Levy Restaurant’s Kids Cooking Class

For those of us who visit Walt Disney World often, we are constantly looking for new experiences beyond the theme parks.  It could be a family experience, adult only experience, or even a kid’s experience.  Before a recent trip to Disney World I stumbled across an announcement from Levy Restaurants about a kid’s cooking class at Downtown Disney.  Levy Restaurants operates a handful of restaurant establishments throughout Downtown Disney.  To learn more about this educational cooking experience continue through the page break.

The Levy Restaurant’s kids cooking class occurs from time to time; usually two or three times a year.  I heard about it from a friend who lives in the Orlando area.  We were fortunate that the class coincided with our family’s recent trip to Orlando so I signed our daughter up to take the class on a Saturday afternoon.  It seemed like a great opportunity and a fun way for her to learn the basics of cooking while we were on vacation.  The cost of the class was a reasonable $30 per child.

Since Levy Restaurants was conducting the class they used their restaurant facilities in Downtown Disney.  The class was a moving restaurant experience.  The children (22 in total) would create a course of their meal at each restaurant location.  A different chef would assist and instruct them at each restaurant.  Hygiene was a crucial part of the class so each child was required to wear gloves and wash their hands at each location.

We were told to meet at Fulton’s Crab House at Noon to register and begin the class.  When we registered our daughter she was given a chef’s hat and an apron to use throughout the class.  Fulton’s Crab House was the site for creating the appetizer.  The appetizer was a sweet and salty tasting trail mix called ‘Gone Fishing Snack Mix’.  When the children sat down to begin the class all of their ingredients were in front of them.  The chef began the class by explaining what the kids were about to create.  He also explained the different ingredients involved in making the appetizer.  After 30 minutes the trail mix appetizers were complete.  The children sampled their creations and it was time to move on to the next restaurant for the main course.

The next Levy restaurant was the Portobello Italian Restaurant near Pleasure Island where the kids would build and cook cheese ravioli.  This wasn’t premade cheese ravioli.  Each child was given 3 pieces of dough and had to create their ravioli from scratch.  Once again, each seat at the table had all of the ingredients necessary to begin making the cheese ravioli.  The chef from the Portobello restaurant began the main course portion of the class giving the children instructions on how to proceed.  Since this portion of the course was a bit more complicated, multiple chefs were involved walking around the room assisting and supervising the children as needed.  After the raviolis were complete and the children had sampled their creations (45 minutes) it was time to move on to the next restaurant where the dessert portion of the class awaited.

The children walked over to Downtown Disney’s West Side to the Wolfgang Puck restaurant.  On the second floor of the restaurant tables and stations were setup.  Each station had all of the ingredients to create a dessert sushi.  The sushi consisted of a fruit roll-up, gummy worms, and a Rice Crispy mixture.  The idea was to roll the gummy worms and Rice Crispy mixture inside the fruit roll-up using different sushi rolling tools.  Again, the chefs at Wolfgang Puck assisted the children, especially during the rolling process which seemed a bit tricky for everyone.  Once the desserts were completed the children sampled their creations.  The chef thanked everyone for attending the class and made sure each child had the recipe cards for each food course of their class.  This was a nice added touch in case the children and their families wanted to make these food creations at home.

The Levy Restaurant kid’s cooking class is a nice experience for children.  As for the adults in the family, the folks at Levy Restaurants give you the option to follow the class or leave and pick-up your children at the end of the class.  If mom and dad are looking to spend a few hours together this is a great opportunity to shop, dine, or catch a movie at the nearby AMC Theater while the kids are in the cooking class.  The class lasts about two and a half hours.

Walt Disney World is full of fun and educational experiences.  The Levy Restaurant’s Kids Cooking Class is no exception.  The next time you see it advertised on the DIS and your vacation coincides with it, definitely give it consideration because it is a fun and unique experience for children.

Friend Aaron on Facebook:  I accept reader friend requests.