Grab an apron, add a chef, stir it up

Hans Reza Ghaffari roared up Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica on his Harley-Davidson, parked his hog in front of Sur la Table and peeled off the helmet that shielded his Marine’s buzz cut.

He wasn’t headed to a bar or restaurant, but inside the culinary shop for a cooking demonstration with Anne Willan, whose cooking school in France is internationally revered. Ghaffari zipped open his riding jacket, and produced a weighty book -- Willan’s bible of French cuisine, “La Varenne Pratique” -- which she gladly signed in between discussions of white verjus and chicken flambe.

Ghaffari isn’t the only Angeleno who can mix a biker jacket with an apron. Cooking classes across Los Angeles aren’t some rarified pursuit, attended only by the serious dining set, food nerds or “Iron Chef” addicts. Unlike other great food cities, L.A.’s culinary school landscape isn’t dominated by professional academies, places that charge tens of thousands of dollars and are populated by people who think a badly chopped onion is a life-or-death matter.

Here, like so many other things, the cooking class is a more laid-back pursuit. Classes are designed for fun, but taught by people who have serious expertise and credentials. There are dozens of interesting possibilities for cooks who want an entertaining night out, to improve their skills or -- in many cases -- to learn the absolute basics.

For well under $100, you can hang out in a restaurant kitchen, watch a master at work, sip a few glasses of wine and sit down to a great meal. Or you can cluster around the butcher block in someone’s home kitchen, while the pet dog sniffs at your feet. Even schools that concentrate on serious cooking during the week will sizzle on the weekend with recreational, themed classes. Whether the classes feature a Moroccan feast, a tamale party or martinis matched to appetizers, most are geared to giving participants a good time in class, and a stockpile of dinner party ideas.

At a cooking class, unlike a culinary academy, you’re unlikely to encounter the stereotypical hot-tempered, perfection-driven chef. Instead, most of the teachers have the genial manner of a gracious host. Repeat business depends on it, because instructors frequently develop a following.

“We always choose teachers who are funny, happy-go-lucky and high energy,” says Shelley Janson, owner of the Epicurean School of Culinary Arts on Melrose Avenue. Their students, however, defy categorization. In Saturday’s class, newlyweds mixed with grandmas, young single women, with food fanatics.

The mix was even more vivid at last Thursday’s white asparagus class at Rockenwagner restaurant in Santa Monica. Donna Rubelmann, a Hermosa Beach attorney, came to the cooking demonstration in a sexy black cocktail dress and glittering sandals. Of course, she was going to follow class with dinner at the restaurant (chef Hans Rockenwagner lets you apply the $35 class fee to the dinner tab that night).

You learn those kinds of details when classes are small and students are sipping champagne. Having whisked eggs, quartered chickens and torched creme brulee in nine classes across L.A. in under two weeks, I can say that this much is true: There is no better way to break the ice than making small talk with a knife in your hands.

There is one big choice up front: You can select a participation class and -- if you’re up to it -- make all of the dishes (but you may get stuck on one complex recipe and never see beyond your cutting board).

Or, you can opt for a demonstration class, and just observe the master in action. There is no substitute for what you’ll learn cooking a dish yourself, but the there are trade-offs, too. It’s hard to take notes while slicing fennel. It’s more fun to watch an expert at work while you hang around the kitchen, keeping clean and composed. It can be tricky to approach that cute guy next to you, but then again, maybe he’ll find a gal with flour in her hair rather charming.

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The gritty gourmet

The adventure starts with finding the Hipcooks kitchen studio. Travel deep inside the labyrinthine Brewery Arts Complex in downtown Los Angeles and, owner Monika Reti says, “look for a large truck with a big couch suspended above it.” You’re there.

Amid the sculptors lofts and painters studios, Reti has created an industrial-chic space devoted to learning how to cook. Tonight’s six-person class is a mix of single newcomers, a couple celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary and an actress and a teacher returning for their fourth installment. Lots of creative types flock to the classes, where everyone gathers to eat the lesson, taste some new wines and talk till dessert disappears.

Introductions are made all around as we tie on IKEA aprons, surround the expansive granite-topped kitchen island and follow our teacher’s every word. No peeking at recipes. We get those via e-mail, a day after our lesson is done, our meal consumed and our wine glasses emptied.

“These classes are really about cooking for entertaining without stress in the kitchen,” says Reti, a London School of Economics graduate who chose cooking over a career at the Rand Corp. Her goal? To nudge us past the need for recipes, exactitude and nervousness. As a test, she’ll douse your simmering risotto with wine until you tell her to stop. “Enough?” Reti asks. “Just say when!”

