This is a driving tour for those who love to motor around a kitchen, as much as they like to explore new places. Unlike Food TV's Next Network Star, you don't have to pack your knives...just your imagination!
Along with details about the cooking classes and the 'sweet' accommodations at Hamanassett Bed & Breakfast, the second half of this driving tour offers suggestions for Friday afternoon and Sunday sightseeing -- all within 15 minutes of the B&B. From famous gardens and museums, to our global 'Restaurant Row' on the tree-lined avenue of State Street in Media - you'll find all the ingredients you need for a tasty, memorable visit.
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| Fountain view from the Dining Room |
Let's meet your hosts.
Glenn and Ashley Mon own and operate Hamanassett. When you meet them, you'll see for yourself why people keep coming back. Their warmth, friendliness and commitment to service is unparalleled. Traveling all over the country, they have lovingly decorated this mid-19th Century estate and it shows. From the Billiards room to your chosen suite, make no mistake -- you're in for a rare treat.They also have mad kitchen skills and a consuming, spirited love of food. Soon after they purchased the estate, our Destination Delco team was treated to one of Ashley's now FAMOUS breakfasts...and all of us have been back time and time again.
When you have outstanding service -- a superb setting -- and breakfasts to die for -- it's not surprising that Hamanassett is one of the most awarded and written-about bed and breakfasts in the country.
In the last 3 years, they have begun hosting unique culinary-themed 'cooking school' weekends that take your taste buds (and your kitchen prowess!) to a whole new level.
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| Learn gourmet tips, techniques and secrets for preparing amazing meals! |
From Presidential Dinners, to a French Country Bastille Day Feast, and the Final Dinner served on the Titanic -- this is a tour for passionate cooks and even more passionate eaters. More themes are detailed at the end of this story.
While each of these weekends is limited to 10 people, hundreds have already prepared and savored famous and extraordinary meals themed to a particular time in history, a momentous event or special holiday.
And if by chance you can't make one of the scheduled weekends below, grab 8 food-minded friends and call Ashley to arrange a private, custom cooking weekend just for you.
About the Cooking School
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| Student chefs showoff their work! |
You don’t need to be a great cook!
Classes are geared for recreational cooks -- as long as you like to eat, you're in! If you prefer, you can watch the class or don an apron and get up to your elbows in dough ;)
2015 Cooking School Weekends
November 6th & 7th -- Holiday Fare!This is the last scheduled weekend of the year, but the 2016 Spring & Summer Weekend Schedule is in the works and will be featured here in the coming weeks.
'Holiday Fare' is the perfect way to launch your entire holiday season!
Hamanassett is gorgeous year-round, but starting in October, Ashley and Glenn begin decorating for the Christmas Holiday, both indoors and out. The effect is stunning, as their stately Tudor home transports you back in time, for a lavish, warm and wonderful Victorian Holiday experience. Everywhere you look there are vintage and antique decorations, a thousand lights, stunning holiday trees and gorgeous wreaths.
It's the perfect backdrop for your hands-on culinary experience.
Everyone loves turkey and stuffing...but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to combine history and food in the preparation a genuine Traditional English Holiday Feast. You'll learn new cooking techniques along with a few cool 18th century chef skills as you prepare everything from a buttocks of beefe, fish and fowl mostfaire, to Yorkshire Pudding and all the appropriate accompaniments including the traditional Christmas Pudding. You’ll also receive a personal pudding to take home for the holidays.
Click on the link below for Hamanassett holiday season photos and a Video Tour
Hamanassett Decorated for Christmas
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| Glenn may look serious, but he's lots of fun in the kitchen! |
Cooking School Information & Schedule
- Arrival and check-in, late Friday afternoon
- 7pm...Host's Welcome Reception
- Saturday morning you will share a big country breakfast with fellow weekenders
- Followed by a Saturday Morning Class: Students prepare and enjoy a marvelous lunch
- Saturday Afternoon Class: Students learn new recipes and cooking techniques while preparing the weekend's theme dinner
- Then you are literally shushed out of the kitchen, to relax and refresh for the evening meal.
- Saturday night students are elegantly served each course of the meal, accompanied by matching wines.
- Sunday morning, you'll enjoy a sumptuous farewell breakfast
- 10am check out
Cooking classes are limited to 10 people...and are $225 per person plus tax and gratuity.
Your $225 cooking class fee includes:
- All classes conducted by professional chefs with specific training and experience in the cuisine being featured.
- Breakfast Saturday and Sunday mornings
- Welcome Reception Friday evening
- Lunch and dinner on class day that has been prepared by you during the cooking class. And each course at dinner is paired with a wine appropriate for that course.
- Participants also receive class materials with recipes, tips and techniques along with a Brandywine Country Cooking School apron, plus tote bag and other surprise goodies.
