Shores Life & Style Fall 2021

Sharing a meal with friends, family, colleagues, and
strangers has long been an experience that
connects. Savory Spoon Cooking School and
Marketplace in Ellison Bay not only connects people
through eating, but through learning together in a
relaxed, inviting environment.
Janice Thomas and her amazing staff have been
welcoming guests into Savory Spoon for 18 years,
which has set up shop in a beautiful 1869 historic
schoolhouse downtown Ellison Bay. The building is
now outfitted with five cooking stations, a state-ofthe-art
kitchen, gathering space, and marketplace
shop. “Come have fun in our Kitchen” is the team’s
motto, and they definitely live by that motto. Upon
arrival at Savory Spoon, guests are greeted and
invited to leave their personal items in the entryway
lockers, easing the mood and setting the tone for an
intimate and educational evening in Janice’s kitchen.
The team serves an excellent variety of wine during
the class, enhancing that relaxing atmosphere of a
home kitchen.
Guests are outfitted with an apron and a clipboard
with the five recipes that will be prepared
throughout the class, and everyone gathers in the
main kitchen. The lead chef for the evening, whether
that is Janice or a member of her team, will walk the
intimate group (each class hosts a maximum of 16
guests) through the recipes they will be learning to
cook that evening. Guests are encouraged to ask
questions during the demonstration, and take notes
on their recipe printouts for reference. “My vision
for Savory Spoon is to educate people about how to
enjoy preparing food, and that it can be
approachable at any level they choose to take,”
shares owner, Janice Thomas.
Following the demonstration, everyone groups off and selects
a recipe that they will prepare for the entire class. Savory
Spoon’s helpful and knowledgeable team circulates the room
answering questions and helping the guests with their
recipes. Everyone jumps right in and starts cooking, whether
they are preparing a delicious pasta dish with ravioli, apples,
and arugula or a flaky delicious baklava. The experience of
cooking with friends, relatives, or strangers is so fun and
rewarding, and an excellent opportunity to meet new friends
or reconnect with loved ones.
The staff at Savory Spoon makes the experience of learning
and cooking easy and carefree—all of the ingredients for each
recipe are provided to each small cooking group, so that the
group is simply responsible for the preparation of each
ingredient, whether that is chopping, toasting, or measuring.
All of the equipment is state-of-the-art, only enhancing the
cooking experience and helping those new or unfamiliar with
the kitchen feel at ease.
Upon completion of the dishes, the small groups present
their culinary creations to the entire class, and everyone sits
down to a delicious meal. Wine and conversation are
encouraged, and each group regales the class with their
cooking experience. New friends and new skills are developed
throughout the evening, everyone finding connections to
their group members through their kitchen experiences. By
the end of the night, the 16 people you met only hours before
have become your comrades in cooking.
Savory Spoon provides lovely, intimate cooking experiences
fit for any occasion and any experience level—date night, girls
night out, special time with your parents, reconnecting with
old friends, or go solo to make some new ones! The
environment is so comfortable and inviting, and no matter a
person’s skill level, everyone walks away with a new or
improved culinary skill and recipes to make their own.