Saturday night RT and I went to a special occasion “date night” cooking class at our local Viking store.  It was our first - and definitely our last - date night at Viking.  The menu included lobster bisque, stuffed filet mignon, mixed greens with a great dressing - all the food exquisite.  The complete menu is listed at the end of this post - except there was no champagne.   The chef who led the class was okay - although way too talkative and full of himself.  He spent about 20 minutes explaining how to butcher beef to get the filet mignon.    I doubt if anyone in the class really plans on butchering their own meat.  And I don’t know about you, but watching a chef handle and cut a big old slab of meat isn’t exactly my idea of a “romantic” evening.

The chef/instructor also pointed out people’s mistakes.  Once I opened the oven to put the potatoes in.  He saw what I did and said, “I noticed that some of you aren’t opening the oven ALL the way” and went on the explain why we MUST open the oven door all the way.  Of course I was the only one opening the oven at the time.  It was obvious who he was talking about.  RT and I laughed about it, and it didn’t bother me.  Still, though, it was a stupid thing for him to do.   Another time he pointed out that RT had committed the sin of seasoning BOTH sides of his filet prior to putting it in the pan.  One must season one side, put the seasoned side down in the pan, and THEN season the other side.  There was only one way to properly cut an onion.  Only one way to properly peel a carrot.  Only one way to properly skim fat from the top of the lobster bisque.   We were there for a date night, for Pete’s sake - not to learn some uptight chef’s anal-retentive compulsions.  However,  I’m too harsh.  He wasn’t all that bad.  He was generally pleasant and informative.  The chef/instructor was not what turned us off “date night” at the Viking store.

The “date night” classes are for couples only and each class is limited to six couples.  The spoiler, though, is that out of the six couples, two couples aren’t able to work together.  Of course they don’t tell you that until you get ready to cook the meal.  They have six couples but only four work stations - a perfect example of disregarding their customers in order to make more money.  So two couples have to split up.  That sucks for those two couples.  After all, they are on a “date night” and yet they are separated for the evening.  It sucks for the other couples, too, because their “date” is unexpectedly made into a threesome with someone they don’t know.  RT and I were together last night, but we shared our evening with a guy named Jay.  Jay was uncomfortable.  We were uncomfortable.  We joked around with each other - but Jay mentioned that he’d had no idea there was a chance that he and his date would be split up all night. 

Maybe lots of people enjoy stuff like that.  I don’t.  I wanted a date night with Ron  not Ron and Jay.  Viking needs to add a little “truth in advertising” to their class descriptions to make sure folks understand that even though they will pay a couple hundred dollars for a date night, they will either not be with their date all night, or they’ll have a stranger in the middle of their date all night.

Here’s the Viking ad for the “date night” that RT and I attended Saturday night:

Special occasions call for a special menu. Enjoy lobster, filet mignon, champagne and cheesecake – the ultimate culinary date night. Experience decadent gourmet dining while cooking up a little romance in the kitchen.

SKILLS AND TECHNIQUES Cooking lobster; making a classical bisque; whipping cream to perfect peaks; stuffing, wrapping, searing and roasting filet mignon; making a wine reduction sauce; roasting potatoes.

Lobster Bisque with Brandy Cream

Baby Greens with Candied Pine Nuts and Champagne Vinaigrette

Pancetta-Wrapped Filet Mignon stuffed with Spinach and Boursin Cheese

Roasted Shallot-Merlot Demi-Glace

Oven-Roasted Truffled Frites

Sample Recipes: White Chocolate Cherry Cheesecakes for Two

“Cooking up romance in the kitchen”?  I don’t think so.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 3rd, 2008 at 6:32 pm and is filed under RT/PawPaw, That's My Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.