apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I just took the summer canning and preserving class here last weekend - it was fantastic! Sort of a cooking show come to life, where you can ask questions as they go along and taste everything right away to decide if you want to make it at home. Thanks for the great post, Kate!

did you really type "ease of parking" in the same sentence as "Lincoln Square"? do we live in the same Chicago??

anyway, while I do like the Chopping Block for classes and looking at their fancy selection of goods - items there are overpriced. I took a demo class once and bought these little pepperdilles (eh, the spelling is close - sweet little red peppers) for like $6.95. Sam's Wine had them for $5.95. thus i'm sure just about everything in there can be had for cheaper at other Chicago stores or online, but i agree it's nice to look at.

I heart Kate's writing style!

But really parking in Lincoln Square is easy! I live there, so I'm going to let you in on the secret -- and my neighbors will kill me! Park down by Wells park --free parking, loads of spaces, just a few blocks away, and you walk past all the great shops and stores of the area. I swear it's easy.

I love the classes at the Chopping Block! If you get a chance, take a class that is making a pie or tart of some kind because their pie crust recipe is absolutely amazing, itÂ’s flakey, delicious, and the easiest pie crust recipe I have ever worked with. Also, every time you take a class, they give you a discount on the items used to teach the class (and with a little nudging, you can get them to use just about anything), needless to say, I've never been able to make it out of the store without buying some fun new kitchen gadget. Thanks Kate, itÂ’s great to see Chicago represented!

I couldn't agree more with your review of The Chopping Block, Kate; it's places like this that give Chicago such a distinctive flavor, metropolitan but very down to earth and comfortable, like any good home should be. My wife and I live just north of the city, but The Chopping Block is one of our favorite gourmet retail spots, and we often make the trip downtown to pick up those essentials no good kitchen should be without. Just last weekend we were looking for a good oyster glove--most of the gloves on the market today just don't fit properly, call me picky if you must--and although, alas, we didn't end up finding what we were looking for, one of the employees made our trip well worth it by showing us a really handy trick for de-veining shrimp. Thanks, Julie! The étouffée was delicious!
And thanks to Kate for telling us about the Merchandise Mart location. Who knew?!

I just moved to Boston from Chicago, and I'm sad I missed this place - it sounds like the perfect mix of equipment, ingredients and an informative staff. This is especially true because I'm in the process of outfitting a new (to me) kitchen, but at least I feel inspired to go searching for something similar here. Thanks for the review, Kate!

Love this place! They also have a relatively new location in Forest Park for all of you Near West Chicagoland suburbanites! As for expense and parking, it is all relative. I don't find it terribly expensive but a few years ago would have found it exorbitant. And as Alex mentioned in her posting, it depends on where you park. If you try to park on Lincoln, the two blocks south of Lawrence then yes but there are plenty of side streets around there that have great parking!! Love your style Kate!

I recently have taken up cooking on the behest of my girlfriend, and found this article to be remarkably informative and helpful, even for a beginner like me. Thank you very much for the information and I will be sure to visit the Chopping Block soon!

I love the Chopping Block at the Merchandise Mart and can't wait to check out the Lincoln Square location! Thanks for all the helpful information!

I've been looking for a gourmet kitchen store where I can try and get my boyfriend to take a cooking class. Sounds like a great place and I love the Lincoln Square neighborhood

i moved to chicago less than a year ago and have been looking for a nice kitchen store to browse and pick up gadgets (when can you ever have too many??). this sounds like a great place to check out. thanks kate!

While the cooking class I took here was for *absolute beginners*, (they had measured and prepared everything for you to simply mix together and serve) it was hands-on fun for my co-workers, who were there for what turned out to be our most creative and fun teambuilding workshop ever! Shopping around afterward was a marvel, and Kate hit the nail on the head - real chefs around to give you advice!! I have since returned several times to pick up odds and ends that can't be found everywhere. Thanks, Kate.

Very nice, we're planning on moving near that area in October, so i'll definitely check this place out! Thanks for the info

I am not originally from Chicago, but I do visit often. I really enjoyed the review of the chopping block and will definitely plan to visit on my next trip up there. Thanks, Kate!

This article brings back sweet memories of my days in Chicago as a Sous Chef. It's been over a year since I have been back home. The Chopping Block (or Ye Olde Chopping Block as we used to say) was my favorite haunt. I plan to return this fall, I think I will stop in.

I'd been looking for a good Le Creuset cast iron pot to cook my favorite Bhutanese dish. How relieving to know that I can pick one up in Lincoln Square. I'll be sure to drop by there the next time I'm in north Chicago.

The Chopping Block classes are great!! Parking is not as easy as when I lived in Lincoln Square, oh about 14 years ago. Both my husband and I have taken different classes and have learned so much. I highly recommend Flavor Dynamicks (I'm sure I misspelled this.) For the poster who stated he was moving to that area check out Albany Park too. Great Middle Eastern food on Kedzie from all different areas.
Suzanne

Visit the store if you need a specific cooking gadget (shrimp de-veiner, anyone?). Otherwise, skip the classes. I took a couple classes, both demonstration and hands-on, and they weren't as informative as I had hoped. Disappointing.

I wasn't impressed by the class I took last week. Maybe it was the constant product selling by the instructor that turned me off. I wanted more instruction. The recipes were bland.

I took my daughter to a Kids Cooking class at the Chopping Block last summer and she was bored and didn't even like the food. I didn't want to give up on cooking lessons (since she enjoys cooking at home sometimes), so we went to The Kids' Table on North Ave. Well, she really had a great time and wanted to take more lessons. Elena Marre was wonderful!