Category Archives: Cooking demos

My daughter is learning to cook at Bonnie’s Place

June 18, 20132:09 p.m.

There’s Alexis, on the far right, scooping yeast for pizza crust under the watchful eye of Bonnie Aeschliman.

My 8-year-old daughter, Alexis, is kind of shy, and she’s not always excited to walk into a situation where she doesn’t know anyone.

But Cooking Camp so far has been different.

I signed Alexis up for a week-long “camp” at Cooking at Bonnie’s Place, the cooking school at 9747 E. 21st St. N. run by Bonnie Aeschliman. The camp meets every day this week from 10 a.m. to noon, and the students — second through fifth graders — cook something different each day then consume the results.

On Monday, they made spaghetti and meatballs and “the second best salad” Alexis has ever had. Today, they were working on making pizzas with crust from yeasty scratch.

Alexis is is loving it, and by Friday, I expect her to whip me up a gourmet meal.

Bonnie is having two more sets of kids cooking camps this summer. One is July 15 through 19 and is designed for teens ages 12 to 18. Then, there’s another camp for the younger set June 17 through 21. Sign your young chef up through the website or by calling 316-425-5224.

By Denise Neil | Tags: Filed under Cooking demos | Comments

Little bites of restaurant stuff

Nov. 11, 20112:43 p.m.

Check out Bella Vita's new sign. Hopefully, it'll make the restaurant more visible to passers-by.

I’ve been collecting little restaurant details that I thought I’d better share. Consider this entry to be blog tapas, if you will.

1. Bella Vita’s new sign: For a long time, I’ve thought that Bella Vita Bistro, a good but previously hard-to-find restaurant at 120 N. West St., could use better signage. It sits way back off the road in a strip center, and if you didn’t know it was there, you wouldn’t know it was there. I noticed the other day that the restaurant now has a new sign — a big one, right up next to the street. Good move.

2. Seal Team Six at Wichita Brewing Co & Pizzeria: Owner Jeremy Horn called today to tell me about a special beer he’s brewed and titled “Seal Team Six,” a nod to the Navy Seals team that captured Osama Bin Laden. It’s a black IPA, which he describes as “dark like a Porter, without the roasted character, and hopped.” (Sounds strong.) He’s brewed only five barrels of it, meaning it should be available for another month. Today, in honor of Veteran’s Day, he’s serving goblets — normally $5.50 — for $4.50.

3. Adrian’s menu update: George Matta from Adrian’s at 2121 N. Rock Road asked me to let people known about some of his new menu items, including a 14 oz. T-bone steak served with roasted potatoes and vegetables; a stuffed pork tenderloin filled with spinach and walnuts and topped with an apple Brandy cranberry sauce; and a grilled chicken Parmesan served with vegetables and spaghetti or roasted potatoes. Matta also says he’s considering adding a Sunday brunch to his offerings.

4. Bonnie’s latest chef classes: Bonnie Aeschliman of Cooking at Bonnie’s Place, 9747 E. 21st St. N., has two more chef classes on her schedule. There are still a few seats left for Tuesday’s session with Tallgrass Country Club chef Ben George, who will be demonstrating “West Coast Fusion” style cooking. And speaking of Bella Vita, the restaurant’s chef, Adrian Prud Homme DeLodder, will be teaching an Asian cooking class on Nov. 29. Both classes start at 6:30 p.m. and cost $45 a person. Make reservations here.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , , , Filed under Chefs, Cooking demos | Comments

Learn to cook with the pros

Oct. 5, 20114:44 p.m.

There’s all sorts of cooking school awesomeness going on in Wichita over the next couple of weeks.

One is over at Cooking at Bonnie’s Place, where on Tuesday, chef Nathan Toubia of Bocconcini Italian Eatery will demonstrate how to make some of his specialties, including pancetta-wrapped shrimp, polenta cakes with red garlic sauce and panna cotta. His class is at 6:30 p.m. and costs $45 a person. To make a reservation, visit Bonnie’s website.

Another is the Taste of Home Cooking School, which is in its second year at Hartman Arena. The show is from 3 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 14, and will feature cooking demonstrations, shopping and prizes geared for home cooks. Tickets are $15 at the door or $12 in advance at Ashley Furniture Home Store, 10711 W. 21st N. or at Furniture on Consignment 4502 E. 13th St.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , Filed under Chefs, Cooking demos | Comments

Cooking with chefs

April 5, 201111:21 a.m.

Adrian Prud Homme DeLodder, center, will teach a cooking class later this month at Cooking at Bonnie's Place. He's pictured here in his restaurant, Bella Vita Bistro, with his co-owners, including his mother-in-law Lory Wooley, left, and his wife, Crystal Prud Homme DeLodder.

Bonnie Aeschliman continues to attract some of Wichita’s most interesting chefs to her Cooking At Bonnie’s Place, a cooking school at 9747 E. 21st St. N.

This month, she’ll have three notable chefs teaching three interesting classes.

