Best Bites of Summer!
![](https://18reasons.org/sites/default/files/SIMPLY%20SUMMER.jpg)
A hands-on in-person cooking class culminating in a dinner served with wine and beer. This class is limited to 14 students. Review our registration and cancellation policies here.
Late Summer, a time for unctuous ripe tomatoes, spicy and crisp peppers, glistening eggplants, sweet juicy corn, fresh basil and so much more. What better way to savor the Summer than to showcase these gorgeous vegetables in a full out feast! Students will make rough puff pastry to bake with heirloom and cherry tomatoes, gruyere, baby leeks topped with a fresh mortar and pestle pesto. You will blister a myriad of very special peppers, make a smokey, tangy eggplant puree, learn how to perfectly sear eggplant and create a show stopping salad that screams, "Summer!!", from the top of its lungs.
We feel so lucky to be in the Bi-Rite Market family, and this means that all ingredients used in this class will be sourced from small, local, organic farms because we know that the best ingredients make our job easy. If you love this time of year as much as we do, come join us in the kitchen and at the table to savor every last delectable bite of Summer.
MENU
Pepper Parade Panzanella—Blistered Shishito, Padron, Jimmy Nardello and Sweet Corn Salad with Garlic Croutons, Burrata and Pickled Shallot
Tomato Tornado Tart —Rainbow of Heirloom Tomatoes, Onion and Gruyere atop Rough Puff Pastry Topped With Basil Tarragon Pesto
Elegant Eggplant Explosion—Smoked Eggplant Puree, Seared Eggplant, Blistered Cherry Tomatoes, Shallots and Mint
Fresh Summer Greens, Cucumber and Summer Squash Ribbons, Tarragon and Overripe Tomato Viniagrette
Best of Summer Fruit with Chantilly Cream and Edible Flowers
*Menu subject to change based on seasonal availability
This menu contains the following common allergens: Gluten and Dairy. If you have allergies or dietary restrictions that concern your ability to cook along, please e-mail info@18reasons.org before purchasing a ticket.
Let’s Cook Together!
Gracie Schatz has been in the food industry for over fifteen years. In her career, Gracie has worked in a variety of places: as a baker and private chef in Eugene, OR, farming and cooking in Italy, raising pigs in the Sierra Foothills, butchering at the Fatted Calf in San Francisco, managing Avedano’s in Bernal Heights, cooking at Bay Area restaurants Molina and Cala and her own pop-up restaurant, Bread and Bones Supper. In Eugene, she started her own food justice nonprofit, Marigold Cooking Collective. After working with 18 Reasons as a guest instructor for the past 7 years, Gracie has decided to move from Eugene to San Francisco and join us as our head Chef. Her dream is to never stop learning about delicious food, to never stop exploring the many nuanced ways that food brings us joy, connection to culture, identity, seasons and community. 18 Reasons feels like the perfect place to explore this dream and she is so excited to be here!