Monday, September 15, 2008

LA Times Article

Mixing it up for a change
By Chris Rubin
July 12, 2007
“LA Vie en Rose” plays softly in the background as Florence Bertheau – a.k.a. Chef Flo – cooks crepes, stacking up a supply on the side of her stove. Kids and their parents drift in to the Manhattan Beach Chefmakers Cooking Academy early on a Saturday morning, the grown-ups grabbing cups of coffee, the children taking the crepes, stuffing them with chocolate, jam and other sweet fillings and then devouring them.
Chefmakers offers mostly adult classes, but founder Richard Klein remembered that some of the best times he spent with his kids was in the kitchen, so the Academy also features many classes for children. Head chef Drew Closs, who developed a kids’ cooking program at Disney World in Florida, oversees the Junior Chefs classes.
The course this morning focuses on crepes both sweet and savory, and caters to kids ages 7 to 13. Bertheau toils at the back of the spacious teaching kitchen. Overhead cameras broadcast close-ups of her at work to the two large monitors over the main stove and smaller sets at cooking stations around the room. Today’s class: four boys and three girls, plus an equal number of parents, five mothers and two fathers. Surprisingly, there’s not a sullen kid in sight, and not one of them is trying to avoid being seen with his or her parent.
“Allons-y,” calls Bertheau. “Everyone gather ‘round. It’s time to make some crepes!” As parents and children, all sporting red aprons over their clothes, gather under the monitors around the main stove, Bertheau lays out the plan for the day, telling the class they will be making both sweet and savory crepes.
“Un, deux, trois
Bertheau has each person take a shot at making crepes, showing him or her how to first pour clarified butter into a good pan, followed by a small amount of batter.
The latter goes into the center, and careful rolling of the wrist tilts the pan to spread the fast-cooking batter evenly to the outer areas.
Bertheau next assigns each parent-child team to different tasks. Karen Mohan and her son Jeff, 12, are to prepare their own savory crepes. Like cooking shows on television, bowls filled with grated cheese, various peppers, sauteed spinach, sliced mushrooms, slivered meats and more are at the ready. They stuff the crepes and then ladle bechamel sauce on top. “We cook a lot together,” Mohan says as she works side-by-side with her son. “It’s our first time here. We’ve been wanting to come for some time.”
Terry Nakashima and Carol Melville, friends who have taken adult classes together, today are here with their girls, Alexandra, 7, and Erin, 6. The children have been friends for four years, and clearly enjoy working together. “I love to cook,” Alexandra exclaims, standing on a small stool to reach the counter. “Me too,” responds Erin, atop a stepladder.
Ian MacCormack, 12, wearing his nametag upside down, came with his mother Jamie Stringfellow, in part because a couple of school buddies had also signed up. MacCormack and Jeff Mohan cooked a French meal as a project in their French class – Mohan made French onion soup while MacCormack cooked a peach gratin – and enjoyed it. So this class seemed like a natural. “All these guys,” Stringfellow says of her son, Mohan and another former classmate here today, “are into math and science. They like that side of cooking.”
EVENTUALLY, it’s time to eat: first, the savory crepes hot from the oven, then finally the many-layered gateau. Stringfellow pauses between bites to make a prediction: “Ian’s going to be cooking at our house a lot more.”
Gradually, the class winds down as plates are emptied, and children and parents take off to whatever other activities they have scheduled for the day. Nakashima and Melville sign their daughters up for summer camp before leaving. “They can learn a skill they can use on us,” Nakashima says.
Still seated at the table, Karen Mohan surveys the detritus of the day. “The best part,” she sums up, “is that we can just leave the dishes and go home!”

weekend@latimes.com