There is a moment in summer when the first truly ripe tomato arrives—warm from the vine, smelling of earth and sun and abundance. Here in the Bay Area, we know about waiting, enduring months of pallid impostors while dreaming of what summer will bring.

In this class we will concern ourselves entirely with the tomato in all its glorious forms—the heavy-shouldered Cherokee Purples, the sweet burst of Sungolds, the meaty reliability of a good Brandywine. Whichever we find in the market to adore that day. We will learn what our local soil and climate can produce, and how to honor it properly.

Under the guidance of an instructor who understands that a tomato is a seasonal gift, you will prepare four dishes that celebrate this bounty: a tartlet with marjoram that lets the fruit sing; a salad pairing Early Girls with stone fruit and pistachios; roasted fish crowned with spicy pickled tomatoes; and a dessert that will surprise you with its rightness.

You will learn to choose tomatoes like a lover—by feel, by scent, by weight. You will discover how heat transforms them, how acid brightens them, how the right companions can make a simple tomato taste like summer distilled.

The knife work, the timing, the small revelations that turn cooking from task to pleasure—all of this we will explore together. And if you find yourself among kindred spirits who also believe that a perfect tomato is worth celebrating, well, that is simply the natural order of things.

Come hungry. Come curious. Come ready to fall in love with what grows in our own backyard, and to learn how to do it justice.

Menu : 
Heirloom and Marjoram Tart 

Roasted Fish with Spicy Pickled Sungolds

Early Girl and Stone Fruit Salad with Pistachios 

Tomato Leaf Custard with Tomato Gastrique