Cooking Classes at Kerrytown

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Tom Hollander, who co-owns the Hollander's emporium with his wife, Cindy, says the kitchen store has been paying for itself. He hopes the holiday season, together with momentum from the cooking classes, will tip it into profitability.

Which is not to say the start wasn't a little rough. The chef at one of the first classes ran over by half an hour, partly because she was looking for various utensils and moving ingredients around the counter because they were blocking the audience's view of what she was doing. Now a custom overhead mirror is in place, and the cooks are comfortable enough to crack jokes as they zoom through the preparation of two recipes in an hour, leaving plenty of time for questions, samples, and applause.

Local Italian chef Francesca Giarraffa made Tuscan bean soup and pasta e fagioli in late October. When someone asked if they could substitute more familiar kidney or pinto beans for the cannellini or nutty borlotti beans the recipes called for, Giarraffa graciously responded, "sure, whatever you like." She paused, then added, "but then it won't be Tuscan bean soup anymore."   

[Originally published in December, 2009.]