Rooms are priced separately:
Weekend package participants enjoy two nights’ accommodations (Friday and Saturday) at Hamanassett, but rooms are priced separately, as they depend on which room is chosen.Hamanassett street address: 115 Indian Spring Dr, Chester Heights, PA 19063
Phone: (610) 459-3000
Note: Hamanassett features a Tesla Wall Connector and a universal station that can charge all electric vehicles free to all our guests.
Directions to Hamanasset, from I-95:
> Take the PA Rt. 202N exit towards West Chester.> In about 15 minutes or so you will take PA Rt. 1N for about 4-5 minutes.
> At Darlington Road, turn left (1 min)
> At Indian Spring Drive, go left again, up the hill and into their driveway
FRIDAY & SUNDAY: Great Opportunities to Explore the Brandywine Countryside
Located in the heart of the Brandywine Valley, your Cooking School Weekend is not only fun in the kitchen...it allows plenty time to visit Penns Woods Winery or Chaddsford Winery, and at least one or two nationally renowned sites like Longwood Gardens, the Brandywine River Museum of Art. All are just minutes from Hamanassett. |
| Christian C. Sanderson Museum |
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| Longwood Gardens |
Or the American Helicopter Museum where more than 30 helos are on display, along with armed services birds and dozens of huge, interactive exhibits. Some weekends they even offer helicopter rides over the Brandywine.
And there's nothing more relaxing than spending a Sunday afternoon on State Street in Media. This was America's first official Fair Trade Town - and is as charming a place as you'd ever want to see. Take Rt. 1N for about 5 miles. Once you enter the town, turn left at the Towne House Restaurant. Two blocks up is State Street. Turn right. Park anywhere on the street, or in the parking building adjacent to the Towne House. ON SUNDAYS PARKING IS FREE! Restaurants, Sites & Events in Media
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| Pennsylvania Veterans Museum in Media |
- Take the trolley, or just stroll down this shop-lined street that boasts 20+ restaurants and coffee shops as well as charming shops, gift stores and boutiques.
- Catch a show at the Media Theatre -- a very cool, vaudeville-era stage now renovated and performing live Broadway shows
- The PA Veterans Museum is housed in an historic Armory
- Or simply enjoy coffee and a decadent pastry on a park bench
- Sample a handcrafted Margaritas at Diegos Cantina and Tequila Bar
- Do an early dinner at La Belle Epoque Wine Bistro
- Or tour all of our great Media eateries on our web site under RESTARAURANTS
Phone: (610) 459-3000
PLUS: Hamanassett has a Tesla Wall Connector and a universal station that can charge all electric vehicles free to all our guests.
> Take the PA Rt. 202N exit towards West Chester.
> In about 15 minutes or so you will take PA Rt. 1N for about 4-5 minutes.
> At Darlington Road, turn left (1 min)
> At Indian Spring Drive, go left again, up the hill and into their driveway
Information About Previous 2015 Cooking Class Weekends:
Dining on the Orient Express
Participants took a culinary “Grand Tour” of Europe and Asia preparing menus inspired by the Orient Express, which for over a century was the symbol of luxury travel. A trip evocative of excitement, romance and intrigue, their “tour” featured cuisines associated with such exotic destinations as Paris, Venice, Vienna, and Istanbul, prepared using traditional methods.
French Country Cooking
A Celebration of Bastille Day with sumptuous French Country cooking. Using the freshest of ingredients, participants created a traditional menu that was enjoyed “En plein air” (al fresco) including individual pate de champagne to take home.Last Dinner on the Titanic (one of their most requested classes!)
This was a return to the gastronomic extravagance of the Edwardian Era through the creation and consumption of the multi-course final dinner served in the First Class Salon on the fateful maiden voyage of Titanic. Participants were welcome to dress in period attire for dinner.
- Luncheon – Asparagus salad with champagne-saffron vinaigrette, chicken Lyonnais, peaches in chartreuse jelly
- Dinner – Consomme Olga, poached salmon with Mousseline sauce, punch Romaine, Filets Mignons Lili, chateau potatoes, minted green pea timbales, Waldorf pudding, assorted fruits and cheeses. Served with appropriate wines.
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| There's nothing like a Hamanassett breakfast...nothing! |
Brandywine Bounty -- “Field to Table”
As you know, the culinary world is all about Farm to Table. Glenn and Ashley offered a new twist on this natural food phenomenon – with a wild food and culinary adventure.
This past summer, participants joined Debbie Naha, MS, RD, a wild foods specialist, on a foraging trek in the Brandywine Valley to identify and gather edible ingredients, growing wild, to include in a sumptuous meal presentation. Half a day was spent exploring the grounds of the Newlin Grist Mill & 160-Acre Nature Park and Hamanassett to find ingredients used in the preparation of dinner service. Guests found out that purslane is not a weed – but a great wild spinach! Stinging nettles, while tough to handle, made an excellent soup. And trout from the pond provided a tasty entrée.