted a knife sharpener I'm hoping to buy once I get home again.  Actually, I wanted to take the entire kitchen with me; it has a wide-open fourth-story view of the city and was very dreamy.

I felt part of the youthful trendy vigor of the city and came away with new ideas for recipes and meals. I'll be going back in the future to join Emily again.  I left my heart and my appetite in the city today.  Seems to happen every time I go, too.