716 Kitchen Skills
Chef Michael with a small group around the kitchen counter

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The lesson is up to you.

You tell us what you want to learn. After a long career in food service and in education, Chef Michael tailors the lesson to exactly that — then shops for it, and teaches it at your stove.

Three ways people book

Same chef, same rate — different rooms.

Chef Michael teaching a student at the kitchen counter

One to one

Private lessons

The original format, and still the most popular. Undivided attention, your pace, your kitchen. People book it to fix one thing — knife grip, a sear, a sauce that keeps breaking — and leave able to do the whole dish.

  • Whatever technique you want to own
  • Recipes written around your equipment
  • Notes you keep, and can actually follow

Two of you

Couples & date nights

Cook side by side, then sit down and eat what you made. It is the gift people buy when someone already owns everything — anniversaries, birthdays, and a night in that beats a reservation.

  • Menus built around the occasion
  • Wine pairing suggestions on request
  • Plating technique, if you want the full show
A couple smiling over the dinner they cooked together
A group gathered around the counter during a cooking class

Up to four — or more

Small groups & parties

Friends, family, a girls’ night, a team. The $350 rate covers one to four learners and each additional person is $75. We’ll customize the menu around your favorite snacks — and we can always arrange some pre-lesson bites.

  • Charcuterie, focaccia, dips and show-stoppers
  • Different levels of lesson involvement
  • Mise en place set up before you start

Example topics

Six places people usually start.

These are the requests that come up most. They are examples, not a menu — if what you want to learn is not here, ask for it.

Knife skills

Knife skills

Cleaver, bread, boning, chef's, carving, paring — which knife, and how to hold it.

Searing, grilling & roasting

Searing, grilling & roasting

Heat control, the reverse sear, and how to read a piece of meat by feel.

Poaching, braising & baking

Poaching, braising & baking

Low and slow — short ribs, veal shank, and the glaze you build from the braising liquid.

Hand-made pasta

Hand-made pasta

Dough by hand, through the roller, and the sauces that deserve it.

Sauces, soups & stocks

Sauces, soups & stocks

Pan sauces, natural jus, beurre blanc, and stock worth freezing.

Appetizers & charcuterie

Appetizers & charcuterie

Boards that look effortless, and the canapés that disappear first.

And everything else on the list

  • Knife skills
  • Health foods
  • Searing
  • Grilling
  • Roasting
  • Poaching
  • Braising
  • Baking
  • Deep frying
  • Sauté
  • Sous vide
  • Hand-made pastas
  • Sauces
  • Soups
  • Salads & dressings
  • Appetizers & charcuterie
  • Entrées
  • Stove-top desserts
  • Menu planning
  • Recipe creation
  • Wine pairing
  • Organization & sanitation
  • Breakfast, lunch & dinner dishes
  • Meal prep
  • Home-made condiments
  • Party snacks
  • Meat cookery
  • Fish cookery
  • Vegetable & starch cookery

Why in your kitchen

Because that is where you actually cook.

Going out for a cooking lesson can make for a fun night. But with 716 Kitchen Skills you choose the date, you learn on your own equipment, you choose the dish, you get one-on-one attention — and you don’t have to leave your house.

We shop for the ingredients and teach you how to make restaurant-quality food in your own kitchen, using what you already have. Your new kitchen skills will be sure to impress your family or your dinner guests.

A set of Damascus steel chef knives A tray of fresh hand-made pasta nests A pot of tomato sauce simmering on the stove

Buffalo & Western New York

Tell us what you want to learn.