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Spend three hands-on hours at Berkeley Kitchen with Chef Sara learning to make Mutabbaq, Koshari, Fattoush, and Arabic Bread Pudding. Perfect for spice lovers and home cooks who want practical techniques and bold flavors.
Spend three hands-on hours at Berkeley Kitchen with Chef Sara learning to make Mutabbaq, Koshari, Fattoush, and Arabic Bread Pudding. Perfect for spice lovers and home cooks who want practical techniques and bold flavors.
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Operated by Kitchen on Fire · Berkeley, CA
Berkeley’s kitchen scene gets a spirited evening with Arabian Nights with Chef Sara, a focused three-hour, hands-on cooking class held at Berkeley Kitchen — 1509 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA 94709. This is not a demonstration: you arrive eager and leave with practiced technique, new spice vocabulary, and a full plate. The class blends a chef’s lecture with small-team prep, snack service, and a shared meal at the end, all inside a working teaching kitchen steps from downtown transit.
The menu reads like a map of the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. You’ll fold and pan-sear Mutabbaq, a crisp stuffed flatbread; build layered Koshari, Egypt’s comforting mix of rice, lentils, pasta and chickpeas finished with spiced tomato sauce and fried onions; toss a bright Fattoush with sumac and pomegranate molasses; and assemble an Arabic Bread Pudding layered with croissant, saffron, nuts, and vanilla custard. Each dish highlights technique—dough handling, sauce balance, and texture contrast—while emphasizing fragrant pantry staples: cumin, coriander, sumac, saffron, and preserved lemon notes that thrive in Bay Area markets.
Chef Sara brings 25 years in the kitchen and two decades of teaching to an approach that’s direct and generous. Expect practical tips—how to shop for spices, what to look for in olive oil, and knife techniques you’ll use beyond this menu. The class is ideal for people who like to be hands-on, enjoy bold flavors, and want recipes that translate to weeknight cooking. Note: zoning rules at Berkeley Kitchen mean you’ll eat all prepared food on-site; taking plates home isn’t permitted.
What makes this experience unique in Berkeley is its urban-meets-global flavor: classes are staged near farmers’ markets and specialty grocers, so local seasonal produce and regional pantry items show up on the counter. The setting on Shattuck Ave places you within Berkeley’s active culinary community while delivering an intimate learning room that rewards curiosity.
Practical details: close-toed shoes are mandatory; aprons and tools are provided and you’re welcome to bring a personal knife. The class is paced for home cooks—no prior professional experience required—but you’ll leave with concrete techniques and a deeper sense of how spice combinations define regional dishes.
For visitors staying in the city or commuting from nearby towns, Arabian Nights with Chef Sara is a flavorful, social way to spend an evening in Berkeley: equal parts skill-building, cultural tasting, and convivial dining at a respected local cooking school.
No — Berkeley Kitchen’s zoning permit does not allow students to take prepared food home; you will eat what you make in class.
Yes — aprons and all necessary tools are supplied; bringing a personal knife is optional.
Yes — Chef Sara’s teaching is geared to home cooks with clear, step-by-step instruction and no prior professional experience required.
Yes — adults 21+ may bring their own wine or beer for personal consumption; staff cannot open or serve alcohol due to ABC rules.
Indicate allergies on your registration and email [email protected] to confirm ingredient details before class.
Classes meet at Berkeley Kitchen — 1509 Shattuck Ave. Berkeley, CA 94709; a short walk from downtown transit and nearby parking.
Kitchen on Fire is a hands-on cooking school and event producer that offers a broad calendar of culinary workshops, multi-week series, camps, and virtual classes. The school presents technique-driven, chef-led experiences ranging from single-session workshops to 12-week fundamentals courses. Classes focus on regional cuisines, baking, pastry, vegetarian and seasonal cooking — examples include Italian pasta and breads, Indian and Burmese dishes, Middle Eastern street food, Mexican and Latin specialties, and classic bistro techniques. Chef-led offerings feature named instructors and visiting chefs, with programs such as multi-week Basics of Cooking series, themed nights like A Night in Florence and A Night in Rome, specialized workshops including ricotta and doughnuts, and seasonal pie and baking classes. Kitchen on Fire also runs teen camps, school-break day camps, and virtual workshops to reach learners at different levels and schedules. Instruction emphasizes hands-on practice, practical skills like knife work and recipe fundamentals, and communal dining of the dishes created during class. Many classes run three hours or longer; multi-week series provide progressive skill development. In addition to in-person workshops, the organization publishes virtual classes and instructional series led by its roster of chefs. Kitchen on Fire’s program diversity — from single-session craft workshops to immersive multi-week courses and teen camps — reflects a commitment to accessible, skill-focused culinary education. The school’s transparent class descriptions, named instructors, and recurring series offer prospective students clear expectations and opportunities to build lasting cooking skills. Class sizes vary to prioritize engagement, hands-on practice, and personalized instructor feedback for students.
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