On April 12, Chef Douglas Pitts — most recently of Press — will teach a class called “Celebrate Spring Asparagus.” Even if you’re not a huge fan of that particular veggie, if anyone can make asparagus taste great in all kinds of different ways, it’s Chef Pitts. The class is at 6:30 p.m. and is $45.

Then, on April 19, Chef Peter Moretti, who’s the chief of all things culinary at the Corporate Hills Marriott, will demonstrate how to make hors d’oeuvres and party foods, and Bonnie says this particular class is a very good one. It’ll be at 6:30 p.m., and is $45 a person.

On April 26, Chef Adrian Prud Homme DeLodder of Bella Vita Bistro will lead his first-ever class at Bonnie’s. He’ll be demonstrating several Italian-influenced dishes, including cannelloni. It’s at 6:30 p.m. and is $45.

Interested aspiring chefs should reserve a spot soon either on the Cooking at Bonnie’s website or by calling 316-425-5224.

Can I please get credit, by the way, for spelling Aeschliman, hors d’oeuvres AND Prud Homme DeLodder in this post? Please?

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , , , Filed under Chefs, Cooking demos | Comments

Lots of food fun at the Women’s Fair

Feb. 15, 201110:04 a.m.

Guy Bower: Willing to teach women about wine.

I sort of love the Women’s Fair, which runs Friday through Sunday at Century II.

There’s tons of good shopping, for one, and I love watching the live haircuts that Eric Fisher and his stylists do in the middle of all the hubub.

I also love the foodie fun at the Women’s Fair, mostly because the food demonstrations always conclude with samples, and there are some good cooks on the menu this year.

Friday

At 5:30 p.m., my buddy Guy Bower (who changed my life when he taught me that I preferred Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand) will put on a wine tasting. Right after at 6:30 p.m., the Hyatt’s new chef Paul Freimuth will make his Wichita debut with a cooking show.

Saturday
You will not want to miss the annual cooking show put on by Sue Chef & the Food God, also known as the Wichita Eagle’s Carrie Rengers and her food God and husband Joe Stumpe. Their always-entertaining show is at 2 p.m. Then, at 4 p.m., local chef Tanya Tandoc, who’s hard at work getting her Tanya’s Soup Kitchen reopened, will put on a cooking show of her own.

Sunday
Skip lunch and go to a noon cooking show by Joe Parten, the very generous and talented chef and proprietor of Carrabba’s.

The Women’s Fair runs from noon to 8 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $7.75 for adults, $6.75 for seniors and $4.75 for children.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , , , , Filed under Chefs, Cooking demos | Comments

Taste & See what it’s all about

Jan. 20, 201110:38 a.m.

For a couple of months, I’ve been hearing about and seeing ads for Taste & See Everyday Gourmet, a new business in the Office This space near Harry and Hillside, but I couldn’t figure out exactly what it was. So I decided to ask.

Turns out it’s a part restaurant/ part cooking school/ part private party venue. And they have Chef Jason-Paul Febres of Sabor fame doing the cooking and performing.

You can read more about it in my profile of the business, which will run in the paper on Friday.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , Filed under Chefs, Cooking demos | Comments

Iron Chef Wichita

Aug. 30, 20102:23 p.m.

Iron Chef David Wirebaugh from Harvest Kitchen/Bar.

Iron Chef David Wirebaugh from Harvest Kitchen/Bar.

The Old Town Farmers Market will be the site on Saturday of the 8th annual Iron Chef Competition, which pits local chefs against each other in a live, action-packed, mystery ingredient-filled competition.

This year’s competitors are Chef David Wirebaugh, the head chef at the Hyatt’s Harvest Kitchen/Bar; local caterer and chef-about-town Jeremy Wade, The Anchor’s Ben George, and last year’s champ, area chef Terry Johnson.

A “secret ingredient” will be revealed at 8:30 a.m. (last year’s was onions), and the chefs will have until 9:45 a.m. to shop the Farmers Market for ingredients and create a dish. Judges are Guy and Beth Bower and Sierra Scott.

The Old Town Farmers Market takes place from 7 a.m. to noon at First and Mosley streets in Old Town.

By Denise Neil | Tags: , , , , , Filed under Chefs, Cooking demos, Uncategorized | Comments

Chile fest

Aug. 20, 20102:30 p.m.

images-2This weekend is the annual Chile Fest at Johnson’s Garden Center, an important day for fans of roasted peppers. All the store’s locations will be roasting, selling and offering samples of roasted Hatch green chiles, while supplies last.

And on Saturday, the stores will offer ideas about what to do with the chiles, too.  At 10 a.m. Saturday morning at the store at 802 N. Ridge Road, local foodie Joe Stumpe will be offering a seminar on traditional cooking with green chiles. And at the store at 21st and Woodlawn, Guy Bower will offer a 2 p.m. seminar on “Wine, Beer and Green Chile.”

For more details, click on “Read More” to see the ad scheduled for tomorrow’s paper. Read More »

By Denise Neil | Filed under Cooking demos | Comments