Lunch Hour Cooking Class

“An eggshell has up to 17,000 pores,” says Linda Wyner, instructor at Pans on Fire in Pleasanton. Wyner, a food anthropologist and co-owner of the gourmet kitchen store and cooking school, knows her food facts: She’s even debated trivia with the staff of Good Eats on the Food Network.

Her store’s Express Lunch one-hour cooking classes offer a tasty alternative to microwaving lunches at the office—and the chance to pick up some cooking skills. Each class has a theme: At a recent “Eggspress” lunch, the four students used eggs to make a country salad with Shanagarry cream (an Irish dressing made with hard-boiled eggs), skillet frittata with seasonal vegetables, and angel food cake with vanilla-rum sauce.

“It’s a stripped-down version of a full cooking class,” says Wyner. “Students get a half-hour hands-on and demonstration cooking class, and half an hour to enjoy what they’ve created.”

The classroom is the store’s 800-square-foot kitchen—think Wüsthof knives, Sub-Zero fridge, Swiss Diamond pots, and Wolf ranges. After the three-course lunch, students can browse the store and receive a discount on most purchases.
 

Wyner offers Express Lunches once a month. October will feature a German-themed Octoberfest meal.
 

Express Lunch classes cost $25 per person. To sign up, go to www.pansonfire.com, or call (925) 600-7267.