The Glendalia Boutique Hotel & Culinary Studio

For a fun cooking and eating experience, consider a class

Our Culinary Classmates at The Glendalia

     The Food Hussy is such a warm ambassador for food in the Cincinnati-N. Kentucky region and she’s always looking for settings to get friends and colleagues together to try something new and write about food experiences.  She invited us to The Glendalia Boutique Hotel & Culinary Studio recently
for a cooking class.  It was an evening devoted to meat loaf.  This has never been my favorite dish because my Mom – usually, a wonderful cook – would always slather ketchup over it before baking and it icked me out.  However, if I think of it as a terrine, then it’s just fine.

Chef Rachel and Sous Chef Kim Leading the Class

     Chef Rachel Kramer and Kim Smith, her sous chef, led us through a variety of world regional flavor profiles and I learned new information about some ingredient combinations and where to look for some of these in fresh and canned varieties.  For that alone, it was worth my time and attention.  This is an original choice for friends to hang together and there was a group of birthday partygoers the night we went.  However, keep in mind that you’re then making and cooking the theme of that class so I wouldn’t recommend drinking a lot or talking during the lesson.

The Birthday Group
Chopping Vegetables

     Part of the fun is that some of the prep work has already been done by Rachel, Kim, and Aretha so we could focus on chopping vegetables for a sweet potato hash as a side and emulsifying a salad dressing.  Each of us then decided on a flavor profile and Rachel conferred with us about specific ingredient choices and amounts.

Browning the Meatloaves

Kim then browned and baked them, while we chatted with her, Aretha, and that upbeat hussy Heather about places for brunch.  Rachel led two other guests in preparing sauces – yes, they were ketchup based, but powered by port wine or tequila – that were then spread over our terrines after they came out of the oven.  

Our Meatloaf Dinner

     Everything was delicious and each terrine was unique, but the conviviality, discussions about foods and restaurants, and new knowledge pushed things into a memorable evening.  Glendale charms as a village and The Glendalia possesses a Victorian bohemianism that is redolent of San Francisco’s Alamo Park.

Go online to theglendalia.com or call 513-376-9645 for further information about upcoming classes.