Cook Studio

Fuelled by interest in food that extends beyond consuming it,a number of spaces dedicated to culinary art have come up in the city

Bottles of balsamic vinegar and white wine,bowls of sugar and salt,a pepper mill,a carton of cream and a basket of vegetables line the island kitchen where food blogger Nikhil Merchant is cooking. On his left are basic kitchen tools chopping board,a set of knives and a colander next to a section for pots,pans and serving bowls. Freshly-prepared portions of caramalised mushrooms and pasta in vodka have been placed on the table too. But those seated across,mostly men,are paying little attention to the food. They are instead watching Merchant with rapt attention as he demonstrates the recipe of Bourbon sauce as part of a cooking session at Studio Fifteen.

Ever since it opened last week,Pooja Dhingras culinary studio has hardly seen a free day. With a number of cooking sessions,classes and workshops ranging from baking to bartending and Parsi cuisine planned for nearly every day of the week,the baker and entrepreneur is now confident of taking Studio Fifteen to the next level. The idea of opening a culinary studio was to create an atmosphere for enjoying food and learning more about it,not just cooking classes. There will soon be food tastings,and experimental dinners, says Dhingra,who owns the Le 15 Patisserie.

Although specialty cooking classes have been popular in the city for over a decade,most were run by women from their homes. The rise in interest among people across age groups made professional chefs take the demos and classes out of homes and into more accessible spaces,such as restaurants and malls. However,this audience soon began to look for sessions that could provide them knowledge of food as opposed to mere skill. This is what prompted me to bring the popular international concept of culinary studios to India, says Rakhee Vaswani,who opened Palate Culinary Studio in Santa Cruz in 2009.

Today,however,there are a couple of more spaces in the city,including Rushina Ghildiyals APB Cook Studio and Pooja Rahejas Eat Drink Design. And if these entrepreneurs are to be believed,the trend is catching on. Ive been a food consultant and writer for many years,but it wasnt until a few years ago that I realised that experimenting in the kitchen can get the whole family to spend time together. People all over are now viewing food as a way of bonding and MasterChef has only added to their interest, she says.

Where these studios score over the traditional classes is with their fully equipped kitchens. This allows us to start from scratch,educating them on ingredients,their use,cooking techniques,and also cuisine and food in general, says Vaswani. In addition,the studio owners invite guest chefs for specialty cooking workshops. So,Ghildiyal has had Italian chef Ritu Dalmia and Matt Moran of MasterChef Australia while Dhingras calendar has workshops by chef Karishma Dalal who has worked with Suzette,Gresham Fernandes,executive chef at Impressario,and Abhishek Honawar,co-owner,The Pantry,apart from others.

None of them,however,believe that these studios will threaten their own business. Dhingra says there is space for everyone in the market. Armed with the ability to prepare a mean meal themselves,the diners will soon have very high expectations from restaurants. This,in turn,will ensure that the eateries not only step out of their comfort zone to try new things but also keep up their quality throughout, says Vaswani.

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Pooja Dhingra