enthusiast

• Fewer than 5 days prior to the start of class – No refund

• More than 5 days, but fewer than 10 days prior to the start of class - Credit only

• More than 10 days prior to the start of class – Full Refund

Northwest does not allow refunds or transfers due to weather conditions or illnesses. In exceptional circumstances, Northwest reserves the right to cancel courses at their discretion. In that event, students will be offered a replacement course or receive a full refund.

All age groups from 18 to seniors. What they all have in common is the desire to learn and walk away with real skills, greater knowledge, and a freedom from recipe following. In other words, people who are looking for more than just a one-off class.

If someone under 18 wishes to take the course, we require them to take it with a paying adult. So, if you have a child at home who’s 11 or older, and they’ll have parent/guardian supervision, they’re more than welcome.

Each course has its own requirements for set-up and execution.

Compressed Format:

Fundamentals 1, Fundamentals 2, and Best of Asia: These courses are held over four days during a five day period (Wednesday and Thursday nights and Saturday and Sunday all day). This allows for you to become completely immersed in all aspects of your learning in a short period of time. As well, the compressed format allows people to come in from out of town.

Two-Week Format:

Pastry Fundamentals 2, Best of Italy, and Best of France: These courses are held on Thursday nights and Saturday all day on two consecutive weeks. This is mainly done due to the dishes executed and the timing required to complete them.

Three-Week Format:

Pastry Fundamentals 1: These courses are held on Monday and Tuesday evenings for three consecutive weeks. This allows us to have one production day and one baking day per week. All ingredients are provided, and you take them from knife to plate.

If you have very minimal skills, this is for you. If you have pretty good skills this is for you. The course is structured to improve your proficiencies at any level and give you the AHA! moments to level up.

The simple answer is “no”. So much depends on the size of the class and the experience level of the class. Usually, classes finish 15 minutes on either side of their approximate end time. But not always.

We usually cover 3 dishes or recipes complete with specific techniques and concepts we deem essential in the kitchen on weekday evenings. On weekends we will cover a lot more practices (depending on complexity). Everything you learn is layered and put into context. A dish you learn on say, day four will often reinforce and build upon what you learned in an earlier session. Instructors demo and students execute the dishes and recipes. Students work in well-provided stations and, in the case of culinary-based classes, dine on their achievements as they make them. In pastry-based classes you are more than welcome to sample your creations and take the rest home.

You will receive an email from Lena, prior to the start of class with specific instructions on what to bring.

Because these classes are almost always full, we can’t offer you a make-up for missed classes at a later date. However, we encourage you to have your spot filled by friend. We’ll take good care of them.

We can easily adjust to your needs with almost all our recipes. In fact, the recipes are a guideline, not a must-do written in stone. Even if we can make a specific adjustment, we’ll try and come up with an alternative that helps you learn something new!

The school does not have a parking lot, but there is plenty of free parking in the neighbourhood between 12-14th Avenues between Main andOntario Streets. There is metered parking in front of the school, and free parking on 12th, both after 6pm (which is why evening classes begin classes at 6:15pm) and on weekends.