Bowery Culinary Center

Yesterday I went to the Vietnamese cooking class to be told that it was the last class offered at this location, ever! This was a wonderful small venue to attend a cooking class, part demo, part hands-​on with lots of helpful tips throughout. Participants ranged from novice to expert. The chefs were very accessible and helpful throughout the class. At an earlier class I learned to make okonomiyaki and yesterday I was thrilled to learn a great vegetable recipe with Vietnamese flavors. The beef salad was terrific too. So very sorry to see this place go.

Gf took me here for some cooking classes. Happened to be mexican, which is my all time favorite. Very nice and helpful, funny. we were helped by Wei and Nicole Friday. The food was amazing. I still have the taste of cilantro on my tongue! I look forward to coming back and learning how to cook more.

Last week I went to a one hour free cooking demonstration/​class called «Small Budget, Big Flavor» at this center located in a Whole Foods Market. In addition to having two great instructors that showed us how to use many of the on sale Whole foods products to make a significant amount of simple and quick dishes, we also got free food!
I typically only cook for myself because when cooking for others food poisoning with prior knowledge has to be some sort of felony. However, after seeing how quickly and efficiently the instructors were able to make mussels, sugar & cinnamon cookies, royal icing, hot cocoa (made of rice milk!) and kale soup with fresh (store made) gigantic ravioli, I now know that I am not a potential food poisoner, I am just lazy.
The teachers were extremely nice, the way they taught the course brought us joy and the class itself was a great way to cap off a work day. I am definitely going back for another demonstration or am signing up for one of their three hour cooking courses:

Who knew? I took a Tamales 101 class at the Whole Foods Market Culinary Center, located upstairs in the Houston Street Whole Foods Market. The entrance is hidden way in the back where all the health products/​vitamins/​shampoos are.
Classroom is kind of small, leading to a more intimate atmosphere. The work station area is definitely tight, but what they lack in space they do make up for in instruction and recipes. The food was really delicious and the instructions so well written and detailed, I was very happy with my recipes.
Chef Wai rocks! He was informative, and had a good background on the subject, the ingredients and gave very good lecture and instructions. He even gave us a background on the masa. He also teaches at ICE, and if you are lucky to have him as your instructor, he will guide you through the recipes and explain the steps to you in a manner you can understand.
I made the yucca pastels on my own but substituted the pork for chicken and smoked turkey and the pastels came out really delicious. It is labor intensive work of love, but at the end it is well worth it. I think the hardest thing is grating and prep of the yucca, as the texture is slightly rubbery, making the root vegetable harder to grate. The thick, waxy skin also means you need sharp chef’s knives to cut through and then you have to core it because of the fibers.
My only complaint was the ventilation. Because all the cooking was done while we were at class, my coat ending up soaking up the smells of oil so I had to wash it the next day. Don’t let that little detail stop you from taking classes here. I would definitely come back and take more classes.

The Bowery Culinary Center is located inside Whole Foods on the second floor behind all the beauty products.
Thanks to Sally W’s tip, I was able to get into the Small Budget, Big Flavor cooking class.
What a treat and an amazing course to take. Better yet, free! The class alone was enough to convince me to shop at Whole Foods. Fresh Direct, you better step up your game and add some cooking classes.
Class size and room are small. I felt like I won the lottery when I was guaranteed a spot. If you can’t make it or your plus one cancels, please be courteous and e-​mail the instructor so they can give that spot to someone on the waitlist. A lot of the people who attend are regulars. Believe me when I say it is difficult to get into these classes.
I didn’t know what to expect. RSVPs are on Eventbrite and there are no tickets handed out. Just show up if you are on the list and they will check you off when you sign in. Seating is counter style. The best seats are up front. If you are in the back, nothing to fret about. They have tv screens with cameras positioned so you can watch them cook. This is actually a better view since it is difficult to see what food is in the bowls, etc.
It was not a hands on experience. It was more of a demonstration. That’s okay since it was very entertaining and no mess was involved. Our meal centered around Thanksgiving and we learned how to make spicy sweet potatoes, bread dressing, and salmon Wellington. Of course they jazzed up the meal with hot sauce, a wine gravy with butter, and chai tea with almond milk. It was a lot fancier than eating at a restaurant.
The classes do their best to incorporate the sale items on the weekly circular.
Needless to say, I left inspired to cook and very impressed.
Well done, Whole Foods.

I just went to their Small Budget, Big Flavor workshop. For this particular workshop is free therefore there is high demand for it. As a result, you would need to broke the event on their website a month early.
Second there is no cooking involved by the audience least for this particular workshop. All you have to do is watch them cook and wait eagerly for the delicious food that they are about to serve for you.
Tonight the teachers made a marinated grilled chicken, on top of a super tasty and crunchy bread, with sour cherries filled goat cheese, and lettuce. This is a super tasty sandwich but unfortunately by the time I got my sandwich, the chicken was cold. The chicken was finished off with salt, fresh ground pepper and some paper flakes. What surprise me was the cherries filled goat cheese, it is a creamy sweet cheese.
Then we had a broiled portobello mushroom, with melted provolone cheese and roasted peppers on a hamburger bun. I liked the chicken better but this was a great sandwich on its own. The best part was that the sandwich was still warm when I got it.
For desert we were served a coconut juice with yogurt, cubes of cantaloupe and mini tapioca bubbles. I love the how the yogurt really works with the tapioca and I really wanted more.
I believe I saw Sally W there today but I can’t be sure.
What are you waiting for? Sign up as soon as possible. It is almost like going to a restaurant, except you can see them make your food.

