In the Kitchen with Tablespoon Cooking Co.

Growing up, my family was pretty big on cooking; with a home cooked meal almost always on the table. I was often right there in the kitchen with them learning as much as I could. This helped me develop a love for cooking that still remains. While living in the greater Cincinnati area, I’d attended a few cooking classes at different establishments, but never with Tablespoon Cooking Co (whom I’d heard was one of the best). Over the past few months, I finally attended an assortment of their classes and fell in love!! In this post, you’ll read about the specific classes I attended as well as the history of TableSpoon Cooking Co. from my sit down with the owner, Jordan Hamons.

Meet the owner: Jordan Hamons 

Jordan went to the University of Cincinnati for Marketing and International Business. She then went to Cincinnati State for culinary school. Once she received her degree, she worked for the Queen City Group where she gained much of her kitchen experience. She eventually wanted to do her own thing (naturally, as both of her parents are entrepreneurs) so she started a food & travel blog as a creative outlet while working there. She also began building a platform by doing cooking classes in the suburbs. She eventually discovered Findlay kitchen and was one of the first ones to join before it opened. Tablespoon Cooking Co. was officially established in September 2016.

Fast forward to today:

Classes originally started with Jordan and one other person, but with the growth of the company, staffing has changed as the business has developed. It now includes Jordan, Tyra, Becca, Hannah, Anna, Daniel, Kayla, and Emily (events manager) who are all extremely personable, friendly, motivated, and fun to work with. As far as their classes, their fresh pasta making class is usually very popular as well as their speciality classes (such as when Jordan’s boyfriend teaches a Philippine class). Jordan’s personal favorites are pie making, old school Italian, and fried chicken and champagne. What some may not know is they also offer catering and private events. This comes with set offerings or custom requests. How fun would it be to have a cooking class for your friends and/or family where they come to you?!

In recent news, Jordan announced Tablespoon Cooking Co. will be moving out of Findlay Kitchen and into their own space just a few doors down at 1731 Elm Street! This move is so exciting because they’ll have the opportunity to increase the frequency of classes and incorporate more variety in their offerings. Long term, the goal is to have another location in a different city with a similar market— as long as they don’t leave Cincinnati, I’ll be happy ;)

It was such a pleasure to sit down with Jordan! I am such a fan and will absolutely continue to come back! Now… on to the classes I specifically attended:

In June, both Tiff B. and I attended the cookbook feature of the month, which happened to be “The Taste of Country Cooking” by Edna Lewis. I love Southern food so this was right up my alley. We learned how to make a softly fried chicken, corn muffins, homemade sauce, and asparagus. It was delicious!!! Personally, I’d always been intimidated by making my own sauces and baking muffins from scratch, but their instructions made the process so easy! It was great to learn more about Edna and her culinary background. Tablespoon Cooking Co. also offers a cookbook club that you can join through their website.

In July, I attended their Knife Skills class with a fellow blogger and friend, Chantily (@yourresidentfoodie). For some, this may seem like something you don’t need but trust me! It is so necessary! Once you learn how to chop in different ways, it really shows how much time you will save and how to properly prep for different recipes that require different chopping styles. I took so much knowledge away from this class. If you came for the food, don’t worry. You won’t be cooking in this class, but they provide you with a meal to have before or after chopping.  They also allow you to take home all of the food you chop and equip you with a recipe you can make with them at home!

Also in July, I attended the Fried Chicken and Champagne class with Chantily again. This was my favorite! I grew up around fried chicken, especially when spending time at my grandmother’s house. Although I’d attempted to make it quite a few times at home, it never quite ended up how I’d liked. Tablespoon broke the process down so well. From marinating, to seasoning, to having the right temperature in the pot, to how high your oil should be, it ALL matters to get the best result possible. In this class, we also learned how to make homemade biscuits. I’d helped my mom many times making them, but never made them on my own until this class. Super easy and super tasty! We even learned how to get layers like the Pillsbury ones. Nostalgia!

I quickly became hooked to Tablespoon Cooking Co. from the first class. There was something about the energy in the room. Everyone was so friendly and helpful with each other and the staff was amazing and experienced. There was no question you couldn’t ask. They made me feel so warm and welcome, which is what led me to doing a post about them. They also provide you with extra items free of charge in each class (such as wine, homemade cookies, banana pudding, sandwiches and wraps, etc.) It is well worth the price.

If you haven’t been, you should give them a visit and definitely support Jordan and Tablespoon Cooking Co. when the officially location opens later this year. I promise you will love it!

Tip: Subscribe to email notifications via their website. You will be notified first of when new classes will be on sale. It’s necessary because they sell out FAST!