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14 BY LORRIE BAUMANN More than three decades of cooking profes- sionally has taught Chef Darin Sehnert that the three things that lead to success for any cook – whether at home or in a commercial restaurant kitchen – are techniques, ingredi- ents and equipment. That's the philosophy he passes along to the home cooks who come to his Savannah kitchen store, Chef Darin's Kitchen Table, to learn about South- ern coastal cooking while they're weekend- ing in the city. While they're in the store, he's also happy to sell them the kitchenware that they'll need to be successful at home with the dishes they've learned in class. "The ap- proach is to look at what's out there and offer what has great performance plus value," Sehnert said. "My approach is not to be everything to everyone because I think it's easy to fill up with a lot of inventory that may or may not be purchased." Sehnert opened his store as a cooking school four years ago, then added the retail end of the operation about two years ago after other Savannah kitchenware stores closed. His business is now the only specialty kitchenware store in the community of more than 145,000 people. "We're still getting the word out that there's still a store here in Sa- vannah," Sehnert said. His business draws most of its clientele from Savannah's tourist trade, and Sehnert encourages that by marketing his cooking classes through TripAdvisor and advertise- ments on Savannah's Convention and Visi- tors Bureau's guides to local attractions. "We're number one for food and beverage ac- tivities on TripAdvisor, so customers find us when they're looking for things to do in Sa- vannah," he said. His premises includes about 1,000 square feet of teaching kitchen equipped with four separate dual-fuel KitchenAid ranges on two stations with a chef's station at the front. Up to 16 guests at a time work in small groups of four or five on menus that reflect seasonal ingredients and an emphasis on local culi- nary traditions. Low Country Shrimp and Grits is the single most popular class, offered monthly in a rotation that in- cludes seven to nine topics a month with five to seven classes offered in an average week. In the winter months, a class on northern Italian cooking that fea- tures a menu with osso buco and saf- fron risotto is popu- lar. "I do all the teaching," Sehnert said. "One of the things that people like is the focus on science and technique, which resonates par- ticularly among men. They like it fun.... When it's a leisure learning experience, where you're choosing to do it – if it's not fun, people aren't going to want to come back." In addition to his regularly scheduled classes, Sehnert also offers private classes and events for up to 60 people at a time. "People do book classes as special events like family reunions," he said. "We have a special New Year's Eve class, and there's a Thanksgiving class for out-of-towners or locals who aren't going out with their family. It's out of the or- dinary, and it's better than sitting in a busy restaurant." At the front of the store, he has about 1,000 square feet of display floor in which he offers products from Microplane, cook- ware by Hammer Stahl and baking pans from USA Pan as well as Messermeister knives and Epicurean cutting boards. All of the tools and equipment in the store are items that he actually uses in his classes, chosen because he and his one store assis- tant can personally vouch for the value proposition offered by each piece. "I like to be able to explain how a piece of cookware will perform for them," he said. "I want peo- ple to feel confident in what they're buying rather than buying a name that they recog- nize that may or may not serve their pur- poses." The sales floor is part of the attraction for the location when Sehnert volunteers his store as a host site for guest chef classes dur- ing the Savannah Food and Wine Festival. Over the course of the week-long festival held in November of each year by Savan- nah's Tourism Leadership Council, Chef Darin's Kitchen Table will host 12 to 15 classes, with class fees benefiting the coun- cil's TLC Scholarship Fund, which offers ed- ucational opportunities for students enrolled in hospitality programs in the region's col- leges and universities. "We get a lot of out- of-town visitors for that as well as year-round," Sehnert said. "The store acts as a waiting area between the festival classes. It's definitely a marketing effort; it draws people in who would not have known about us otherwise." KN Chef Darin's Kitchen Table Cooks in Savannah Each of these metal trees is hand made by Thai artisans who earn a fair, living wage which helps support their fami- lies and communities. You can choose between brass or copper trees with sil- ver metal accents. Sizes come in small (dwarf pine), medium (spruce) and giant sequoia (large). See them at the Pilgrim Imports booth in Pavilion 1 at Las Vegas Market or visit www.pilgrim- imports.com. KN Hand Made Metal Tree Table Toppers Decoys Kitchen Towel KITCHENWARE NEWS & HOUSEWARES REVIEW • JULY 2019 • www.kitchenwarenews.com This Decoys Kitchen Towel comes from Michaelian Home/India Overseas Traders. It's 18 inches by 28 inches and made from 100 percent cotton. Michaelian Home, Inc/India Overseas Traders will be ex- hibiting at on the ninth floor of Building 1 during The Atlanta In- ternational Gift & Home Furnish- ings Market® or visit www.michaelianhome.com. KN

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