America's Best Cooking Schools

Oakland, California: The Art of Thai Cooking

Loha-unchit grew up in Thailand, learning her country's subtle spicing and techniques at her mother's side. She has been teaching cooking classes in California since 1985 and has written two books: Dancing Shrimp: Favorite Thai Recipes for Seafood and It Rains Fishes: Legends, Traditions and the Joy of Thai Cooking. Her classes are as complex as the flavors of her native land.

"I teach about harmonizing flavors-blending hot, sour, sweet, salty, aromatic, bitter, astringent--all the aspects of taste," Loha-unchit explains. "I don't separate the food from the culture, so people get a cultural experience here, too. It's creative; it's casual--like having a group of friends over to your house," she says.

And that is, in fact, what Loha-unchit is doing, as she teaches the classes out of her home. "The kitchen is cozy," says Dallas resident Gregg Stone, director of business development for a software company. It's not what he expected when he first came to Kasma's class last summer, but he soon realized the homey setting was a plus. "I think the fact that it was a normal kitchen (with the added feature of a second gas range and an assistant to help clean up) took some of the mystique out of the cooking process--and it kept the cost down," Stone says. "The price was very reasonable--you can't believe how stuffed with fresh ingredients her refrigerator was for that class each day."

The tuition includes all-day classes, preparation of five to seven dishes a day, meals throughout the day, and food field trips. "Kasma took us to an outdoor Oriental farmer's market and to Oriental grocery stores in Oakland," Stone says. "We jumped the BART and went to San Francisco's Chinatown. And I went to a grocery store in Berkeley called the Berkeley Bowl--an old bowling alley converted to a grocery store with a produce section second to none." Though accommodation is not included, there are B&Bs and hotels within walking distance of the class.

What does Loha-unchit want students to take away with them (besides some good Thai green chili curry paste)? "I want them to see that cooking is therapeutic," she says. "Working with ingredients is tactile; if you focus on the senses and the process rather than the results--and you keep tasting and making adjustments, you don't have to worry about the results. It will always be good."

Cost:  The $500 tuition includes five days of classes (with a maximum of 12 students) in summer only (though single classes run March through October), from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., field trips to Asian markets, breakfast, snacks, lunch, and wine; Kasma has a list of nearby B&Bs and motels starting as low as $65 per night. Kasma also takes groups on cooking tours of Thailand: $3,350 for 28 days, including airfare from the West Coast.

Contact:  Kasma Loha-unchit, P.O. Box 21165, Oakland, CA 94620, 510/655-8900, thaifoodandtravel.com/

How to go & What to do: San Francisco is 20 minutes away; you don't have to rent a car--Kasma picks students up from the Bart station one mile away. Five-day classes are also available, but only during summer months.

Essex, Vermont: Whisk Away Weekends at the New England Culinary Institute

Though the New England Culinary Institute (NECI) offers a rigorous professional training program, its weekend packages are decidedly low-key. There's only one main cooking class (though you can pay extra and take another). The rest of the time you spend eating at the Institute's two excellent restaurants, kicking back in the school's award-winning country Inn at Essex, and enjoying Vermont's scenic countryside and the towns of Montpelier and Burlington.

"I've always enjoyed cooking but I never cooked with my girlfriend - so we went together and had a great time," says Mike Bruno, director of online marketing at iMarket inc. in Waltham, Massachusetts. "And the food at Butler's [the Institute's fine dining establishment where the advanced second-year student-chefs cook] was four-star," Bruno says.