"Kitchen on Fire" - A Cooking School in Berkeley's Gourmet Ghetto

For Christmas, my sister was both creative and thoughtful by purchasing a cooking class for my Mom, me and our sister-in-law. She originally purchased from a cooking school that unfortunately went out of business. We all did some research and found “Kitchen on Fire” in Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto area. We wanted a “hands on” class and also had an interesting menu with something that would please all of us.

Kitchen on Fire was founded in 2005 seasoned restaurateur and author Olive Said and chef and caterer MikeC.  MikeC. can also be seen on the PBS show, “Hippy Gourmet Show”. The classes range from cooking 101 to baking to corporate teambuilding workshops.
























We chose a class entitled, “Deliciously Quick Weeknight Meals”. The class had about 20 attendees from your novice to experienced cook. Having all experience levels made the class interesting. Chef Olive kicked off the class with his french accent and briefly went through the menu and highlighted a few techniques for each dish. Once he spun through and discussed the dishes, we were all set free to choose a dish we wanted to work on. I have been to several cooking classes and this one was the first time everyone was not assigned a dish to work on. We were able to work on a particular dish and then rotate to another one, to learn as much as possible.

Both Chef Olive and Mike were full of personality and very knowledgeable. Everyone in the class seemed to have a great time and the three hour class went by quickly. My favorite dish of the night was the “Grilled Roasted Prawns with Tomatoes and Feta Cheese”.

The menu consisted of:
Panzanella Bread Salad
Peas and Spinach Risotto with Truffle Oil
Grilled Roasted Prawns with Tomatoes and Feta Cheese
Chards and Carrot Lam Soup with Lemon
Sauted Steak in Sauce Marchand De Vin with Roasted Potatoes & Turnips with Rosemary
Pear Pound Cake (Quartre-Quart Aux Poires)

If you want a fun cooking class with chefs who have personality plus, then check out a class or two at Kitchen on Fire.


















A group photo - My Mom, Sister Cathy, me and my Sister-in-Law Therese. A good time was had by all!