COOKING & WINE TASTING CLASSES

Whether you’re planning a bachelorette, birthday or bridal party, a corporate team-building event for your company or just want to organize a special evening for friends, neighbors, family, and colleagues — a cooking and wine tasting class is one of the most fun and entertaining ideas people enjoy.

For almost 15 years, I’ve been teaching wine and cooking classes and my guests always leave feeling inspired, happy and invigorated. Below is a selection of my services — all are 100% customizable to your group and event.

If you are not located in the greater New York area, I also organize online wine classes via Skype or Zoom. Hook me up to your at-home entertainment or TV screen, and it will be like having a sommelier or cooking instructor right in your home!

Decant With Plants

Signature Class

In this class, students will learn how to prepare a 4-course dinner (appetizer, first course, main course, and dessert) via a cooking demo and option to step in to try out specific cooking techniques if requested. The class can be designed to have specific themes, (healthy cooking, comfort food, eating for weight loss/increased energy, holiday foods, cooking with legumes, raw food, etc.). We will go through the 101 of pairing wines with plant-based foods, what to look for and what to avoid, and how to successfully combine flavor experiences so your meal and wine become even more enjoyable.
What’s included:

✓ Chef instructor fee

✓ Wine educator fee

✓ Wine glasses

✓ Cooking equipment

✓ Printed recipes

✓ Nutrition 101 PDF

✓ Wine tasting sheet

Fee: 

Inquire
 
Length of event:

3 hours

Let's Talk

Decant With Plants

Cooking Class

This class is for those who would like to master the art of plant-based and vegan cooking and who are looking for more creative dishes to cook for themselves and their friends and family.  It is suitable for both novices and more advanced students and will include demos and ideas for breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, and desserts. We will address challenges and questions surrounding how to master cooking with plants, and how to infuse more flavor into your everyday dishes. Examples: how to create your own creamy sauces using nuts and vegetables, how to easily make your own cheeses, how to re-create a meat dish so that your carnivore friends will be wowed, etc.
What’s included:

✓ Chef instructor fee

✓ Cooking equipment

✓ PDF of recipes

✓ Nutrition overview

✓ My favorite vegan resources

Fee: 

Inquire
 
Length of event:

3 hours

Let's Talk

Decant With Plants

Cooking Class

This class is for those who would like to master the art of plant-based and vegan cooking and who are looking for more creative dishes to cook for themselves and their friends and family.  It is suitable for both novices and more advanced students and will include demos and ideas for breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner, and desserts. We will address challenges and questions surrounding how to master cooking with plants, and how to infuse more flavor into your everyday dishes. Examples: how to create your own creamy sauces using nuts and vegetables, how to easily make your own cheeses, how to re-create a meat dish so that your carnivore friends will be wowed, etc.
What’s included:

✓ Chef instructor fee

✓ Cooking equipment

✓ PDF of recipes

✓ Nutrition overview

✓ My favorite vegan resources

Fee: 

Inquire
 
Length of event:

3 hours

Let's Talk

Decant With Plants

Wine Tasting Class

This class is for wine enthusiasts who would like to learn all the ins and outs of wine in a “one-stop-shop” class. We will go over how to taste wine professionally, what to look for in wines, how to describe what you enjoy in wine, how to order wine from a wine list in a restaurant and how to select wines with ease and confidence in a wine shop or online. We will cover the most popular grape varieties and regions around the world, and any other practical scenarios and questions the students might have. Themes can be wines under $20, Pinot Noirs from around the world, comparing Riesling from the new and old World, full-bodied reds, just to name a few ideas.
What’s included:

✓ Wine educator fee

✓ Wine glasses

✓ Wine tasting sheet

✓ PDF of key notes from class

✓ 20% discount to another upcoming class

Fee: 

Inquire
 
Length of event:

2 hours + 30 min Q&A

Let's Talk

Decant With Plants

Food & Wine Pairing Class

This class is centered around the art of pairing wine with plant-based foods. There is a myth that pairing wine with vegetables is hard, this class sets out to prove that it’s definitely wrong and you can have a full-on gourmet experience eating plant-based dishes and drinking high-quality wines. The chef and wine instructor will bring foods in various states (steamed, roasted, raw, etc.) in the form of either simple dishes, whole ingredients, or snacks and go through how the wine will change the way food tastes, how to create a match that will heighten the sensory pleasures of both the food and the wine, what to avoid and what to focus on. Wines will be vegan, organic/natural, and represent different styles, flavor profiles, and regions of the world.
What’s included:

✓ Wine educator fee

✓ Wine tasting sheets

✓ Print-out of key points of the presentation

✓ Food and snacks for the class

Fee: 

Inquire
 
Length of event:

2 hours

Let's Talk

Decant With Plants

Food & Wine Pairing Class

This class is centered around the art of pairing wine with plant-based foods. There is a myth that pairing wine with vegetables is hard, this class sets out to prove that it’s definitely wrong and you can have a full-on gourmet experience eating plant-based dishes and drinking high-quality wines. The chef and wine instructor will bring foods in various states (steamed, roasted, raw, etc.) in the form of either simple dishes, whole ingredients, or snacks and go through how the wine will change the way food tastes, how to create a match that will heighten the sensory pleasures of both the food and the wine, what to avoid and what to focus on. Wines will be vegan, organic/natural, and represent different styles, flavor profiles, and regions of the world.
What’s included:

✓ Wine educator fee

✓ Wine tasting sheets

✓ Print-out of key points of the presentation

✓ Food and snacks for the class

Fee: 

Inquire
 
Length of event:

2 hours

Let's Talk

Why Hire Sunny

Sunny Gandara, a native of Norway, has resided in New York for the past 20 years. A professionally trained chef through the Institute for Culinary Education in NYC and a wine professional, she is a Certified Wine and Spirits Educator through the Society of Wine Educators, and holds her Diploma in Wines & Spirits through the Wines & Spirits Education Trust. She also holds certifications through BIVB (Bourgougne Wine Board), Wines of Spain, Napa Valley Vintners, and the Center for Wine Origins.

Sunny has worked in many facets of the wine industry for importers, distributors and as a wine buyer in retail. She founded and ran her own catering company, Fork and Glass alongside her chef-husband, focusing on local and seasonal farm to table cooking. Sunny has experience working in high profile kitchens in NYC both front and back of house such as Aquavit (Marcus Samuelsson era) and Lupa (Mario Batali).

Sunny is certified in Plant-based Nutrition through eCornell, a trained Health Coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and the author of the popular plant-based Norwegian food blog, Arctic Grub.

For several years, Sunny was the U.S. brand director for Querciabella, a world-renowned organic, vegan and biodynamic winery located in Tuscany, Italy.