Thus begins the high-spirited give-and-take that is the blueprint for a night of cooking for friends. With an energy level so high she nearly levitates, Reti guides the shy and the gregarious through lessons with themes that sound like comedy skits: “The Surprise Guest,” “Oh, My God! Dinner for 15 People” and “Tarts for Tarts.”

Fine food’s power of seduction is not lost on Reti, who attracts many virgin cooks to tonight’s class, “A Romantic Dinner for Two.” The beginner-level session teaches knife skills, sauteing and enlivening the taste of food with a dash of lemon zest or a generous sprinkle of salt flakes. After this class you’ll know how to wield a blowtorch for the creme brulee finale--which surely will get Mr. or Ms. Right to snap to attention.

Degree of difficulty: If you can chop, you can master this meal.

How hot? Small classes, an engaging instructor and a fair amount of wine make the mixing easy.

Try this at home: Toast rosemary bread slices, stroke once with a cut garlic clove. Serve with halved grape tomatoes, toasted pine nuts and bocconcini mozzarella dressed in olive oil and chopped fresh basil.

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Fridays with Frank

Geographically, Let’s Get Cookin’ couldn’t be more different from Hipcooks’ downtown locale, but the well-organized, have-fun vibe is similar on Friday nights. That’s when Sinatra purrs from the speakers, classes swing to the social side and the martinis get shaking. For nearly three years, owner Phyllis Vaccarelli has filled the appetizer and martini classes to their 24-person capacity.

Last week a new variation debuted: More Martini Madness, where instructors Kevin Barker and JoAnn Hecht did tag-team teaching of new drink and hors d’oeuvres recipes. Lots of West Valley newlyweds, gal-pal groups and empty-nest couples come for a Friday of cooking, sipping and socializing.

With nametags pasted to green aprons that matched the decor, our horde of cooks jumped into action, chopping onions, blending sauces and flipping crepes. In the uncrowded kitchen with multiple cooking stations, four assistants do the cleanup and help with the teaching so that you, dear paying customer, can relax and focus on the important details of lobsters in vanilla chive sauce, Jamaican jerk chicken skewers, and of course, the martinis -- rainbow, rose petal and a tasty Key lime pie sipper.

With the instructors and assistants keeping everything under control, it’s easy to wander from station to station, taking a taste here and there, jumping in on the egg whisking, vegetable grilling or cracking of lobsters and jokes.

Degree of difficulty: The recipes look impressive; each step is easy.

How hot? The friendly factor rose once the liquor bottles appeared.

Try this at home: Make a “rainbow martini.” Line up a bunch of colorful flavored liquors and, pouring the liquid slowly into the glass along the back of a spoon, float layers of different colors.

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Ay caramba!

There’s a lot of energy in the air in the New School of Cooking’s Wednesday night class. The class in Culver City is full of repeat customers and new students eager to jump in and get their hands on some pots and pans and plantains. (Tip: Bring your own apron.)

After a 45-minute discussion of each of the 15 recipes by our ponytailed instructor, May Parich, the challenge of finishing all of the dishes in three hours begins to feel like a “Beat the Clock” episode. The few who aren’t already partnered are teamed up on recipes, such as baked whole snapper, citrus-marinated hearts of palm salad, and picadillo empanadas. First challenge? Conquer fear of carcasses. The red snapper comes with the head, the stewing chicken is uncut and both require some, shall we say, intimate knowledge of biology. Gloves, please!

Some aren’t so squeamish. “If I’m going to pay for a class, I want to get my hands on the food. I can watch the Food Network for free,” says Dwanna Stewart Green, who encouraged four of her medical lab co-workers to come along.

Somewhere between slicing lemons, watching the black beans boil and traipsing off to see the Tres Leches meringue emerge, my teammate and I have completely forgotten about our Drunken Chicken stewing across the room. With only one instructor and a busy assistant watching the 12 of us, there’s little opportunity to peek in on other teams’ efforts, or to have a leisurely evening of chatter. The large, open kitchen gets crowded in the aisle between dueling stove tops, but fewer elbows bump around the stainless-steel workstations that roll a fair distance apart and later double as dinner tables.

The long list of recipes was a bit ambitious, but when all is done (almost within our deadline), a true feast is ready, complete with fresh mint mojitos.

Degree of difficulty: A little tricky. Like a real-life dinner party, the test is getting everything cooked in time.

How hot? It’s impossible to be snooty when you have grease spatters on your shirt, but who had time to notice?

Try this at home: Doctor canned black beans with a sofrito, a mixture of sauteed onion, garlic, green bell pepper and serrano chile with cumin and vinegar.

