A chef-owner by day, a food guru by night.

Tucked away in the Annapolis Commerce Center across from Westfield Mall, A Cook’s Café doesn’t appear at first like the food mecca it is. But inside at lunchtime, there’s a steady clientele of people who feel they’ve discovered their own gourmet getaway. Food magazines, cooking utensils and cookbooks surround the patrons. The lunch crowd lingers over tarragon chicken salad with artichoke hearts and slivered almonds, jumbo lump Crab Louis Salad on baby lettuces, and designer sandwiches including roast turkey-and-cranberry-sauce, and brie-and-apple on baguette.

And the café is just the entry into a world of cooking. A Cook’s Café also offers “fine catering/gourmet takeout” and is the home of “The Chesapeake School of Cooking.” Each piece of the company feeds the others; people enjoying the restaurant soon try the catering, for example. Or decide to take a class.

Renee White, an avid fan, came to the classes by way of the Café. “My husband and I are regular patrons for lunch, and we love Craig’s gourmet take-out,” she says. “So when my husband asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I said I’d like the courses.

“Real world” cooking.

Sewell believes in, and teaches, what he calls ‘real world cooking.’ “Get the fundamentals down and you can become creative on your own, without being tied to a recipe,” he explains. “I teach people with ingredients they can get their hands on, show them the basic techniques and then I show them some valuable shortcuts.”

According to Sewell, many food magazines do a disservice to cooking. “People wake up on a Sunday, flip through the magazine, see a great recipe and photo and say, ‘I’m going to cook that.’ Then they discover halfway through that there’s a utensil they don’t have, or some ingredient they need to order over the internet, or something that needs three days to marinate. Suddenly, it’s not fun.”

 “I’d like people to approach cooking from another angle. I teach a class just on sauces, for example; the five basic French sauces, and three additional. Learn those and you can become as creative as you like with a sauce. When you learn the fundamentals, the recipes will take care of themselves.”

“I’d hit the wall.”

Renee White says that’s what she loves about the classes. “What’s appealing is that it’s not rigid. It’s not as intimidating as I’d imagine a formal culinary school to be. Craig shows you the techniques and then how to bend them for home.

“I love to cook. But I’d hit the wall,” she says. “I wanted to learn how things go together, and get past the recipes. The great thing about Craig’s courses is that if you learn proper techniques, it’s easy to always make an incredibly delicious dish.”  

Other topics offered by Sewell this season will be “Small Plates,” exploring amuse bouche, antipasti, tapas and more. “Northern  Italian Cuisine” is always popular and a Southwestern series is in the offing. Custom classes can also be arranged; Sewell once held a class as a birthday party for a regular’s sister.  Looking for more info about A Cook's Cafe? We recommend it!  Information available below.