Everything’s edible in this neighborhood garage
In no way could Philomena Aceto’s Gourmet Garage be described as a “cooking class.” It’s more like a large family, cooking a meal together in grandmother’s kitchen — that is, if your grandmother looks 35, is Italian, and knows how to turn blanched green beans into a flavorful masterpiece.
Aceto learned the tricks of the trade from her own grandmother and has utilized those skills for the past 20 years as a chef and caterer. Gourmet Garage was an accident birthed from Aceto’s habit of bartering cooking lessons for haircuts, massages or computer lessons. She soon realized how much she loved teaching, so she decided to transform her garage into an upscale kitchen and make it a weekly affair.
Aceto says her fans travel from near and far to get to her home on Oldbridge. One woman lived so close she rode her bicycle, and others are like Chuck Leopold, who drives from Lucas, Texas, each week.
Leopold describes the Gourmet Garage as a place “for people who really wish they knew what they were doing, instead of just doing it.” Plus, the flavor “just freakin’ bursts out of her recipes,” he says. And it doesn’t take a lot of ingredients to make that happen.
“My clients are mothers, wives, working people. They want to make great food, but they don’t want to spend seven hours doing it,” Aceto says. “I never give people a recipe with 38 ingredients and six pages. You can’t do that unless you have nothing else to do.”
And Aceto can fashion even the clumsiest of chefs into good cooks. Just ask Gourmet Garage regular Caroline Gunn.
“Before I came here, I could not boil water. Seriously. My husband made fun of me,” Gunn says. Now she can whip sugar into frosting and knows what it means to cut carrots “on the bias.”
The regulars have come to expect Aceto’s spontaneity. During a recent class, she pulled a box of red velvet cake mix (which she bought in South Carolina) from the cupboard when a birthday was announced.
Her practical knowledge is another draw. Thanks to Aceto, Dannet Bock-Barnes now keeps a jar of olive tapénade in her refrigerator to spread on a sandwich, chicken breast or piece of toast with tomato.
“It’s better than reaching in and making peanut butter and jelly, and it’s just as easy,” she says.
Aceto’s teaching method isn’t step-by-step instructions. Too formal. Instead, everybody has a job — snapping green beans, chopping onions, toasting pine nuts … take your pick.
“People don’t want to be preached to. If they do, this is not the class for them,” Aceto says. “This is hands-on. This is roll up your sleeves. This is a social gathering.”
Maybe it’s the complimentary wine, maybe it’s the cozy-kitchen feel, but conversation flows freely in the Gourmet Garage. Relationships, politics, religion — all of it is hashed out around Aceto’s table.
The best part of the class comes at the end when everyone sits down to eat the fruits of their labor. Usually they are Italian dishes — risotto Milanese, baked Zita, stuffed Gorgonzola bread — and Aceto never has to ask if anyone wants seconds.
“People become friends here,” Aceto says. “And they all leave happy — even the people who don’t drink.”
For information, visit philomenafood.com.
