Culinary Classes at the Centre Leonardo Da Vinici

I’m not Italian, but I feel as though I could be considered a small percentage Italian purely based on osmosis. I can’t tell you (and I probably wouldn’t want to try and figure out) how much pasta and Italian food I’ve eaten in my life. Despite the fact that I already talk with my hands and pronounce the silent “G” in sandwich, the next step towards Italia would be cooking like an Italian. There are cooking classes around the Montreal that offer various cooking and culinary classes, from baking and bread making, to desserts (like the one I attended at the Lincoln Apartment Bakery,) savoury dishes and even workshops. Recently the Leonardo DaVinci Centre in St. Leonard officially launched their culinary class program this month and I was there to check it out.

Last weekend marked the official launch of the culinary program at the Centre Leonardo Da Vinci, where samples and short demonstrations of the classes offered were conducted in front of members of the centre, friends and family and visitors alike. It goes without saying that the courses offered here are more towards the Italian side of the culinary spectrum.

We were treated to delectable bites from the chef instructors. Sandro Lisi (who will be leading the Italian Peasant Dishes class) offered up his nonna’s rustic ragu on polenta recipe. Hearty and like a big hug from a little Italian lady, it was a big hit amongst the chefs waiting their turn in the demo kitchen.

Opposed to many other culinary classes offered around the city where you basically watch a demonstration of the chef making a meal, the ones at the Centre Leonardo Davinci are completely hands-on (unless specified), where everyone gets a working station, ingredients to prepare their own dishes under the supervision of the chef and take the fruit of their labour home with them at the end of the evening.

Marco Bertodini of Restaurant Brama is offering a “Modern Pasta” class which will be a demonstration class on how to make pasta using different types of flour. Here is Chef Marco’s assistant garnishing his poached octopus on confit potatoes with pickled onions, microgreens and splash of olive oil. The Pasta making and Pizza making courses are the ones I’m looking forward to.

For more info about the Leonardo Da Vinci Centre and the culinary classes or to register, visit: http://www.centreleonardodavinci.com/culinary/en/index.php Or visit their beautiful centre located at:

350-8370, boul. Lacordaire,
Saint-Léonard, Québec H1R 3Y6
514-955-8370 / 514-955-8350