Gervasi Vineyards in Canton opens cooking school

CANTON: Imagine signing up for a cooking class and first, you head into the kitchen’s adjacent greenhouse to pick the herbs and vegetables you’ll need for your lesson.

That’s the vision for the Cucina at Gervasi Vineyard, Culinary and Wine Education Center. As with all things at Gervasi Vineyards, the soon-to-open cooking school is luxurious.

The commercial kitchen is outfitted with the latest state-of-the-art equipment: an Italian pasta-making machine, a rotating pastry oven for baking, and gleaming stainless steel everywhere one turns.

On a recent tour, owner Ted Swaldo talked about his vision for the center. “Our cooking classes will start in the greenhouse,” he said, explaining how students would first pick their own vegetables and herbs before they begin working.

The Cucina is part of the recent expansion at the winery, 1700 55th St. NE. Along with the winery, Bistro and Piazza restaurants, gift shop and wedding pavilion, the former farm property now also includes a Tuscan-style grand villa, which includes conference rooms, a wine-tasting area, offices, the Cucina, and behind, the greenhouse and six small villas. The smaller villas are a combination of a bed-and-breakfast and luxury hotel suites, with each housing four guest rooms and a common living area.

The expansion is an effort to make the property a true destination point, by adding not only the overnight accommodations, but also activities for guests.

“We were trying for that ‘wow’ factor. If you’re here and don’t say ‘wow’ then we’ve screwed up,” Swaldo said.

After adding the wedding pavilion, accommodations seemed like the next natural step, as wedding guests were always looking for a place to stay.

The Cucina will serve not only as the cooking school, but also as the commercial kitchen for the outdoor wedding pavilion. Executive chef is Jerry Risner, a Massillon native, and cooking school director is chef Jennifer Wolfe Webb of Canton.

Webb has compiled a staff of teachers for the school that includes some well-known local cooking instructors, including Tamara Mitchell, who operates Dine-In-Diva Personal Chef Services of Akron.

Mitchell said the class schedule will lighten during peak wedding season in the summer and early fall, when the kitchen is tied up with catering. Mitchell, an avid gardener, said having an adjacent greenhouse is a big bonus for teaching with fresh ingredients.

Classes at the school begin Nov. 5. Cookbook author and former Gourmet magazine food editor Shelley Wiseman will be teaching a hands-on class called Just Tacos, based on her new book of the same name.

Classes are either hands-on, where students actually help prepare the meal, or demonstration, where students watch a professional chef/instructor.

Hands-on classes finish with students eating the full meal they have prepared, along with wine, while demonstration classes include samples of the food prepared as the instructor goes along.

Wine tasting classes also are available, and can be arranged for private parties as well.

Starting in December, Gervasi will be offering packages of two-day classes centered on seasonal cooking. Rooms in one of the villas are available for guests who want to turn the classes into gourmet weekend getaways.

Lisa Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @akronfoodie and read her blog at http://lisa.ohio.com.

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