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A toast to the roast

Almost as soon as Suzanne Tracht sends out the e-mails announcing the topic for her monthly cooking class, it fills up. No wonder. Tracht, the chef at Jar restaurant on Beverly Boulevard, and her chef de cuisine, Preech Narkthong, are among the few who invite patrons deep inside a restaurant kitchen -- noisy fans and all -- for an up-close and personal look at the signature recipes.

Saturday’s 11:30 a.m. class brought out cooking enthusiasts from the entertainment industry, medicine, preschool classes and a trio -- Steve Rose, an executive who says he can cook “a bowl of cornflakes,” and his sister-in-law and brother, Amy and Billy Rose,, who are cooking class veterans and neighborhood fans of the restaurant.

By 1 p.m., the 10 of us, pencils and paper in hand, have noted the difference between braising and poaching; how to judge the heat of a jalapeno; where to find wild fennel in Malibu; what materials won’t react to acids like vinegar; and how to pull the head and skin off a squid (nobody said this was going to be pretty).

Tracht announces that there will be wine served, not just because it pairs so well with her famous pot roast and English pea puree, but also because “if there’s no wine, no one talks.”

No problem here. The lively class lobs all manner of questions at her and at guest speaker Julee Harman, proprietor of Ocean Jewels and Jar’s fish purveyor. By dessert, a luscious strawberry sundae, no one is paying much attention to the techniques that Tracht and company deftly demonstrate. But we haven’t missed a detail on the wine -- all three glasses of it. And at last we know the secret to the pot roast, but like a good joke, to get it, you really had to be there.

Degree of difficulty: Tracht makes it look so easy, until you remember she has a sous chef.

How hot? No wallflowers in this class. We’re practically best friends now.

Try this at home: A steak fish such as Alaskan halibut is best left to cook on one side until it’s about three-quarters done and releases from the pan. Turn, and the other side will cook in only a few minutes.

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But more about me

It’s 5:15 p.m. at the Epicurean School of Culinary Arts on Melrose, and the creme brulee is still an unfinished, jiggly pudding. In minutes, the hungry band of fellow cooking students will have finished off the veal meatballs, the thyme scallops, the achiote paste chicken, the merlot pork loin, the lentils and the pesto chicken roulades too.

They’ll be expecting dessert, a hazelnut, caramel sauce, phyllo pastry and creme brulee napoleon. What’s a cooking-class novice to do? Never fear, the Calorie Commando is here! Out comes the mixer, the whipping cream, the creme de cassis and the sugar. Our napoleons now have a new filling -- cassis cream!

Life’s little emergencies are opportunities for culinary improvisation -- and a little theatrical flair, reminds our instructor, Juan-Carlos Cruz, a.k.a. the Calorie Commando. In between talking up his new Food Network show, Chef Commando springs from stove to stove, dispensing wisdom and his TV-white smile.

Across the expanse of this large, open kitchen with four separate cooking stations, young couples, co-workers and groups of thirty-something women tackle the eight multi-step recipes selected as the school’s “all-time favorites.”

Delicious, they were. But in the flurry of cooking, the specifics of how each recipe comes together is nearly lost, and so are the opportunities to socialize beyond your station. Meanwhile, a hard-working assistant keeps track of tools, and a tired dishwasher is working overtime at a backroom sink. The lesson to the lesson? If you’re intent on learning a particular technique (or the name of that cute girl), you’ve got to bust in, speak up, and learn everything you can. Otherwise, just relax and wait for dinner to be served.

Degree of difficulty: Not bad, but we practiced just one recipe in class.

How hot? We learned lots about our instructor, but little about each other.

Try this at home: Buy a compact kitchen torch -- or a full-size plumber’s model -- and brown a meringue or a creme brulee. It’s fun to play with fire.

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Where creatures are stirring ...

Amuse Cafe, 796 Main St., Venice, (310) 450-1956. On the third Monday evening of the month, chef/owners Brooke Williamson and Nick Roberts offer a $65 cooking class featuring seasonal ingredients or themes. After the demonstration class, everyone chats and eats. Next up: Welcoming the Spring.

Be Gourmet, (323) 610-1082; www.begourmet.home.att.net. Tim Ross, who trained as a chef in France and worked in restaurants there and in L.A., makes French cooking cozy, hip and easy in ongoing $50 and $60 classes held in the vintage kitchen of his Silver Lake home.

Border Grill, 1445 4th St., Santa Monica, (310) 451-1655, www.bordergrill.com. Celebrity chefs Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger teach four demonstration classes a year at the restaurant. The next one, a May 1 lunchtime class on a Cinco de Mayo menu, features pomegranate lemonade, shrimp ceviche and other Mexican dishes. $100.

