Cheers of “Happy Birthday, Show Kitchen” could be heard throughout the Sawgrass Grove market on Thursday.
The Villages Show Kitchen opened on June 20 last year and staff celebrated by hosting a special class on Thursday.
“We are so blessed and grateful for the support this community has shown for our show kitchen,” said Executive Chef Kristen Nicol. “You have all been a true blessing and it has been an honor to serve you all and I can't wait to serve you for many more years to come.”
Every week, mainly on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the kitchen hosts cooking classes led by a group of local chefs where participants have the opportunity to watch the chefs prepare a multi-course meal and sample their creations.
At Thursday's commemorative class, the venue was decorated with black, gold and silver balloons and each class toasted with champagne.
“It's not a party without the celebration,” Nicole said.
Each chef in the show kitchen created a special recipe for the anniversary event: the first course was vegetarian picadillo empanadas with black beans, the second course was mofongo with pork rinds, the third course was southern-style peach baby back ribs and southern-style green bean and corn pudding, and the fourth course was icebox lemon cake.
Both classes were fully booked, with many attendees being regulars and several first-timers.
Lori and Tom Karas, of Moultrie Creek Village, have attended several cooking classes since moving to The Villages in April and returned again for Memorial Day.
“The food is really fresh,” Lori says, “They use a lot of locally sourced ingredients and the chefs and everyone who works here is amazing – so friendly and knowledgeable and very patient with all our questions.”
The couple had recently returned from Puerto Rico and wanted to take a cooking class for their anniversary and learn how to make the mofongo that was on the menu.
“The real reason was that we were now part of The Villages and we wanted to be part of the celebration,” Lori said.
Nicol took over as executive chef at the show kitchen after former executive chef Scott Copeland left to work at Booster's Bar & Grill, a restaurant currently under construction at Shallow Creek Golf Club.
Nicole is pleased with the warm reception she has received from those attending her classes.
“They have continued to support us and cheer us on, so it means a lot to us to be able to share this experience with this beautiful community,” Nicole said.
Copeland, executive chef for food and beverage at The Villages, appeared at the anniversary celebration.
He said he can't believe a year has already passed since the project he worked so hard on for the Sawgrass Grove market.
“It's something to be really proud of,” Copeland said. “The guys here have done a great job. I really feel at ease leaving.”
Even a year later, classes still sell out almost immediately after they are announced.
Nicole has also come up with ideas to attract more people to the venue, such as a “dinner and movie” event on the last Friday of every month, where attendees can watch a movie while eating freshly prepared food from the film.
There will also be an additional class on Wednesday at 5pm, with chefs creating special menus and offering the most popular class held in the show kitchen last year.
Tickets for classes and events are available at thevillagesentertainment.com.
Staff are also brainstorming ideas for future cooking classes.
“Not only do we provide a positive experience here for the residents of The Village, but for us as chefs, it's really amazing to actually see each and every member of the audience enjoying the food that we've prepared,” Nicole said.
