Whether you’re a seasoned chef or someone who burns toast, there’s always something new to learn in the kitchen. At one local business, cooking isn’t just about following a recipe – it’s about connecting with food, flavor and one another.
Whether you’re eighteen or eighty, the kitchen can be an unnerving place to be. But at Red Stick Spice Company, they’re helping people conquer those fears – one recipe at a time.
Meet owner Anne Milneck, who says the cooking classes at Red Stick are crafted for the home cook – blending equal parts fun, and learning
“My joke in the beginning when I first started teaching classes was that it felt like we were throwing a dinner party every night but we didn’t know who was coming.”
For local resident Damien Danzie, what started as attending a friend’s birthday celebration has become a new hobby. He’s now taken three classes and has no plans to get out of the Red Stick kitchen anytime soon.
“I think you get a nice cross section of Baton Rouge in here,” Danzie said. “You get a different variety of people, different walks of life. I’m a huge Anthony Bourdain fan, so I think food is a way to bring people together, and I think this class represents that.”
And Danzie said that while he admits he’s no pro in the kitchen, this environment has created a safe place to learn – and he’s picked up more than just a few skills
“I love to learn. Like tonight, Matt did a great job teaching knife technique. I spend a lot of time cooking; I learned three new things I can do with that.”
For Chef Matthew Stansbury, ending up in the Red Stick kitchen wasn’t a part of the original plan.
“COVID hit, and all the restaurants shut down, so I ended up moving away from the restaurant industry and I worked for a company called Baton Roots on a farm, ” Stansbury said. “It was at that moment I tried to decide whether I still loved working with food and cooking.”
“My wife and I had decided to start a family, I have a four-month-old. And a few years ago I was just looking at different options. This position came open, and I was like ‘I come from a family of teachers, I really love teaching,’ and being able to teach people how to cook just seemed like a match made in heaven for me.”
But the cooking classes aren’t the only thing that make this business stand out. What they’re cooking with is just as noteworthy, and something Milneck says the average person probably doesn’t even think about.
“People don’t understand how many relationships I have with suppliers. How they’re in different time zones and different parts of the world, and what it takes for me to communicate with them.”
“I have some suppliers that supply me hundreds of things, and then I have other suppliers that supply me one thing,” Milneck said.
So if you’re even thinking about taking a class, Milneck only has one thing to say.
“If you haven’t been here, come see us. We have a blast.”
From mastering the basics to building confidence behind the stove, locals are finding that a good meal starts with good company.
