Cookshop

Walked by today a sign on the doors says that the place is now closed for good. Sad to hear, fun place for every cooking gadget and knife and pot you ever want to own. They had cooking classes you know the kind single people take to meet other single people.
When its comes down to it I was hardly surprised this placed closed its door like many other retailers that sold items at modest première to support some its speciality services, I sure that cross boarder shopping took a wallop out of their sales over the last six months. Why pay 20 more for something but you take a day-​trip to outlet mall outside of Seattle get even more choice at lower prices.
Sadly I think everyone in the lower-​mainland is going lose this scenario. Less local shopping is going to mean less local choice and less tax revenue for needed services in the long run.

I enjoy wandering through Cookshop on my breaks and eyeing all the kitchen gadgets. I imagine what my life would be like with my $ 500 KitchenAid mixer and Le Creuset cookware.
I’ve been meaning to sign up for one of their many classes, especially the sushi making class. Their monthly class schedule is always abundant and varied, something for everyone!

As a home cook you can only learn so much from watching Masaharu Morimoto battling it out on the kitchen stage of Iron Chef America, reading Anthony Bourdain’s exotic cook books, or watching your care givers prepare hearty meals. Therefore, I decided to learn some «professional» cooking tricks by taking a series of 6 cooking classes at City Square’s Cookshop recommended (highly) by my colleague who took the exact same program a couple of years back.
The cooking classes I signed up focuse on fundamentals of French cooking. Our instructor, Chef Eric, is a very funny, high energy, French man who makes cooking fun. Every Saturday morning for 3 hours I would learn to cook amongst my inquisitive classmates. I must say I quite enjoy the classes. The classes are not intimidating at all and the atmosphere is quite friendly. The structure of the classes is very hands on. The class would start off with a short demo and after that people are split into pairs or small groups (depending on the recipes) and that’s when people get their hands moving. Throughout the class our instructor would come around to our stations, give us feedback, and conduct more demos. By the end of each class we all get to sit down and enjoy the fruit of our labor.
This place offers a wide range of cooking classes from French, Chinese, Indian, to Japanese etc. They even have baking classes. If their cooking or baking classes don’t interest you but you just want to browse and/​or add tools/​gadgets to your collection, this is a good place. Cookshop has a wide selection of quality cooking and baking gadgets. Merchandises aren’t cheap, but you do get reliable brands.
This shop is conveniently located at the intersection of Cambie St and West 12^th Ave. It is close to Vancouver CIty Hall Skytrain station. Parking lot is spacious and you can have your parking validated. And there is a Kin’s Farm and Safeway should you want to pick up some groceries along the way.

This mall is quiet. Almost too quiet, especially around dinnertime. But the good news is that it’s this that makes shopping breezy.
Take Cookshop: a surprisingly large spot, stacked with gadgets and gizmos, pots and pans, cookbooks, glassware and bar ware a plenty. And while it’s full of stuff, it isn’t crammed with people. The prices are a little more dear than Gourmet Warehouse, and priced heads above Homesense, but they also had a number of items on sale. It’s quiet and peaceful inside and that means you will likely get attention from a shop clerk. Which is exactly what happened to me today. Sure, I didn’t need very much, just a question or two about a couple of products, but they were friendly and able to help.
They also offer full cooking classes in a kitchen in the back and have offers like 2hour Kitchenaid stand mixer classes when you purchase a new appliance. That could come in handy one day…

I first took the sushi class here a couple of years ago with Chef Ron Suzuki and absolutely loved it. At $ 49 each and buy 2 get 1 free we definitely got our money’s worth and Chef Ron has the perfect personality to make the class super fun.
Today I took the dim sum class with Chef Thuang Yan and he did not disappoint! I loved the smaller class size and having the hands on experience. After this class I realized it’s so much easier to make dim sum than it seems and will definitely be using my new skills at home. Another fun afternoon at the Cook Shop!
I love the variety of classes the Cookshop offers and at their reasonable prices I will definitely come back to learn more.

This is one cooking store that offers cooking classes.
Me, being the kitchen freak that I am, will come here after my work out from Fitness World upstairs to look at instruments and things that will prep stuff that will fatten me up right after I’ve spent time sweating and grunting to work it off! I come in after my workout and there is always something cooking and making me drool all over myself after I’ve showered and cleaned myself up. Grrrrrrrr…
It’s a nice store, with likely the second largest selection of cast iron for cooking. There is also an entire side dedicated to bakeware.
This is where I got my microplane.

I took the fundamentals of cooking series a while back and more recently I took a cupcake decorating class at the Cookshop, and both were fun. The fundamentals of cooking is a great series if you’re ready to learn new recipes and become a better chef. Our teacher, Chef Eric, was probably the big sell of the series. He’s a fantastic French chef and he’s absolutely hilarious to work with.
The prices are reasonable, and if you take a cooking class there you get 10% off from their store on the day of your lesson. The place is well stocked, but there’s only one main kitchen area which they use for teaching, and everyone else works in groups on burners. There’s a good variety of classes as well, so I’m sure you’ll be able to find something for everyone.

Took an Indian cooking class here and loved it. Will for sure sign up again.
A friend and I bought a Groupon ($ 25 for $ 50 worth of class) and paid an extra $ 30 each for an $ 80 class with Chef Kakoo Sahay. She’s great. Very knowledgeable and engaging.
There were seven of us in the class which meant everyone got to get their hands dirty. Wouldn’t want to be in a class with too many more people as I think there’d be less opportunity to participate.
We made pakoras, pork vindaloo, prawn curry, coconut rice, tandoori chicken and naan. And got to eat everything we cooked. Delicious. And you get to shop tax free in Cook Shop too.
A fun way to spend a few hours.

Sounds like Cookshop has some great classes, but I have to say, their customer service is fairly meh.
Nice enough folks, but their staff don’t seem to know the answers to a lot of questions. At the prices they charge, I think next time I’ll just go to Williams Sonoma and get the full hand-​holding high-​end sales experience that I kind of crave when I’m going to toss down $ 300 a pot.

Just finished the «Fundamentals of Cooking» a 6 class series at the Cookshop. I loved every bit of this experience from the great chef, to the recipes that were demystified and made simple, to all the yummy food I made and ate.
Now I know:
1) how to hold a knife properly
2) the importance of removing the «germ» from garlic before using it
3) how to ciseler an onion
4) how to make stock from scratch
5) how to make a quick blow your socks off sauce from the fried bits left in a pan when you sear something
and lots more
I highly recommend taking this series if you want to expand your kitchen skills. I definitely felt comfortable in the kitchen before this course, but only knew how to make a handful of dishes. Know I feel like I can tackle any recipe.
Bonuses:
I loved all the spunky french humor from Chef Eric. He told great stories, especially about his grandma and her special way of making the perfect crêpe batter.
I researched other cook school options like the Dirty Apron, Quince, and a couple others. The Cookshop was the most affordable and convenient option.

Conveniently located in the City Square Shopping Centre, Cookshop is packed from floor to ceiling with everything you need to get cookin’. All the big names in cooking supplies are here: from All-​Clad to Zyliss.
Don’t know how to cook? They’ve even got you covered there.
The Cookschool at the shop has an incredible calendar of cooking classes. There is something different offered every night of the week and prices range from around $ 50 to $ 100 per class depending what’s on the menu. There’s often a discount for couples, so try to take someone with you!
You can even get to know your favourite restaurant’s chef. Chefs from Cru, So. Cial, Gotham, the Cannery, Sanafir, and Arroy-​D Thai are all giving classes in Jan 2009.