A MAN’S PLACE
From left, Mark Simons, Dick Bostdorff, Patrick North, Ron Anderson, Colin Smith, Terry Scott, Bob Donovan, John Graham (back), Mike Licciardello (front), and Todd Marttini.
Honing cutting-edge culinary skills
for a multi-course menu.
WRITTEN BY SANDRA MACIAS • PHOTOS BY CHRIS STOWELL
The Cadillac Cooks are in a hurry as they pull up to Roundabout Bistro in Reno’s Somersett community. Their urgent mission: get to cooking class on time.
This is no ordinary class. The students are a group of men who love to cook. And their culinary thirst goes way beyond grilling.
They go face-to-face with recipes of 10 to 25 ingredients. They tackle peeling and seeding tomatoes with the command of a general. They dice, mince, and spiral slice. They discern between roux and pâte à choux.
On this particular Monday, they will call upon their skills, plus learn new ones, in preparing the evening’s six-course meal.
CLASS ACT
“OK, guys, grab some seats,” directs Colin Smith, their culinary instructor and the bistro’s chef-owner.
Settling in, the group – usually numbering 15, but consisting of nine tonight – waits for instructions.
Smith describes each course, starting with the appetizer. Tonight’s is poached watermelon and yellow hamachi sushi salad.
“You will poach the watermelon and layer it with the hamachi,” he says, explaining that watermelon, poached, will change in texture and color and look like ahi.
Smith demonstrates how to break down a whole tuna. Then he introduces new ingredients: green garlic, which looks like scallions on steroids, will be used for soup; pork belly, which looks like a meaty sparerib slab without the ribs, will be treated to a rub before roasting in a hot oven.
The Cadillac Cooks – a self-dubbed nomenclature – have been active for four years. Lessons with Smith in the first two years were held in the participants’ respective home kitchens.When Smith opened Roundabout Bistro, their cooking experience elevated to another level in the bistro’s commercial kitchen.Which is where they head on this night after Smith’s instructions.
CONTROLLED CHAOS
What follows is a hands-on, learn-as-you-go, controlled-chaos cooking session. In teams of two, with each team assigned a dish to prepare for the evening meal, they have two hours to do it. As the countdown to dinnertime approaches, no one seems to panic – even if things aren’t going exactly right. The sushi salad dressing is too sweet.
“How do I cut the sweetness?” asks Mark Simons, an attorney. Smith’s answer: Sambal oelek, an Indonesian chili-based condiment, will balance the sweetness.
Ron Anderson is babying pastry batter, which can be temperamental. How come he’s not stressed?
“Half of it is giving the perception that you’ve got it together,” says a grinning Anderson, director of sales for GemsTV.
CULINARY CAPTAIN
Constantly checking on progress, Smith is the captain of this crew. Intuitively, he comes to the rescue, demonstrating, tweaking, pitching in.
And suddenly, magically, all dishes are ready to be served. Each course, beautifully plated, arrives. Delicious food sings in nuanced flavors and surprising textures. Helpful critiques are offered, wine glasses clink, smiles pass all around.
“What I love most is to see the progress that occurs during each class,” Smith says. “By the time they sit down to eat what they have created, they have been on a journey through my world – and they’ve laughed and learned on the way.”
Summing it up, Mike Licciardello, a retired aerospace engineer and a founding Cadillac Cook, puts it this way: It’s all about “good friends, great wine, and something with garlic.”
Sandra Macias, a Reno-based freelancer and food-editor emeritus from the Reno Gazette-Journal, has written food articles for two decades. She loves to cook. So spending an evening with the Cadillac Cooks was her culinary nirvana.
Chef Colin Smith offers two other hands-on cooking classes: one for women and one for couples. Held monthly at Roundabout Bistro, the 3½- to 4-hour classes begin at 6 p.m. on Mondays.
Cost is $100 per person, which includes a six-course meal, wine, and cocktails. For details, visit Eatdrinkroundabout.com.
