Bought through: Living Social
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Data entry can do your head in sometimes, and my current temp assignment had me driving with the peak hour pack, further adding to the general itchy tension.
I decided against going home today and went straight after work to a cooking class located in Johnston St, Fitzroy, entertaining myself ahead of time with a peppy mocha and the chatty owner of Mauritz's Café, a little opposite Colmao Flamenco (He waved me off with, "Come back soon! Pizza's going to be on the menu!")
Walking in a little ahead of 7pm through the relatively nondescript exterior of this Spanish restaurant, I was pleasantly surprised by the warm welcome within - dark woods and retro classic tourist posters, leading to a small stage set up centrally for regular flamenco music nights hosted most Fridays and Saturdays.
A long table was awaiting this evening's cooking class participants and groups flowed in chatting casually in dribs and drabs.
After we had all found a seat, what proceeded next, as suspected, was not exactly the hands-on cooking class I'd imagined (or the voucher had described). This evening was going to be more akin to an instructional viewing for us, the participants, with expert step by step demonstrations that we could taste test as the event went along.
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Our chef, Miryam, was very knowledgeable in demonstrating the staples of Spanish cuisine, and we had a student's eye view on the creation of one of our tapas dishes (delicious garlic prawns with baby spinach, pine nuts and raisins); our main (seafood paella); and an accompanying dessert (berry soup - not quite an appetising name, is it?)
My fellow diners happily enjoyed the dishes, and made studied opinions and referential photos on how we could approach cooking these meals in the future. However, I think all of us would have liked to have had a turn of the wooden spoon personally, just to feel as if we had participated in an actual cooking class.
So in full disclosure I really can't say that this voucher satisfied their advertised premise. Nonetheless, it was a fun night and a return visit for a flamenco dinner with show will probably be on the agenda in the future.
Pros: ease to finding the location, though with limited parking options in the area; delicious Spanish food; warm, welcoming atmosphere
Cons: not really a hands on cooking class