Dayton's best kept secret for people wanting to perfect their culinary skills - a basement hideaway hands-on cooking school in residential Oakwood.
Learn the Joy of Cooking - in Oakwood!
Situated on a quiet corner of residential Oakwood hides Dayton's best kept secret for people wanting to perfect their culinary skills or just finally learn the basics. Little City Cooking School is a basement hideaway hands-on cooking school where people can sign up for cooking classes and walk away with a wealth of knowledge - and a full stomach!
Jo Dyck started the Little City Cooking School because she loves to cook and loves to teach. She got her start teaching in Toronto and luckily for us, she's brought her skills and teaching prowess to Dayton and has continued her work here. Jo loves helping people realize they are capable of preparing a delicious, healthy meal - especially working with people who arrive to class pretty sure that they will not be successful at cooking and helping them to see what they can do.
This school really is little - in fact, it can only accommodate 6 people at a time. They will do their best to accommodate any non-life threatening allergy (like dairy) and diet (like vegetarian/vegan). I was especially thrilled with the idea of reserving a whole class for a group of friends - or for a date night like in the case of one gentleman who wanted to treat his Hungarian girlfriend to a night of Hungarian foods that she missed so much from home. Jo set up the seating area with a candlelit table for two just for the occasion and I'm sure that's a night his girlfriend will never forget!
I went to learn about the school and ended up learning so many great tidbits I never really thought about before (and got to brush up on my knife skills!). What I loved most of all was getting to know Jo because she is so sincerely passionate about teaching the art and joy of cooking to people in a hands-on learning environment. When I asked Jo why she's devoted her time, skills, and her entire basement to teaching cooking classes she simply replied "Food is fascinating - it's constantly changing and there's always a new dish or a new style to explore. With endless possibilities cooking will always be interesting! I'm doing exactly what I want to do."
If you're interested in taking a class or booking a private event at the Little City Cooking School, check out their website for more information.
