"Cooking breaks the ice," says Karen Lee.

A Gastronomical Celebration

At Karen Lee's apartment on Manhattan's Upper West Side one recent Tuesday evening, the view is spectacular: 30 stories up, looking out over the skyline, you can see the sun starting to think about setting. But the 10 people inside aren't paying attention to the blending colors in the sky; they're too mesmerized by the colors in the kitchen: red and white tomato and mozzarella salad, green zucchini pasta, and a pink strawberry pound cake and more, all centered around marinated and pan-roasted Florida Pompano, extremely hard to find.

Karen Lee demonstrates how to make salmon rillettes.

"When you're focused on the food, the pressure is off. You can get to know people in a relaxed fashion."

For 33 years, Lee, a gray-haired and energetic 60, has been throwing instructional cooking fêtes at her penthouse. The author of cookbooks on fusion, Chinese, and Vegetarian cooking, Lee runs a thriving catering business, but it's bringing people together at these events that is her true passion. She puts together cooking parties for birthdays, bachelorette parties, and anniversaries, in addition to the weekly ones she hosts in her home.

The night begins with a half hour of food prep, Lee lecturing all the while - information on how to flip pan-fried fish (use two spatulas), on which brand of olive oil is best for salads and sautéing (Colavita Extra Virgin), where to buy French steel-iron skillets (The Bridge Kitchen Company), and who grows "the best cherry tomato in the world" (Del Cabo in Pescadaro, CA).

As the meal continues and the white wine flows (an inexpensive but tasty Lurton Pinot Gris, perfect for Pompano and other white fish), the conversation opens. People describe their cooking histories, trips to Italy, favorite meals. The youngest attendee is sixteen, the oldest is in his sixties. There's an even mix of men and women, and everyone shares in the feeling of having worked together to create something truly delicious. It's a gathering of strangers, but it feels more like an intimate dinner party than a formal cooking course - a dinner party were you have to cook your own food to be sure, but isn't that the point?

"My husband bought me these classes as a Christmas present," says Alise Ferency, 42, a graduate student. "We take them together and we love it. It's something we can do for a couple hours in the evening, not some all-day marathon. Jim had never cooked before, now he's really into it."

She filled a plate with Chilean sea bass and roasted plum tomatoes and a salad of blanched sugar snap peas and portabella mushrooms. "This is our fifth class, and we're coming back for more," she adds. "It's a great way to meet people."

Lee seconds that: Couples and life-long friendships have started around her stove. "When you're focused on the food, the pressure is off," she says. "You can get to know people in a relaxed fashion."

Behind her, two men compare wines and three women talk about their favorite markets for vegetables. Lee surveys the scene and smiles. "Cooking breaks the ice."

Posted on July 10, 2006