Getting Schooled

She's interested in what a region's farms are producing and how local traditions have evolved to highlight favorites. Eating well and learning what makes the food distinctive gives the trip a memorable richness.

It's not surprise that's what visitors find when they come to her family business, the Santa Fe School of Cooking (125 N Guadalupe St., 983-4511).

Ammerman's mother, Susan Curtis, launched the school 25 years ago, and the family is this winter celebrating that anniversary, along with two years at a new location along Guadalupe at Johnson Street.

"Taking a cooking class when you travel is the greatest way to dive into the culture and the traditions and history of that city, to connect to it," says Ammerman, who makes a personal introduction for almost every group who passes through the door, telling them the school is a product of a mom's "mid-life crisis."

What's more, she says, cooking classes are entertainment.

"It's a show. A lot of people have said that what they make in class is now in their repertoire, but it's not just 'chop an onion this way,'" she says. "Chefs are going to tell you something fun. We are here to entertain you."

Whether it's learning the ways of traditional tamales and chille rellenos or a more elevated take on regional food, the school offers two basic kinds of classes, and in both, students get to nosh on what's cooking. In demonstration classes—which include seven sessions on contemporary Southwest cuisine as well as offerings of Native American and Mexican themes and more—chefs cook in a spacious replication of a large home kitchen ($80-85). The room is equipped with mirrors, cameras and television screens that allow onlookers to see every aspect of food preparation. Waitstaff tend to students with beverages during the demonstration, then load their tables with what they've just learned how to prepare (paired, of course, with a carefully selected local wine or beer.)

Hands-on classes, limited to 16 students, take place in a smaller space with commercial equipment and put local ingredients on the table and the range top ($98). The close conversations with a culinary expert make those three-hour offerings popular for events such as bachelorette parties and wedding anniversaries.

The school also offers three different restaurant tours, where small groups troupe to four establishments during a time where eateries are usually slow or closed, and have a chance to talk with the chef and sample food and drink. These three-hour afternoon affairs ($115) are so filling and engaging that organizers warn participants not to make dinner reservations.

A recent tour that swirled through The Old House, Dinner for Two, the Anasazi and L'Oliver included practically full plates at each stop and enough cocktails and wine to send you to bed early. Chef Michelle Roetzer not only talked about food, but gave insightful and honest insights about local history and life in the restaurant world. Plus, she made sure everyone crossed the street safely after round two's stiff margaritas.

While nearly all the local celebrity chefs have taught classes at the school, Ammerman says Noe Cano has led her team of part-time chefs for 16 years. Other characters move in and out of the sphere.

"We try not to have a personality associated with Santa Fe School of Cooking," she says. "We try not to make it about one chef. It's an overall experience."

The cooking school's adjoining store is the only place in the city where you can buy La Chamba micaceous cookware from Colombia, which is used in many of the classes they offer. Plus, there's a host of local chile products, woven placemats, ceramic dishware, piñón cutting boards, cookbooks and novel finds such as vanilla paste from Nielsen-Massey.

"We use all these products in our classes," Ammerman says. "The idea is that people take the class and fill up their basket with goodies to take home."

While 90 percent of year-round customers are visitors or part-time residents, during the slow winter months, lots of locals attend half-price classes that the school has offered for decades. Join them on Dec. 23 for the release of a new cookbook in honor of their big birthday, along with their traditional Christmas celebration of cookie decorating and tamales.

Santa Fe Reporter