One theme that I have tried to stick to in my life, and in my blog is that it is VERY important to focus on your marriage. No matter what you have going on in your life, no matter what other things you have going on, your marriage needs to be at the center. Because if you are unhappy with your husband/wife….the rest of your life will just seem “off”. That is why I find it so important to incorporate “date nights” into our life as much as possible. Whether that’s once a week, or once a month you just have to make time. Especially when kids are involved. That is why I was so excited when I got the opportunity to take a “date night” cooking class at A la Carte Culinary Services in Lynbrook the other week! The Captain and I were brought out of our normal routine and put in a fun and enjoyable environment, which led to an extremely fun night!
A la Carte is a full service culinary center designed to teach cooking classes as well as to perform many other food related functions for the trade. It was started by Polly Talbott 13 years ago when she took a leap of faith and went for her dream of bringing her love of food and the social aspect of preparing food to the public. The school is structured to teach recreational culinary arts to men, women, children, couples, senior citizens, as well as provide a team-building activity for business executives. One great NEW service is their ONLINE cooking school! I found this to be pretty great. For a fraction of the cost you can participate in the class LIVE from your home!
The Captain and I chose to go outside the box and participate in one of A la Carte’s Date Night events. The menu was surrounding the theme of Italian Countryside, and boy did the menu look good!
Date Night Menu
Melon Carpaccio
White Bean & Basil Bruschetta with Grilled Radicchio Salad
Butternut Squash Risotto with Bacon & Sage
Balsamic Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Grilled Grapes and Lemon-Honey Sauce
Apple Fig Crisp with Spiced Oat Nut Topping
Being a picky eater I was worried…but let me tell you that EVERYTHING on the menu was amazing!
I thought it would be more of a “cooking class”, but that wasn’t the case. As a matter of fact I think Captain Awesome preferred the more “social” dynamic of the class. You are broken into groups when you get there, and each group prepares a different course of the meal. You are then encouraged to walk around to watch how everything else is made. I have to admit that I wish I was able to learn more about the other courses, or learn some cooking “technique”, but class worked. Once the meal was cooked everyone served themselves buffet style and we sat, talked and drank wine with the other people in the class. I highly recommend doing some BYOW (bring your own wine) when you go though…even though they give you a glass with your meal, a little extra is definitely FUN!
I asked around to see what brought the other chef’s to A la carte and it ranged from a special date, birthday gift to mother daughter night out. It would be perfect for a group of friends to get together, or to celebrate someone’s birthday. Even if your office is looking for a group building, or holiday activity this would be great.
They have a lot of great recipes and events coming up so be sure to check out the A la carte calendar to see when you can get to experience your own “out of the box” date!
I was provided with a free date night class for the purposes of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This sounds like a lot of fun! And the food sounds really good. I don’t think Matt would enjoy the social aspects but I think he’d enjoy the food. Thanks for sharing. What a fun idea!
@SunnyMamaof3 it really was! Yes, we were nervous about being forced into the social situation, but it just worked! It was great