Foothills Foodies Create A Stirr!

(Page 5)

By Todd Curran
A Black Diamond business is creating quite a stir by offering adventures in food to the culinarily curious.
Stirr! is a full on kitchenware store and culinary classroom that dishes out food culture and kitchen gadgetry. Owners, Clayton Foster and Lainey Minardi, are as sharp as a chef's knife, filling a highly desirable merger of food and entertainment. My girlfriend and I recently attended a Cooking for Couples class which had us wined, dined and feelin' fine.
“We're legally required to fill your wine glasses,” Lainey says to the class. Just as I was thinking: Now THAT'S a law worth following! Lainey went on to explain there is no self-serving. Misinterpretations aside, our hosts kept the glasses sociably full during our stay. We were off to a good start.
Chef Patrick Dunn, our guide to gastronomy, planned a menu of Soupa Azteca, Quinoa and Chickpea Salad, Goat Cheese and Pancetta on Crostini, followed with a main of Seared Pork Tenderloin with Chimchurri Sauce. The fresh, vibrant ingredients were all accounted for. All we had to do was slice, chop, grate, mix, spread and cook them. Wine? Check. Sharp knife? Check. Nine and a half fingers? Check! I'm ready to go.
Word of the cooking classes is clearly spreading as Clayton sees some familiar faces as well as new ones. He offers some safety tips to us and brings Chef Patrick over to demonstrate some knife techniques. “Let the adventure begin!” Clayton exclaims.
Having no desire for his own restaurant, Chef Patrick instead offers instruction in team building, knife skills and cooking, along with a line of spice blends available at Stirr! “I focus on the social aspect of cooking,” he says. “Teaching people empowers them to cook for themselves.”
“Stirr! started from our love of food,” Lainey says, as we prepare our dishes. “Now we're surrounded by useful gadgets and get to share recipes and techniques by assembling some of the best chefs around.” Clayton is firing up the barbeque for the tenderloin, which is rubbed with one of Chef Patrick's spice blends, while the rest of us put the finishing touches on the other courses and “drink responsibly”.
Our group efforts synergize into a spectacular meal. After three hours and four courses, the students are stuffed silly and need to walk it off. We're all talking, laughing, reliving our food adventure and buying up gadgets, tools and sauces for Christmas presents and for ourselves. When you feel this good, the world really is your oyster.
Visit Stirr! at 126 Centre Ave West, Black Diamond, or:
www.stirrme.com. These classes beat the molasses out of another bland movie night!