Brewing students tap the knowledge of teachers Doug Amport (left) and John LaPolla, using malt extrat and other ingredients provided by Bitter and Esters. (Zandy Mangold)
Making gelato’s a great way to enjoy your freeze time. (Jenifer Polixenni Brankin)
Lilian Limon fills the love while making macarons. (Jonathan Baskin)
Time to get schooled, New Yorkers.
Fall is on its way, so get back inside and start cooking — and making beer. Whether you’re looking to master the art of macaron-making, create your own gelato or cut and cook pasta from scratch, you won’t go hungry at these four classes. After all, the kids have gone back to school — why shouldn’t you?
Pleasant pasta making
The Brooklyn Kitchen (100 Frost St., Williamsburg)
Walk through the retail portion of the Brooklyn Kitchen to find the kitchen/class tucked away on the side of the store near the butchery. A cozy setting puts even novice chefs at ease.
A former sous chef at Diner, pasta professor Kat Randazzo peppers great tips about kneading in her lessons. Students make pasta dough by hand, and in a food processor. The class then rolls, cuts, cooks and fills up on fettuccine and ravioli in marinara and a seasonal sauce — made by Randazzo — while sipping wine.
Randazzo says the increase in culinary schools across the city and TV cooking shows have made cooking classes “sexy.” Now, she sees students with “super-businessy backgrounds, or lawyers that are stressed out and love cooking.”
* Off the menu: Brooklyn Kitchen has a cool pasta-making playlist. Ashley Buford, 31, and her boyfriend, Adam Peacock, 28, were at a recent Brooklyn Kitchen session and admired the tunes. “Listening to the Killers while cooking? That’s a pretty big perk,” says Peacock.
* Info: Students get a 10 percent discount on kitchenware at the store after the class; $65 per class; 718-389-2982, thebrooklynkitchen.com
Bona fide brewhaha
Bitter & Esters (700 Washington Ave., Brooklyn)
For those who’ve always dreamed of bottling their own beer, starting this week, aspiring beer makers can rent equipment in the back of this new suds-making spot in Prospect Heights and craft a beer of their choice. Under the guidance of pals, co-owners and longtime home brewers Doug Amport and John LaPolla, customers choose from a list of recipes, or can even suggest their own flavor profiles. The advantages: The staff does the cleanup — beer making is “90 percent cleaning,” as LaPolla notes — and the equipment is of higher quality than the kits most novice home brewers order online.
Armed with an instruction sheet, customers have complete control over every step of the process, from pouring malt extract and tossing in hops to crushing spices such as coriander (added last so they don’t boil off) and bottling and capping — which requires a second visit two weeks later. The process also involves lots of sanitizing of equipment to avoid beer-ruining bacterial growth. “When in doubt, sanitize,” LaPolla advises. If the thought of brewing beer solo is too daunting, Bitter & Esters hosts weekend workshops ranging from the basics of home brewing to at-home winemaking.
* Off the menu: Bring a book or games to kill time — there’s a lot of waiting around during the initial brewing process, which takes about three hours — or learn about home-brewing history from the friendly LaPolla and Amport, whose vast wealth of beer knowledge and love for their craft shines through when chatting them up over a brewski.
* Info: Prices start at about $150 for brewing and $60 for bottling; 917-596-7261, bitterandesters.com
Mad for macarons
Dessert Truck Works (6 Clinton St.)
Sure, anyone can pop by the Upper East Side’s newly opened Masion Laduree for some macarons, but why not master making the French pastry yourself? Led by Jerome Chang, a former Le Cirque pastry sous chef who later opened Dessert Truck, this 90-minute course dispels any fears of the notoriously difficult-to-make macarons.
Chang explains every step of the process, including what to do if something goes wrong. He says interest in the class has spiked. “Something about it has captured the American imagination,” he says, “maybe because Americans aren’t used to seeing [macarons] around.”
Alejandra Rodriguez, a 30-year-old architect, is one such fan. “I’ve been looking for a good macaron recipe for about six months,” says the West New York, NJ, resident. “I liked that here, there was someone to show me how to do it.”
* Off the menu: Students can’t take home their work — before baking, macaron batter requires drying at room temperature, which can take several hours. But they will get to experiment with fillings, including praline and Nutella, injecting them into already-baked pink and white creations and taking them home.
* Info: Sign up early — classes are already booked through the end of the year, though spots sometimes open up at the last minute; $45 per class; 212-228-0701, dt-works.net
Gelato gourmands
Mia Chef Gelateria (379 Third Ave.)
This cold confection is taken seriously at Mia Chef — owner E.Z. Cohen, a former marketing manager, studied for three months at gelato giant Montebianco in Italy before opening his five-month-old Murray Hill gelateria. Now, he imparts his wisdom daily to aspiring gelato makers through intimate “academies” in his downstairs workshop.
“Gelato has less air in the mixture, making it more dense and more rich and flavorful,” he says. “The other main difference is the amount of fat — gelato is made mostly from milk, while ice cream is made mostly from heavy cream, making it more fattening.”
After a sparkling-wine toast, students spend two hours mixing four types of gelato.
* Off the menu: Don’t be shy to ask for treats. Upstairs, the staff spoons out samples of every kooky concoction it sells. Students leave with a full belly and, best of all, armed with four pints of their very own sweet stuff.
* Info: Book a spot at least a few weeks in advance — because sessions are capped at six people, classes fill up quickly; $120 per class; 212-889-8727, gelatomia.com
How to make the cut
Get tips on veggie dishes to round out your meal from Eataly’s on-site “vegetable butchers,” Joe Nieves and Alicia Walter. The two are there every day to slice and dice their veggies, and are happy to give customers pointers on roasting, baking and grilling. “Right now, what’s really in season are tomatoes,” Nieves says. “We have the greatest tomatoes from New Jersey that are selling like hot cakes. Less is more. You want the vegetable to speak for itself, and not add 15 herbs.” Nieves usually sprinkles sea salt and olive oil on his. “Customers are going crazy for them,” he adds. “When you have good, quality vegetables, let them shine, and let the flavors speak for themselves.”
Additional reporting by Ashley Edwards Walker