A night out to eat usually means a night off from cooking, but these Long Island eateries are attracting diners ready to enjoy the heat of the kitchen.
Restaurants are adding classes that take their chefs out from behind closed kitchen doors and into the dining room, where they ask diners to join hands-on experiences as they learn to make house-made specialty dishes and trendy cocktails. At Frankie’s Pizzeria & Restaurant in Merrick, general manager Jake DiPaula says there was a “great turnout” when they teamed up with Staten Island-based Ciao & Cello to offer a two-part limoncello- and “espresso-cello”-making courses. Here are three upcoming opportunities to try on your chef’s hat:
Pasta-making demo
While you’ll have no need to bring your chef’s knives for the “pasta with love” cooking class at 317 Main Street, you’ll still walk out having learned a lot about cooking. A class with chef Eric LeVine almost feels like attending a stand-up comedy show. A champion of Food Network’s “Chopped,” LeVine keeps the almost two-hour demonstration lively, sprinkling stories from his rowdy childhood while sharing his extensive knowledge in the kitchen. LeVine stands at the front of the room with a microphone, demonstrating how he makes each of the dishes in the $77 six-course meal that comes with dessert and four matching cocktails. The class is interactive, with attendees able to ask questions as the chef cooks or explains his process, but in this class, watch rather than cook.
Chef Eric LeVine demonstrates how to make pasta at 317 Main Street. Credit: Anna Connors
During a recent Thursday night Valentine’s-themed class, the first course was sun gold tomato pasta with basil and garlic, the second course was corn macaroni and cheese, the third was zucchini ravioli with creamy basil sauce, the fourth was butternut squash pancetta pappardelle, and the fifth was ravioli del plin. The dessert was tiramisu.
Michelle Catania, , attended the course with her friend Casey Mulligan. “He has personality, so it draws me in,” Catania says. “I’m already learning so much.”
The fourth course of the “love at first bite” pasta cooking class was butternut squash pancetta pappardelle. Credit: Anna Connors
While the Farmingdale residents were both first-timers, Mulligan says she cooks often and had been learning to cook through YouTube.
As chef LeVine wraps up demonstrating how the dish is, the staff brings the dish and drink to your table, one for each student in the class.
MORE INFO Next class, about one-pot recipes, is March 24 at 6 p.m. $77 tickets available at 317mainstreet.com
‘Espresso-cello’ class
Frankie’s Pizzeria & Restaurant offers a zesty limoncello-making experience with Staten Island-based Ciao & Cello. The popular limoncello party organizer has brought the experience to at least 10 restaurants on Long Island, such as Robke’s in Northport and ITA Kitchen in Garden City, owner Ariana Capasso says.
The two-hour Ciao & Cello experience has two parts, Capasso says. Guests get to make and take home the kit for their limoncello, made of either lemon, coffee or espresso, then patrons get to paint the “swing” bottle where the liquor will be stored. Prices range from $95 to $120 guests could also get a three-course dinner if restaurant provides.
MORE INFO Next “espresso-cello” night at Frankie’s is March 25 at 7 p.m.
Ravioli class
Friends and neighbors Dorrie Bennardo, Pat Heaney and Taylor Vargas add ricotta to ravioli at Borelli’s. Credit: Julia Khoroshilov
At Borelli’s Taproom in Long Beach customers come ready to get their hands dirty. During a recent ravioli-making class, chef Bryan Grimaldi visited each table to provide guidance. Each student cracked eggs, mixing them with flour, water and olive oil to make the dough.
Instructor Bryan Grimaldi has been teaching courses at Borelli’s for more than six months. Credit: Julia Khoroshilov
Friends and Long Beach residents Nicole Guillet and Christina Natale, both 28, came across an Instagram post for the event last month and decided it was the right fit since neither had joined a pasta-making night before.
“I like being creative and he gave us the creativity of making the shape” of the ravioli.
MORE INFO Next cooking class will be pasta-making, April 1 at 6 p.m. $65 per person.
Melissa Azofeifa is a restaurants reporter with Newsday’s FeedMe team. Having grown up on Long Island, she loves talking about food and its impact on culture. A graduate of Stony Brook University, she joined Newsday in the fall of 2024.
Dining and Cooking