Chef for a Day in New York City

Enjoy a Private Cooking Class in Greenwich Village Bistro and Invite a Guest to Join You for Dinner

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About This Experience Gift

  • Work With a Chef During an Intensive, Hands-on Private Class
  • Sharpen Your Cooking Skills an Create a Three Course Meal
  • Invite a Guest to Share the Dinner You Prepared

Learn to cook a delicious three course meal in the heart of Greenwich Village. This three-hour culinary adventure is the perfect recipe for fun and makes a unique gift for any occasion.

The private cooking class takes place at a quaint Village Bistro where you will learn to prepare a fabulous meal from start to finish under the instruction of an award-winning Chef. You will cook like the pros do as you prepare an appetizer, main course and dessert in the heart of a working restaurant kitchen. Once your work is done, you may invite a guest to join you at the Bistro to savor the dishes you have created along with a bottle of wine.

After this unique gastronomic experience, you will walk out of the restaurant feeling like pro! So whether you are a delivery diva or have spent time sharpening your knife skills, this 5-Star rated experience gift is sure to satisfy your appetite! 

Where to Go for Cooking Classes and Lessons in New York

  • New York, New York

Group Size and Spectator Info

Participants
The Chef For A Day Experience Certificate is valid for one participant and one dinner guest, unless additional dinner guests are added.

Guests
You can invite one guest to join you for the meal you have prepared. Alternative Guest Options may be selected.

When can you book Chef for a Day in New York City

OPEN CURRENTLY CLOSED

The Bistro Cooking Classes are offered Monday thru Saturday evenings year-round, subject to availability. The lessons typically begin at 5:00 PM on weekdays and at 4:00 PM on Saturday evenings.

How Long Is The Chef for a Day in New York City

The Chef For a Day Experience includes a 1½ hour culinary lesson followed by dinner in the Bistro with a total duration of approximately 3½ hours.

Does Weather Impact Cooking Classes and Lessons

The New York Culinary Classes take place in all weather conditions.

What to Wear for Cooking Classes and Lessons

Dress comfortably, flat rubber-soled shoes, long pants or a long skirt and a long sleeve top are recommended for this culinary adventure. Please do not wear open-toed shoes or nylons.

What To Know Before You Go

This experience takes place at Abigail's Kitchen (formerly Camaje Bistro) in Greenwich Village."Quirky" yet "très charmant", this Village bistro delivers "inventive" Franco-American cookery from "superwoman" chef-owner Abigail Hitchcock. - ZAGAT 2007

The price includes a three course dinner, a bottle of wine and all taxes and gratuities.

The menu options each for course are as follows:

Appetizers:
Mediterranean Seafood Soup with Saffron
Roasted Eggplant and Goat Cheese Napoleon
Seared Sea Scallops in a White Wine and Shallot Sauce with Mixed Greens
Duck Liver Pate served with Toast Point, Dijon, Corni

Main Dishes:
Pan-Roasted Hanger Steak with Crispy Shallots and Mashed Potatoes au Jus
Sautéed Wild Salmon with a Lemon-Dill Sauce and Market Vegetables
Grilled Tuna in a Tomato-Olive Broth with Baby Bok Choy
Roasted Portabella Mushrooms

Desserts:
Caramelized Banana and Roasted Chocolate Crepes
Chocolate Souffle
Creme Brulee
Molten Chocolate Cake

ITEM/SKU NUMBER: 05BL10900A

Inquire about this Experience

Reservation And Cancelation Policy

All changes to reservations for the Chef For A Day Experience require fourteen (14) days advance notice.

Xperience Certificates® cannot be exchanged once a reservation for the experience has been made.

 


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This week, Abigail from New York based ‘Camaje Bistro’, tells us all about the her ‘Chef for A Day’ experiences. Camaje Bistro serves beautiful French-American cuisine, but a meal out is not the only thing on the menu here! You can step into the restaurant kitchen and experience life as a professional chef, preparing a 3 course meal for your guests. Have a read to find out more about these exciting culinary experiences.


Please could you tell us a little bit about the history of Camaje Bistro and how your Chef for a Day experiences began?


Years ago I worked for Williams Sonoma doing live cookery demonstrations. People loved watching, but wanted to try hands on cooking classes too. At that time, I owned Camaje Bistro and was thinking about opening a separate cookery school so I could offer classes. I decided to test it out in the restaurant, and it all started from there!


Everyone loved cooking in the restaurant environment, so I launched private classes from our base at Camaje – we call it the ‘One Night Stand’. People have a chance to come into the restaurant and cook for one or two guests. They are working alongside professional chefs, carrying out normal service for the night, so it’s a really authentic experience.


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What encouraged your passion for cooking?


My father loves to cook. As I was growing up we would often cook together – we still do today! My parents divorced when I was younger and on the days I spent with my Dad, I remember going out shopping for food with the question “what shall we have to eat tonight?” in mind. We would pick out the ingredients, then go home and cook dinner with the fresh food we had bought. This is where my love for good food originally came from.


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As a young adult, I went to the University of Bristol in England and began studying for a Botany degree. I lived in a self-catered flat and had to cook for myself for the very first time. I soon found that I absolutely loved cooking good food and thinking about what I was going to eat for each meal. My Botany degree included lots of boring lab work, and one day I realized I’d had enough of science! So, instead of going on to study science at Masters level, I decided to change my career plans and go to cookery school! This was 21 years ago and I still love cooking today.


What would you say is the best thing about the experiences you offer?


It’s a truly hands on experience. Our customers have to prep all of their own ingredients and learn to make everything from scratch. It’s just really authentic. I think being in a real restaurant kitchen environment is the best thing about the experience.


 


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What makes your experiences different to other culinary experiences?


It’s different in that you are learning to cook in a real working restaurant kitchen, so it’s a very unique set-up. There are a few other places that offer this kind of thing – where you can see inside the kitchen, but they are more like a demonstration. Other cookery experiences that take place in cooking schools use beautiful state of the art equipment, whereas here it’s an actual working kitchen, so you can see what its really like! You really get to learn a lot of technique with us whilst having fun.


Thanks for talking with us Abigail! These cooking experiences sound fantastic!


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