Bristol Farms, 1570 Rosecrans Ave., Manhattan Beach, (310) 233-4752. Demonstration classes above the grocery store feature themes such as afternoon tea, weekend entertaining and spring desserts. Fees are $25 to $35.

Culver City Adult School, 4501 Elenda St., Culver City, (310) 842-4300. The night school offers $25 hands-on classes for beginners, such as “Muffins Galore,” “Noodles, Noodles, Noodles” and hors d’oeuvres and desserts.

Epicurean School of Culinary Arts, 8759 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles;(310) 659-5990; www.epicureanschool.com. The 19-year-old school offers hands-on classes for professionals, serious hobbyists and beginners, $70 to $75 each. Classes split into teams for a lively session that ends with a complete meal.

Gelson’s, 22277 Mullholland Highway, Calabasas; (818) 906-5711. A classroom space next to the West Valley grocery store attracts cookbook authors and local instructors alike for hands-on and demo classes. A popular children’s series -- roll up your sleeves for pepperoni pizza bread and carrot oatmeal cookies -- starts in June. Classes are $35 to $65.

Hipcooks, (323) 365-0294; www.hipcooks.com. In the Brewery artists lofts downtown, Monika Reti stages engaging, entertaining classes aimed at prepping cooks for many of life’s culinary challenges -- from wrangling knives to surprise guests. The $45 classes are three nights a week.

Jar, 8225 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles (323) 655-6566; www.thejar.com. Newcomers and longtime fans gather monthly on Saturday mornings to sip wine and watch chef Suzanne Tracht and chef de cuisine Preech Narkthong demonstrate signature dishes and seasonal specials. Next: Spring. Classes are $75.

La Cachette, 10506 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 470-4992; www.lacachetterestaurant.com. Students learn professional techniques inside Chef Jean Francois Meteigner’s restaurant kitchen. The monthly $100 classes are held Saturday mornings. This week: A springtime menu.

Rockenwagner, 2435 Main St., Santa Monica, (310) 399-6504; www.rockenwagner.com. Chef Hans Rockenwagner and his chef de Cuisine, Wolfgang Gussmack, demonstrate professional techniques and toss in a little food philosophy. The classes, held at 4:30 p.m. on the last Tuesday of the month, cost $35, which can be applied to your dinner tab that night. Next: streudel.

Sur la Table, (866) 328-5412; www.surlatable.com. The gourmet cookware chain’s Santa Monica, Newport Beach and Fairfax Farmers Market locations offer almost-nightly hands-on and demo classes featuring cookbook authors, store staff, and restaurant chefs. $45 to $85.

The New School of Cooking, 8690 Washington Blvd., Culver City, (310) 842-9702; www.newschoolofcooking.com. Nearly all of the classes are hands-on in this bustling, even chaotic, culinary academy (they’re not afraid to serve a cocktail after the knives are put away). Lessons here focus on a technique or cuisine, or entertaining event, such as a tea party or tapas spectacular. $50 to $85.

The Tasting Spoon, 4350 Via Dolce, Marina del Rey, (310) 306-8851; www.tastingspoon.com. Veteran instructor Sue Young offers $40 classes in her condo’s kitchen. Crockpots, appetizers and tapas are her latest enthusiasms.

The Depot, 1250 Cabrillo Ave., Torrance, (310) 787-7501; www.depotrestaurant.com. Chef Michael Shafer stages $40 Saturday afternoon classes in the restaurant’s spacious Kimono Room. Featured topics include Asian cooking, seafood and barbecue. On May 1: a Cinco de Mayo menu.

Let’s Get Cookin’, 4643 Lakeview Canyon Road, Westlake Village, (818) 991-3940; www.letsgetcookin.com.

The combination cooking store and culinary school attracts touring cookbook authors and offers abundant classes for professionals, amateurs and teenagers. Weekend classes emphasize entertaining. $35 to $85.

Westside Extension, 9000 Overland Ave., Los Angeles, (310) 287-4475. This arm of West Los Angeles College offers bargain classes -- $29 for sushi making -- on subjects from bartending to wine tasting.

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COOKING TIPS

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So, the idea of putting a live lobster in a pot of boiling water scares you? Most seafood sellers will do the deed for you. -- JOANN HECHT, Let’s Get Cookin’

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To take the harsh bite out of raw onions, launder them. Soak slices in cold water for about 15 minutes, then give them a spin dry before adding them to your salad. -- PREECH NARKTHONG, Jar restaurant

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Season from on high. Adding seasonings, especially kosher salt, at least a foot or two above the food reduces clumping and improves the spread of the spice. -- ANNE WILLAN, at Sur la Table