Magic Kitchen Kingdoms

by Kay Fahey

For cooks (or people shopping for them), here are three hot spots of culinary indulgence.

Nothing to It

It started in the home of Jennifer Bushman as a few cooking classes for friends and acquaintances eager to share her food-related skills and knowledge. Today, Nothing to It is nothing short of a culinary empire, encompassing classes taught by experts, a café/deli, a retail center and multi-media ventures.

Bushman, who is well known locally for her 90-second news inserts, has appeared repeatedly on NBC's Today Show, participated in the Great Chef series, penned numerous articles for national magazines and is currently working on her third cookbook, The Kitchen Coach: Family Cooking. A television program of the same name is currently in the works. At Nothing to It, Bushman and her staff invite well-known chefs such as Joanne Weir and lesser known but highly accomplished experts such as master sommelier Tim Gazer to fill a year-round calendar of classes. Teachers are chosen not only for their expertise but also for their lack of pretentiousness and ability to connect with students.

Says manager and Jennifer's mother, LaNae Gralla, "a lot of great chefs simply can't translate what they do in their restaurants to something useful for people who cook at home." Unlike many classes, where people learn merely to make specific recipes, Nothing to It's courses offer both delicious recipes and a widened knowledge base.

"A lot of couples take our classes instead of going out for dinner," says Lara Ritchie, Nothing to It's resident chef. Couples participating in these short classes not only receive an excellent meal, including wine, but also learn how to recreate the experience for themselves.

Most of the items for sale in the retail shop are used in the center's state-ofthe- art classroom, which features five workstations, four ovens, stadium seating and two televisions. Attractively displayed on wooden shelves in the light-filled shop are high-end tools such as silicon brushes (won't burn, dishwasher safe), Microplane graters (ultra sharp) and the Kitchen Aid Pro line of mixers, blenders and more. Also featured are cookbooks from popular authors, many of whom have taught at the school, as well as quality cooking ingredients. Nothing to It has a private line of spices packaged by the same firm that packages Dean and DeLuca's spice line. To ensure quality, these come in small, light, air-proof tins, with stock ordered monthly to preserve optimum freshness. They also stock hard-to-find ingredients such as pastry flour, Nielsen Massey Bourbon vanilla, high-end vinaigrettes and California artisanal olive oils.

Nothing to It's café whips up gourmet sandwiches like the Cabernet Splunker, with warm roast beef, caramelized onions and horseradish on herbed focaccia served with Cabernet au jus, or the Turkey Brie with double cream French brie, Swedish lingonberries and sweet red onions. Even in winter, their entrée salads are popular.

Nothing to It, 225 Crummer Lane, Reno, NV (775) 826-2628

The Cooking Gallery

"If you need it for cooking or entertaining, we've got it," says Mike Preaseau, owner and manager, with his sister Suzanne Preaseau, of The Cooking Gallery. This long-time North Tahoe store stocks just about everything Williams Sonoma carries and then some. The ground floor in this historic building in Truckee is devoted to cooking supplies, while upstairs features candles, tablecloths, crystal and decorative goods. The store specializes in hard-to-find, quality products with a sharp, knowledgeable eye on culinary trends.

"Everyone who works here cooks," says Preaseau.

"If you go to one of the department stores, they just look blank and hand you a flyer," says Suzanne Preaseau with a chuckle. "We're really more educators than retailers."

The Cooking Gallery always seems to carry all the latest tools the industry offers, from silicon bakeware to stick waffle makers, which cook up crisp waffles in handy, serving-size portions. They were on the leading edge of the OXO revolution of ergonomic tools and currently carry the ultimate in espresso/coffee makers. But that doesn't mean they'll hop on any trend just because it's fashionable.

"I'm suspicious of anything if the military made it first," laughs Preaseau, speaking of the potential toxic effects of the first wave of old-style nonstick pans. "Just because it's good for the Space Shuttle doesn't mean it'll be good in your kitchen."

Nonetheless, customer demands come first. For the first time since the store opened in 1973 (they moved from Tahoe City to their current location in 1991), tea is outselling coffee. So the store removed their coffee bar and now uses the space to display a wide selection of teas, including delicate white tea perfumed with rose petals (traditional at Chinese weddings) and a full line of organic teas from Davidson's. All manner of teapots, from elegant Chinese ceramics to traditional English pots, cups and strainers are also available.

Pots and pans, mortars and pestles, knives and their sharpeners, strainers and self-stirring pots and parchment paper crowd the shelves and walls downstairs. Upstairs you'll find recycled glass bowls, floating candles molded into hibiscus flowers, tablecloths, suede potholders, cookbooks and grilling paraphernalia. Without room to expand and no plans to move, The Cooking Gallery's owners hope to build their clientele through a Website complete with ordering capabilities, scheduled to launch soon.

The Cooking Gallery, 10084 Donner Pass Road, Truckee, CA (530) 587-8303

Standards of Excellence

Standards of Excellence's showroom is a magic kingdom for cooks. If it's appliances you're after—kitchen or otherwise—this is the place to shop in the Truckee Meadows. Formerly known as McPhails Appliance, it is now part of a West Coast chain. The store specializes in superb, professional-style equipment for the modern home and restaurant—names like Wolf, Bosch, AGA and Viking. In addition to high-end names, they also offer brands with less caché but equal performance, such as Kitchen Aid and Thermador.

Most of Standards of Excellence's floor space is devoted to recreations of kitchens attractively showcasing various products in situ. Other areas contain walls of products such as ovens, side by side, which makes it easy to make comparisons between brands without having to walk all over the expansive space.

"We very much believe in making the shopping experience enjoyable for customers," says Laurie Ballew, showroom manager. The store's staff are experts not only on the latest products but also on elements of kitchen design. Standards of Excellence also offers many appliances you simply won't find elsewhere. Traditional European AGA ovens, for instance, are designed always to stay lit, so they're ready to work whenever you need them. This tends to make American customers nervous, says Ballew, so the store also offers an American version which can be turned off.

This is also the place to find refrigerator and dishwasher drawers, wine drawers, built-in designer espresso makers and true convection ovens.

The store holds weekly cooking demonstrations, usually taught by a team of chefs and product reps—the chef preparing a meal while the rep provides information and answers questions. One day this past summer, the parking lot was filled with every type of outdoor grill and oven, with chefs serving up delectable barbecued meats and veggies. Can you imagine a better way to shop?

Standards of Excellence, 7525 Colbert Drive, Reno, NV (775) 334-6901