The term “dining experience” is bandied about quite a bit, especially in foodie circles. But what is the difference between a dining experience and just dinner? AdVINEtures found out when we recently were treated to the fun and delicious dining experience that is EVOO Cannon Beach Cooking School.

EVOO is the creation of chefs Bob Neroni and Lenore Emery. The married couple are both trained chefs; he at the Culinary Institute of America and she taught at the School of Culinary Arts in Maryland where she met Bob, a frequent guest chef in her classes. Both are passionate foodies and following their passion they decided to open a restaurant in the form of a cooking school, and so in August of 2004 EVOO was officially launched.

The dining experience at EVOO takes place around a gleaming stainless steel kitchen that features a gas fired range where Chef Bob conducts the class. Behind him are ovens, a large fridge and a wall with a long bar magnet that has about a dozen chef’s knives stuck to it. Surrounding the range is a large U-shaped table for 12 guests, with each place set with 3 wine glasses and three sets of cutlery. Behind that are high-top tables that can accommodate another 10 guests. Everyone has a perfect view of the action that is about to begin. But just to make extra sure that you can see every little nuance, curved mirrors hang from the above-stove vent and allow you the same view down on to the food that the Chef has. They really have thought of everything!

The dining experience at EVOO is a show, a class, a delicious meal, a social function and a great way to spend an evening. Guests watch and learn as Chefs Bob and Lenore prep and cook and teach us how to make three different meals, which, of course, we then get to eat! Bob sets the tempo with his unique combination of deep knowledge of cooking science that is combined with a terrific sense of humour and the innate talents of someone who was born to entertain. Lenore circulates among the guests and sees how we are doing and provides additional explanations.

Our class began with a brief introduction to wine and food pairing. Bob explains to us that the three courses have been paired with three different wines so that wine will enhance the food and the food will enhance the wine. He tells us how to get the most from our wine by taking it in and allowing the wine to move about our mouth, getting under the tongue and to the back of the cheeks. He shows us how to suck in a little air while the wine is in our mouth and then notice how that aeration enhances the intensity of the wine. He looks for a similarity of flavours in the wine and the dish being paired to it to maximize one enhancing the other. As the meal progresses, Bob encourages us to notice how the wine and food taste on their own and then how they taste when enjoyed together. As we move our attention away from the demonstration and to the food on our plate and the wine in our glass, we appreciate just how much food and wine enhance each other.

Three hours of fun, education and delicious food and wine pass in what feels like minutes. At the end of the evening we have learned many new cooking techniques as well as much about the science behind them and why they work. This runs the gamut from safe food handling to use of spices, how tell when food is adequately cooked, carving meat and keeping knives sharp, how they make their own sea salt and plenty more.

This dining experience is highly educational. Their website has all of their recipes on it and Bob and Lenore encourage the class to re-create these dishes and other dishes at home. On this particular evening, we were treated to some outstanding food! Our evening featured buttermilk fried rockfish, savoy cabbage apple pear slaw, pan seared duck breast, Idaho lentils with Italian aromatics, braised beef with house made pasta and chocolate soufflé cake, to name only some of it! All of it was delicious, but if I had to venture out for a favourite, those duck breasts were so tender and juicy, I think they might have even beat out that sinfully decadent chocolate soufflé cake!

EVOO  at Cannon Beach, OR. One seating per evening, prix fixe, paired with wines. $149. An outstanding and true dining experience.