What we’re about
Dear Fellow Foodies,
This Cooking Class Parties Meet Up group is one of the ways we invite you to check out The Refined Cook, which hosts culinary social events. While we're in a pandemic, we had to pause in-person classes so we're running virtual classes instead. And to take advantage of the cooking momentum brought about by the pandemic, we also launched Cooking Subversive, a newsletter and podcast to help you become a lifestyle cook, i.e., making healthy cooking a part of your lifestyle, even if you think you're busy. We're covering strategies on integrating cooking into a busy lifestyle, discussing cooking science, techniques, kitchen safety, curating data-driven information on food, farming and health-- stuff every cook should know.
Jeff and I started this venture because we love everything about food-–gathering (we like farming and shopping), cooking, eating, entertaining and best of all, we like meeting new people and hearing their stories. A few years ago in a hostel in Patagonia, we decided to cook dinner and invite anyone who cared to join us for the price of a story. It was an incredible experience.
We also believe in reclaiming our right to leisure, which is just another way of saying, we try to follow a slower lifestyle where we can stop and smell the roses, watch the hummingbirds, and take the time to create beauty wherever we are, because we care for ourselves, for other people and the health of our planet.
The Refined Cook classes are a bit different from regular cooking classes. Our mission is to teach and bring healthy, gourmet cooking into homes, offering a slow and sustainable lifestyle. For us, a meal is not merely physical sustenance. When created with joy and shared with friends, it is also spiritual and mental sustenance. So in addition to the technical aspects of cooking and using healthy ingredients (organic, natural or minimally processed), we encourage play and experimentation (yes, we play with our food!) and stress the importance of aesthetics— artful plating, a beautiful ambience, so that everyday meals are elevated into extraordinary ones. And we’re partying too!
Thanks for checking us out and we hope to cook with you soon!
Marlene
P.S. To join classes, you need to register using the Eventbrite link provided on each meetup event.
