Basic Knife Skills

This class includes our Knife Skills manual as well as our 30-page Cooking Fundamentals booklet and a coupon for 20% off an 18 Reasons class of your choosing. The vegetables cut in this class will be used to create our favorite Vietnamese Salad; beer and bread will also be served.

Join 18 Reasons instructor Peter Tempkin for a class in the basics of using your chef's knife at home. We will discuss the ins and outs of knife use, care and safety. You will walk away knowing how to maintain a sharp edge and the best way to cut vegetables and herbs. This is a great class for beginners.

Peter Temkin brings over a decade of experience to Show Dogs and specializes in charcuterie from pates and whole-cut dry-cured meats to fresh sausages. As Show Dogs’ in-house Charcutier, he introduced five new specialty sausages to the menu including Merguez, Wild Boar, Chicken Curry, Chicken Boudin and Maple Bacon. Each sausage is made with locally sourced meats but incorporate seasonings to mirror the regions from which the sausages are inspired. Peter was introduced to the culinary world in his youth while growing up in New York City – his mother was a catering chef and his father was a book publisher. This upbringing, coupled with travels to France and Italy, instilled an early appreciation for food and cooking traditions. He began his culinary career as an apprentice at Florio restaurant in San Francisco. Here, Temkin says, Chef Rick Hackett set his foundation for cooking – learning everything from practical skills to the art of cured meat. Since then, Temkin has been instrumental in the opening of high-profile restaurants including Nopa, Spruce, and Cavallo Point’s Farley Bar, where he developed comprehensive charcuterie programs.