Class cooking at Montage

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Looking to brush up on how to make canapes for all of the holiday partying ahead? Montage Laguna Beach, the elegant hotel and resort perched on the grounds of an old trailer park right on the cliffs overlooking the sea, steps in to help. The high-end restaurant there is Studio, and this month executive chef James Boyce is giving Saturday cooking classes described as an ‘intimate three-course class at Studio.’ Classes are hands on (good if you want to learn anything) and limited to 10 (double good) and last from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Now, what do you think the cost of such a class might be? Remember, it’s three hours in the company of the chef and nine other students, with recipes, a chef’s jacket and lunch thrown in.

Guess again.

$500.

For that, you could buy a whole library of cookbooks and home-school yourself. But for those interested and flush with cash, here’s the lineup: Nov. 14, Christmas Canapés; Nov. 21, Alternative Holiday Dining; and Nov. 28, New Year’s Eve Brunch. Er, wouldn’t that usually be the New Year’s Day Brunch?

But that’s not all.

The Montage is also proposing the ultimate foodie gift: a weekend stay at the resort, which includes a Saturday cooking class. The eternally grateful recipient gets the three-hour class, plus ocean-view accommodations for Friday and Saturday nights, and daily breakfast. A nice getaway, no? The cost begins at $1,835 for one and $2,380 for two people — and that’s not including taxes.

Look for that gift card in your Christmas stocking.

To reserve, call (949) 715-6000.

Montage Laguna Beach, 30801 South Coast Highway, Laguna Beach; (866) 271-6953; www.montagelagunabeach.com.

-- S. Irene Virbila