Deer Valley Resort has opened registration for its fourth winter season of Creative Academy cooking classes, with returning favorites and new guest-led sessions providing experiences from family friendly to adults only.
Executive Sous Chef Sam Phelan said that with a few years under the resort’s belt, staff have learned what their visitors hope to see, and what they’re best at delivering.
A holiday must is daily gingerbread house decorating, running from Dec. 17 to 23, he said.
“We get a lot of chefs who focus on the outlets and getting ready for the season, so the gingerbread is the easy go-getter, and usually each one of them fills up because the kids love that stuff,” he said. “The first half is really geared towards the decorating, the cookie stuff, very kid-friendly, because it’s the holidays and the kids are here. And after the holidays … we gear it more towards the adults.”
As the resort picks up in the new year, it’ll bring back favorites like the Deer Valley carrot cake and turkey chili classes.
“People love our staples — the carrot cake, the turkey chili — they love seeing those. I think a lot of our guests enjoy coming back to see that, or the guests you haven’t had a chance to do it,” Phelan said.
Deer Valley is also bringing back its whiskey and Ritual Chocolate tasting and pairing class on Jan. 17, another quick seller in years past. New options this season include classes like ricotta gnocchi with vodka sauce on Feb. 22, and a few alcohol training options.
“We’ve got wine education with Brad Jensen over at Bon Vivant Imports this season,” Phelan said. “We’ve got a class with Sara Sergent from Alpine Distillery this year; she’s going to do a gin cocktail class.”
The Creative Academy program is also returning its Little Chefs series for its first winter season, with decorating classes as well as another pizza-making class that was a popular option over the summer.
“You should have seen the first pizza class that we did with these kids, they loved it,” Phelan said. “Chef John from The Brass Tag, he’s taking the lessons he’s learned over the years and giving it to these kids.”
The Little Chefs pizza class is set for Jan. 24, and cookie decorating led by Deer Valley pastry chefs will be on Jan. 25.
Amelia Stoddard, the food and beverage coordinator for the resort, said seeing the Deer Valley chefs work with students, especially the kids, is a highlight for her.
“I helped out with the cupcake decorations, which was one of the first Little Chefs classes, and it was so adorable how involved all the kids were,” she recalled. “The pastry chef who did that was incredible with them. She kind of taught it as if it was a school class (and) had so many fun questions, and had almost a kid’s history of the different recipes.”
Phelan said empowering his team into those types of roles is one of the best things about the Creative Academy program.
“When (guests) think about the chefs, they usually think about Peter or me. They don’t get to think about these other guys,” he said.
Over the years, the resort has figured out who’s especially skilled at teaching and leading cooking classes. Phelan said a lot of times, the chefs are eagerly volunteering ideas for the coming season.
“We have some really great chefs on staff, and they have the personality, they have the charisma, they have the knowledge and the passion to share their knowledge with others,” he said. “When they start doing it, there’s a click that happens and they just start rattling off all this knowledge to the guests. … It gives them a chance to shine and show off their skills.”
Booking for some of the classes is available at deervalley.com/things-to-do/activities/creative-academy, and each visitor will be provided with the ingredients for the meal, as well as a recipe card to bring home and recreate.
“Whenever I’ve done a cooking class, I like the idea of giving the guests something that either they can take home to cook or take home to eat later on, so they’re still thinking about their experience,” Phelan said. “That’s kind of the Deer Valley difference that we preach upon.”