Los Angeles - April 19, 2005

From the Hip

Hip Cooks Classes

If someone presented you with an itsy-bitsy weenie wrapped in puff pastry would you put it in your mouth?

Of course not. So why do you ply your friends with those freaky pigs in a blankie?

You’re no hospitality guru, but that’s not an excuse for serving frozen food at your dinner parties. Hip Cooks can show you how to be as cool in the kitchen as you are everywhere else. The instructor, Monika Reti, teaches small group classes on everything from how to throw a Moroccan dinner for fifteen to the art of Spanish tapas. And she does it in her artsy loft in the Brewery downtown.

No anal-retentive, happy-homemaker perfectionism here. Reti preaches spontaneity and inventiveness, and she won’t ask you to buy a million ramekins or measuring instruments for the sake of a single dish.

But most importantly, with her help, your guests will never again be forced to withstand prefab food.

And little weenies will be a thing of your past.

For more information, go to hipcooks.com.