February 18

Kitchen Confidence

Hipcooks in South Lake Union will build your culinary skills and help you create great meals.

Do your culinary habits include packets of ramen? Maybe you’re more of a frozen pizza person. Or perhaps you’re the master of the unseasoned, boneless, skinless chicken breast. If any of these describes you, it’s okay – this is a no judgment zone when it comes to food. But, dear reader, if you’re looking for a confidence builder in the kitchen, want to try want to try something different, or are just hoping to meet some new people and have a fun time, Hipcooks can help.

The cooking school’s founder and owner, Monika Reti, creates the classes, posts recipes every week to the Hipcooks blog, and works with the Hipcooks teachers to give great classes to students.

“At Hipcooks, the classes are all hands-on. We don’t use recipes and teach our students how to cook with intuition. We prepare the food together, as a group. Every class ends as a dinner party at a large communal table — students get to know each other and many form lasting friendships. We love to create community at Hipcooks,” she says.

Hipcooks offers private classes for groups (think corporate team building, client appreciation, or a group of friends with something to celebrate) and public classes, too.

“Public classes are open to all, and our typical customer is someone open-minded and adventurous. We’re a reputation-driven business, so many customers are repeat, or have come on a recommendation. Many come on a date night or a girl’s night out, but we also have singles looking to learn new skills and to connect with other fun people.”

Hipcooks has more than 50 classes on offer. According to Reti, the tapas classes are most popular. “Who doesn’t love small plates with lots of variety? People also love the pasta workshop. We start with eggs and flour and make fettuccine, ravioli, hand-rolled lasagna, and more. In Seattle, we host a lot of seafood classes, of course.”

Public classes fill up well in advance, and you can contact Hipcooks directly to set up a private classes. Reti suggests the Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina (April 1 and 2) and J’aime Paris! (April 3) classes this spring.

Story by Ethan Chung and photographs courtesy of Hipcooks.


At The Center

SLU is the geographical center of Seattle