Fall means students everywhere are gearing up for their return to school. Most relish the opportunity to expand their knowledge and broaden their horizons. Recently, I was presented with the opportunity to return to school for just one night. The school was Cookology, a recreational culinary school located in Dulles Town Center, and the curriculum was an evening creating a full course dinner consisting of classic American dishes. This experience made me recall many fond memories of my informal culinary training like cooking side-by-side with my mother making treasured family recipes. My somewhat semi-formal culinary training was overseen by my aunt and completed during the summer before my senior year in college. That was a long time ago in a small apartment kitchen in Cincinnati, but it truly sparked my passion for cooking and creating great dishes.

My wife and I decided to attend Cookology’s Date Night which is one of their many themed classes. We were joined by five other couples for the class. This was a basic level class where a couple can come to learn and cook a full-course dinner then enjoy it with a paired wine selection in Cookology’s dining room at the culmination of class. This format has been a very popular offering by Cookology. In fact, a couple in our class had been there for over twenty of these classes! Chef Ian Douglass, a 1995 graduate of Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, was our chef for the night. His favorite class to teach at Cookology is knife skills where you can learn how to julienne a carrot, chop herbs, mince garlic and how to butcher a chicken properly.



Cookology’s kitchen is simply utopia for the aspiring chef. A large, hearty work surface graces the center of the kitchen which can accommodate several couples. All of the sauté work is done on many induction cook-tops which take your pan from zero to very hot in just seconds. Next, all of the baking/oven work is done in restaurant-sized high temperature ovens. Finally, there is the cleanup area which was staffed by two diligent teenagers. This is where every dirty pan, dish, and utensil went after use. Large dinner parties would be much more enjoyable and relaxed if your kitchen had this last kitchen feature! Overall, our experience was truly outstanding. I would highly recommend Cookology to anyone. The novice cook is sure to develop skills and the intermediate chef is going to refine skills. For your entire session, you have access to a trained chef to answer any recipe question that perplexes you. Most importantly, everyone gets to eat a fabulous meal in a relaxed setting and no one has cleanup duty!

Cookology offers adult and children’s cooking classes as well as wine and menu tastings. Classes cover a variety of topics from knife skills to baking and include themes such as Date Night and Friends Night Out.