I can’t believe there are not more reviews of the cooking classes at the Bowery. The classes here are reasonably priced and you get so much out of them. I’ve learned plenty of great cooking skills, dietary information, and never left hungry. I usually want to roll out of there on my round belly because I’m so full. I first got a class as a gift, and since then I’ve gone once with a group of friends and given a class as a gift. My first class was taught my a recent cookbook author that I’ve since seen on Food Network. My gifted class was by a food blogger whose site I still reference, and I’ve taken others with the Bowery staff, who are all great. everybody there is awesome and it’s always an intimate, interesting mix of participants (only 10 people or so). I highly recommend!

Wow, I took my first culinary class at the Whole Food’s Bowery Culinary Center tonight and had a lot of fun.
The theme was Small Budget, Big Flavor!
One the menu was
Chicken with Caramelized Baby Onions and Pears– very easy and very tasty.
Pasta with Kale, Goat Cheese, and Bacon– Delicious.
Fun and affordable!

I signed up my boyfriend and I to a cooking demonstration, Small Budget, Big Flavor, at the Bowery Culinary Center.
The Bowery Culinary Center is a recreational cooking school within The Whole Foods Market located on 95 East Houston Street.
As Albert W. said, «…it was a perfect escape for something fun and instructional…» I couldn’t put it better than how Albert W. put it.
The demo class had two instructors that were very clear and extremely informative. It was the best demo class I attended, ever. The main instructor’s name is Min Liao but unfortunately I didn’t catch the other instructor’s name. Both instructors are AWESOME.
They also had a printout of the recipes for us to keep. I have been trying to get into this particular class for a long long long time but it is always «sold out» since the demo class I took is free.

I took the better basics class with Chef Wai Chu — this is perfect for a beginners level class and I had a great time. he demonstrated the basic techniques step by step and showed us how to create simple but delicious meals.
for breakfast, we made biscuits from scratch and scrambled eggs with sausage. he also demonstrated the steps for a perfect poached egg. the biscuits were very easy to make and he suggested we could add egg and other ingredients to make a scone.
for the entrée, we learned pan seared pork with mushroom gravy and several sides dishes– steam carrots with a yummy ginger honey sauce, braised kale with cranberry beans, and roasted broccoli with oven baked parmesan crisps.
dessert was very simple but creative– apple puff pastry. the best part was eating our creations.
this class is very suitable for beginners and affordable too. I’m excited to try the recipes on my own and maybe even add my own touch. I already signed up for another class with him and I’m looking forward to learning more. I wish they would offer more weekend classes. some classes were only offered on weeknights when I’m stuck at work.
this is my second cooking class. my previous experience was at the astor center for the fundamentals of cooking class. I paid double the cost but I would recommend taking the whole foods class instead.

These classes are expensive, but fun. I wish they had been a little more hands on and less demonstration. Our teacher did most of the cooking and prep work and had us just slicing onions.
Nevertheless, they offer a wide variety of classes and the instructors are well recognized and prepared. The facilities are gorgeous, and of course its easy to procure any missing ingredients.

The Bowery Culinary Center of Whole Foods was just the perfect escape for something fun and instructional. Christopher Ely, Co-​Founder, Applegate Farms was a great speaker in giving us the low down on Secrets of Salumi. Many samples were served including Prosciutto, Genoa Salami, Herb Salami, Pepper Salami (hot stuff), Pepperoni sliced, Pepperoni freshly sliced from stick (nicer flavor), Salametti, and Sopressata. Whole Foods provided water to wash down all that salt, bread, asparagus (lovely to wrap procuitto with), some nice Irish cheddar, and finished off with some wine sorbet.
This being my very first culinary experience seriously gives an amatuer cook like myself pause to think about a career change or at least take some time off to seriously experiment with some food. Min and Chris was the best.
The location of the class is tucked away upstairs in a little corner where it is a bit more quiet. The only upgrades I can tell they could use is a projection screen for presenters like Chris, and perhaps a modified countertop where their stove can be recessed for more counterspace.
Bowery Culinary Center is perhaps the best value in town.
FYI: samples can’t be brought home due to insurance reasons, otherwise I woulda totally ninja’d that big hunk of proscuit!

Culinary education for the budget conscious. So often, cooking classes in the city are wallet busters. Not so at Bowery Culinary Center. When I think Bowery, I don’t think spendy, though truth be told, not many pricepoints at Whole Foods, aka Whole Paycheck, are on the low side. But the dollar to benefit cost ratio is a good one, when it comes to the interesting myriad of class options available at BCC.
They even hold a Small Budget, Big Flavor Demonstration and Tasting totally gratis.
Put it on your calendar for Thursday Oct 22^nd:
Meals that steal hearts and bulk out budgets, money-​saving quick tips and in-​store brochure with chefs’ tips, cooking methods, recipes and coupons.
Classes are also available for kids. This season showcases fun foods like Candy Apples. How much fun is that?!
I attended a Vegetarian class. Some of you omnivores might think, bah, veggie, how boring. Well, it wasn’t at all. The class specialized in Hors D’oeuvres that everyone will love. That was the actual title of the course which included a demonstration and hands on work. We made bite sized yummies: endive with goat cheese, fig and pecans,
puff pastry pizza with muchrooms and fontina cheese, celery potato pancakes with onion and apple dressing, and fava bean pecorino crostini. So freakin’ good.
Very important: Be sure to go class hungry, nothing made during the sessions is take home– only in class eats. Call x245 to register.