The Chef & I

A couple of former coworkers have been mentioning The Chef & I as a wonderful restaurant.  I'd eaten their food at catered events, but never visited their restaurant in Lenox Village.  Then I found out they have cooking classes for $75 per person, which includes a multi-course meal.  My friend B and I have been looking to bring some more fun to our girls' nights, so we signed up for a Nashville Brunch themed cooking class.

It was a dark and stormy night, no joke.  Brooke and I were the only students on that night, so we got a private lesson from Chef Liz, along with some delicious dinner.  Some of their other classes, especially knife skills, sell out very quickly, FYI!

The first dish we made was a sweet potato and veggie hash, with eggs to boot.  It was a good exercise in dicing!  I loved all of the colors from the veggies, and we definitely learned a thing or two.  I'm planning to make this dish again, when I have houseguests!

Sweet potato and veggie hash

I grated cheese for the next dish, shrimp and grits (cheesy grits!) and we ate some of the veggie hash as a first course.  While we ate, Chef Liz prepped the shrimp and grits, while we watched and took some notes.  I'm not the biggest fan of grits, but these tasted soooooo good with all the grated Havarti in there.  The shrimp had smoked paprika, and they were very flavorful.

Shrimp & Cheesy Grits

Our last dish was Nashville hot chicken and cornbread skillet cakes.  You can also make cornbread waffles with this one, if you have a waffle maker!  I love hot chicken, but I have always been too scared to fry chicken at home.  I guess it's the idea of hot oil that freaks me out.  So Chef Liz helped me season the chicken (we did half hot and half not), bread it, and fry it up like a champ.  (Note the chef's coat I got to wear, like a boss.)  I have to admit, it was a little intimidating, but ultimately we had some great chicken!

I loved the spicy plus sweet flavor once we added the syrup to the pancake.  Yum yum yum.  I was a little rough handling the chicken, so some of the breading came off, but such is life.  Still tasty.

The Chef & I also has a limited number of seats at the kitchen bar open when they serve dinner, so you can watch them make your food.  But I love getting hands-on experience, so the cooking class was absolutely perfect.  I'll go back to eat there someday, but I also want to keep up with their calendar of cooking classes, so I can learn as I indulge.