It was with great anticipation that my husband, two daughters and I arrived at APi CAE Gourmet for our Italian cooking lesson.
APi CAE Gourmet opened last April. Centrally located, easy to find and complete with valet parking, it is near the Abu Dhabi Corniche and 30th Street. It is trend setting and unique not only in its menu but in the unique classes they are offering. ‘We are the only restaurant in the UAE offering classes for three to five year olds,’ says Denitsa Dimitcova, sales representative. Each month there are regularly scheduled two-hour classes for kids aged little ones and kids aged six to 12 with topics such as bread and cupcakes.
‘We limit the classes to ten to 12 children as we’ve found that’s the optimal number,’ explains Denitsa.
There are classes for big people too, with themes including brioche, healthy breads and handmade traditional pasta. Beyond that, there are also special events to attend, including organic food, a mystery basket competition and masterchef. APi CAE can also arrange private courses for birthday parties, team-building office events and school field trips, too.
‘Literally, if it is on our menu, we can give you a course on how to make it,’ says Chef Mario, a native Italian, whose culinary talents have created the mouthwatering menu. We just can’t wait to get started.
After donning aprons and hats and washing hands, the class begins with a lesson in how to make the ultimate easy cookie dough, from flour, water, eggs and confectioners’ sugar. ‘It’s a very elastic dough,’ say Chef Mario. ‘It’s perfect for the kids to roll and cut out shapes.’ Jania, eight, declares it even more fun than Play Doh ‘because you can eat it afterwards!’
After a quick tour of the restaurant itself, it’s time to bake the cookies. Lolita, nine, is most impressed with the industrial-sized mixer in the kitchens, while Mr Long Vandervoorde gets fixated with the pastry chefs who are busy frosting luscious-looking cupcakes (which we later sample).
Chef Ryan then works with the girls inside the kitchen to make their pizzas. They love stretching the dough and decorating their lunches with turkey, mushroom and cheese (tasting a good deal of it in the process).
Once the pizzas are safely in the oven, the cookies are cooled and ready to be decorated. Out comes lots of colourful icing, sprinkles and assorted candies – the perfect adornments for two creative and very sweet-toothed junior chefs.
But the very best part of the class, hands down, is eating it all afterwards. Every cooking class at APi CAE Gourmet comes with a meal. Besides the pizzas and cookies, we are treated to several kinds of pasta, bread, salad and desserts.
‘You can tell the pasta is freshly made by the way it is cooked al dente and has that slight chewiness to it. The secret is the fresh, sustainable ingredients we use,’ explains Chef Mario. ‘The restaurant’s name is a reference to this. APi CAE is a series of manuscripts about Italian cooking with fresh ingredients from the ancient Roman Empire. These manuscripts are said to have spread a love of Italian cooking throughout the world.’
At the end of our session, Chef Ryan has a big surprise: a pizza in the shape of an Angry Bird. This sends the girls into wild hysterical laughter. We leave, arms full of fresh bread and some of those cupcakes my husband lusted after. It’s been a really lovely, feast of an afternoon.
Cooking classes, Dhs65 (per child). GreenKidz activity days include herb potting, arts and crafts, Dhs65 (per child). Birthday Kidz cooking classes Dhs79 (per child). Email@apicae.com, www.apicae.com, www.facebook.com/apicae (02 666 8909).
