Draeger’s Cooking School

I’ve used Draeger’s Cooking School in Menlo Park for a number of my team work off-​sites and I have never been disappointed. They are great for team building exercises for small groups (9 – 15 people). The staff is super helpful and friendly and the menus are all delicious. Abigail is the gal I would arrange the events with and she is always so accommodating! I’ve helped prepare the California Harvest, French Bistro and Rustic Italian Feast menus and they are ALL amazing! I’ve learned so much in these classes — finally cooking has become FUN for me!

I have never been to a cooking class before (never really seen the need to), but due to a private corporate event, I had a chance to give Draeger’s Cooking School a try.
The Rustic Italian Feast was the event food type which featured:
* Pear, Fennel, Red Onion and Arugula Salad with Shaved Parmesan and Walnuts
* Roman «Gnocchi» with Gorganzola Cheese Sauce — semolina disks, baked casserole style
* Braised Winter Greens with Butter Beans
* Chicken Marsala
* Chocolate Torte with Candied Hazelnuts and Frangelico Whipped Cream
Each station represented a different of the five food types and guests were able to join whichever one they felt was most interesting. Group sizes had to be somewhat evenly distributed because you can’t have 20 people making chocolate tortes and 1 person making salad for everyone. You’ll only have a chance to try one thing since you’re making enough food for the entire group.
I had the opportunity to give the chicken marsala a try with great instruction from Janice (I think this is who it was!). Throughout the cooking experience, I did everything from chop the ingredients to sautee the mushrooms over the fire stove to topping the chicken with the marsala sauce. We didn’t partake in the actual baking of the chicken breasts but there isn’t a whole lot of interesting effort that goes into that process anyway.
After everything was prepared, the group sat down together to try everyone’s creations. Everything was excellent and there wasn’t anything there that I didn’t like. The Roman gnocchi is not quite like a typical Italian gnocchi so you have to taste it to really appreciate the texture and hybrid flavor.
It would have been nicer to try making a couple different things but maybe that’s only available in the private classes with smaller groups instead of the private corporate event settings where we had something like 20 – 30 people.

If you’re not ready for culinary school, this was a wonderful alternative to get educated!
Unfortunately for me I’m not 100% ready for a complete career change, but my love for cooking will always guide me to opportunities to learn from the best.
Meet one of the United States’s Best Chefs — — Chef Joyce Jue!

Fellow Unilocaler, Jamie J, and I attended Chef Joyce Jue’s «Oodles of Pan-​Asian Noodles» cooking class here at Draeger’s Cooking School in Menlo Park.
The classroom is fully equipped with all the cookware, tools, utensils, ingredients, large mirror (to witness all the cooking techniques), and hands on moments with the instructor.
The agenda is divided into three parts:
— 45 minutes of lecture and introduction to the ingredients.
— Two hours of hands on cooking with the instructor.
— And the final half hour to enjoy your prepared meals with complimentary wine and beverages.
Chef Joyce was very patient and informative giving me insight to the world of noodles through the influences of past and modern Asia. I learned many things about the origin and distinction of Asian noodles that enlighten my thought process while cooking. Did you know that all Italian noodles are never rinsed after boiling? Did you know that certain Asian noodles must be rinsed with running cold water after boiling? This might be general knowledge to most chefs and advanced cooks, but this was one my major discoveries during the class. As for the rest of the techniques and secrets with ingredients, I’m going to keep that to my advantage. After all, I am studying to become an expert cook and someday a renown chef.
«Oodles of Pan-​Asian Noodles» cooking class
We learned four noodles dishes on this night (02/​23/​2010) from 6:30pm-10:00PM
Thai «Pad Thai» Goong (Thai fried flat ribbon rice noodles in tamarind sauce and fresh shrimp)
Vietnamese Black Pepper Dungeness Crab, Wood Ear Mushrooms, and Glass Noodles (Cua Xao Bun Tau)
Japanese Zaru Cha Soba (This is green tea-​buckwheat noodles in a bamboo setting)
Thai Kow Soi (Tasty chiang Mai Curry Soup Noodles)
I am still amazed what a cooking class like this one can do to enhance your cooking skills and presentation. I can’t believe Jamie and I created five star restaurant quality dishes in minutes (see our photos). The only nerve racking moment was when Chef Joyce tasted our dishes. Some high and low points, but getting chef’s feedback and suggestions was rewarding enough! I have already signed up for another class next month. This one will involve lamb and pork!
Cost of Cooking Classes: $ 70-​$ 75 per person (depending on instructor and key ingredients). This class was $ 75.00.
You will receive a take home handout with all the lecture material and the actual recipes you cooked.

Frankly, I’m surprised that no one has yet to review the Menlo Park outpost of Draeger’s Cooking School. Maybe because those attending classes at the school are less likely to Unilocal?
At any rate, I’ve attended the school twice, for two different classes sponsored by my company. The school is on the upper level of Draeger’s tucked behind the kitchen and housewares section in their eat-​in café. The cooking room itself is a glass room, and you can gaze out over the first floor of the store. It’s a nice room, although it is small and can get a bit warm with all the cooking going on.
The menus for each class were prepared in advance by Bill Hutton, who was the head chef for both classes. The menus were well-​crafted, full-​meal extravaganzas (appetizers, salad and soup, entrée and dessert), although since the menus will vary widely depending on the class you choose, it doesn’t matter much what the actual dishes were.
I will say that the recipes were decently easy to prepare (I am an advanced cook), and the food was very tasty. They were also willing to accommodate vegetarians, even if the food wasn’t originally designed to be vegetarian, which I thought was nice.
Bill was more than competent. He encouraged a completely hands-​on experience (no demos here), where everyone got to chop, dice, slice and broil. His manner is a bit gruff, which I think adds to his charm. He has a sly sense of humor, and while he takes his job (and the food!) seriously, he doesn’t take himself too seriously.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for one of his assistant chefs (who will remain nameless). I found the nameless chef to be quite brusque, verging on rude to the participants of the class, nit-​picking technique and even snatching away a spoon from a colleague because he wasn’t «stirring it properly.» I thougth nameless chef’s attitude was a bit heavy-​handed, as many of my colleagues had no experience whatsoever in the kitchen.
After we’d prepared the food, we got to eat it. They’d set out a lovely table upstairs (which was pretty vacant at that time in the evening; no one was browsing the kitchenwares) with wine, and we took our food buffet-​style.
I enjoyed the experience and would recommend the school.