6 January 2010
Is Your Restaurant Offering Cooking Classes?
Posted by Crystal under: Recession Tips & Tricks .
Cooking classes are an informal and fun way to share your passion and teach your guests how to cook. Some classes can be demonstrations, where students only watch as the chef prepares a dish, other classes can be a hands-on experience, where guests actively participate, mixing ingredients and cooking. At the end of each class, a sampling of the featured creations is typically provided to the guests. Cooking classes are an excellent way to create a devout following and showcase your tantalizing recipes!
Why Offer Cooking Classes? Bring additional revenue in by offering cooking educational experience to your customers. Give more reason for customers to attend your wine pairing dinners by doing it during the class. With the recession reducing revenues generated off the wine lists, combining wine with food in cooking classes will entice customers to buy and experience tastes without spending more. If you published a cookbook, promote it through a cooking class.
Help Consumers in Downturn Times. Many restaurants turn to cooking classes to provide alternative for their customers in a downturn economy. Majority of people work from 9 till 5, and then they come home at 6 or 7 and want to be in bed at a reasonable hour. They cannot afford hours to cook meals. In a cooking class you can teach guests how to make meals ahead of time so that meals can be frozen and taken out when it’s time to eat. Use cooking classes to teach your guests how to make economical, quick, yet nutritious dishes. Create a perception of value in your customer’s eye that by learning to cook from the restaurant’s chefs, the customer can create high quality, nutritious meals yet at the same time save money by cooking at home.
Theme-Based Cooking Classes. There are endless ideas you can come up with for a cooking class. For instance, you can talk about the role of food in a history of opera; or teach cooking classes based on a really old rare-to-find recipe book, say, from 18th century; or give a class based on recipe books by past celebrities, such as Maria Callas’ cookbook “La Divina in Cucina.” You can create holiday-themed cooking classes, such as for Christmas or Valentine’s Day to teach the secrets behind your favorite Christmas or Valentine’s treats and show your customers how they can wow their friends and relatives.
Food-Based Cooking Classes. With such a variety of ingredients and cooking styles, you can never run out of the ideas for a cooking class. For instance, teach your customers how to make handmade pasta from scratch. You can even stretch your pasta lessons into several sessions, featuring a different pasta shape and the proper accompaniments each session. Or you can offer simple lessons on Italian classics with dinner to follow. It is always a good idea to offer wine pairing tips along with the dinner to maximize customer experience and raise your margins. Other ideas include cooking classes for vegetarian and vegan dishes, exploring Thai and Indian cuisines, cooking with a particular tool, such as the cast iron skillet, teaching gourmet or ethnic cooking, and so on.
Promoting Cooking Classes. Offer cooking classes at a convenient time, such as on the weekends, in the afternoon or at night. Create a class packet to include written cooking instruction and a packet of recipes for each class attendee. Promote your classes through your web-site, your e-mail distribution list, restaurant announcement boards, and have your waiters mention cooking classes to diners. Have an option for guests to buy a cooking class as a present for a friend or a gift card.
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