If you’ve ever received the SUNY Westchester Community College Workforce Development & Community Education catalog in your mailbox, don’t toss it in the recycling bin! There are some tasty surprises hiding in there. If you enjoy dining out in Westchester County, make sure to take a look at the “A Taste of Westchester” courses being offered. These cooking demonstrations have been offered for many years. There is likely to be a restaurant demonstration on the list that you will want to attend.
The SUNY Westchester classes are curated by coordinator Donna Monaco (@donnadishes on social media). Each semester she selects and sets up the restaurants that will be featured.
“A Taste of Westchester” are cooking demonstrations. There seems to be a misunderstanding by some that they are attending a cooking class and cooking their own meal. However, unless specifically noted in the restaurant description that the class is “hands-on”, the majority of these classes are demonstrations only.
While some chefs regularly open their restaurants for these demonstrations, and are on the schedule every semester, they change the menu so that attendees can visit multiple times. As a pescatarian, I’ve been able to find several pescatarian or vegetarian-friendly restaurant options offered each semester.
Each chef offers his/her own spin on the demonstration, so no two courses will be alike. Although I wish I could attend ALL of the classes, so far I’ve only been able to attend two. The first class I attended was at Meraki Taverna in Armonk with Chef Michalakis Sarris. In this class, he had a makeshift kitchen setup in the front of the restaurant and demonstrated how he made the specific dishes on the demonstration menu.
The second class I attended was Maria Restaurant in New Rochelle. At this class Chef Giovanni Cucullo spoke to the class and talked about how he makes the dishes and where he sources the ingredients. This class wasn’t a demonstration, but more of a verbal description of the dishes he presented. Moreso, he shared the history of the restaurant and his inspirations. It was more like enjoying a fine meal with a gracious host.
We were able to enjoy the items from the class menu, which this session was pescatarian-themed. The photo above is of Shrimp Francese over back squid ink pasta and it was delicious! There were a ton of amazing and unexpected courses and we left stuffed. Chef Gio was super generous and hospitable.
As you can see, these classes were very different from each other. However, they were both interesting, informative and delicious. A Taste of Westchester classes lets you get up close with local chefs and try many of their delicious dishes, all at a super reasonable price. Each course has a $21 course fee as well as a sampling fee, usually priced between $25 to $30. The sampling fee is paid in cash at the restaurant when you arrive on the day of the course. Several restaurants also offer an optional wine pairing for an additional cost.
The fall SUNY Westchester Community College Workforce Development & Community Education catalog was recently delivered. This semester, Donna has curated over 25 different “A Taste of Westchester” sessions! I am looking forward to attending at least a couple more this fall. Hopefully, I’ll see you there!
