NEWS

By JENA WITTKAMP
UNC News Services

CHAPEL HILL -- Healthy and delicious spring food is on the menu for a cooking class series sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education.

"In Good Taste: Healthy Spring Flavors" will feature Triangle-area cooks and chefs, preparing a different course at each of the four classes. Maudy Benz, author and food writer, will host the April 7-28 series. Dr. Anne-Marie Scott, director of health education at the UNC Wellness Center and a registered dietician, will answer questions about nutrition and diets at each class.

"We provide something different from most cooking classes because we give participants the chance to interact with the chefs, not only during the demonstration but also afterwards in a question-and-answer session while sharing the dish that was prepared," Scott said. "Having a registered dietician there who can answer questions as they come up throughout the evening also makes this series a unique experience."

Each class will feature a demonstration by the visiting chef, discussion and tasting.

· Appetizers, April 7: Graham Fox, manager of the Fearrington House Restaurant, will host this class. He has a culinary degree from Burton-on-Trent Technical College in England and won Averey’s Young British Chef of the Year award in 1999.

· Entrée, April 14: Fred Thompson, food stylist and biweekly columnist of "The Weekend Gourmet" for The News and Observer, will host this class. Thompson studied at the Culinary Institute of American and divides his time between New York City and Raleigh.

· Vegetables and salads, April 21: Moreton Neal, co-founder of the restaurant La Residence, will host this class. Neal is the co-author of a weekly gourmet column for Metro Magazine and hosts "Food Forum" with Fred Benton on AM 620. Neal also helps lead food and cultural tours to Provence, France.

· Dessert, April 28: Bill Smith, of Crook’s Corner, will host this class. Smith is a frequent radio guest and newspaper columnist and is finishing his cookbook, "Four Seasons in a Restaurant Kitchen: Recipes and Stories from a Well-Tended Life."

The cost is $65 per night or $225 for the series. Participants may register for individual classes or the series. Registration must be received by March 31. For more information, call (919) 962-2643 or (800) 845-8640 or click on http://fridaycenter.unc.edu/cni/goodtaste.htm.

All classes will be held Wednesdays from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the UNC Wellness Center at Meadowmont. The center is at 100 Sprunt St. in Chapel Hill’s Meadowmont Village, across N.C. 54 from the Friday Center.

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(Wittkamp, of Raleigh, is a December 2003 UNC graduate, with degrees in women’s studies and journalism and mass communication.)

Friday Center contact: Mary Morrison, (919) 962-2643 or mmorriso@email.unc.edu

News Services contact: Deb Saine, (919) 962-8415 or deborah_saine@unc.edu