Virtual Cooking Class ‘Made in the Near West Side’ Highlights Neighborhood Restaurants and Chefs

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Starting this week, every Wednesday a chef from a restaurant on the city’s Near West Side will be giving virtual cooking classes at 4 p.m. via webcast from the Near West Side Partners Facebook page.

The inaugural class kicks off with Chef Lisa McKay of Lisa Kaye Catering. Her lesson will be on making white lasagna.

More demonstrations will come in the weeks ahead, and each video will pair with "take-and-bake" offerings available prior to the cooking class, allowing customers to purchase the meal that they will learn to make.

Keith Stanley, Executive Director of Near West Side Partners Inc., helped get the project off the ground. Stanley is a firm believer in making the city of Milwaukee a better place, one community at a time.

“I think ultimately we will have to work with our businesses to help them with the process of getting their patrons comfortable in coming back,” says Stanley. “Whether that’s marketing, sales or making sure the right standards and protocol are in place. Making sure that everyone’s going to abide by social distancing.”

Stanley believes that there could be a small win for local communities after all the quarantining and staying at home is over. People might still be nervous to assemble in large groups with thousands of others, but they’re trying to get people comfortable with coming back and spending their money in these local establishments.

“Now more than ever, we’re seeing businesses expanding some of their product lines to people that don’t want to travel,” says Stanley. “Corner stores, gas stations, they’re providing more produce than ever, because the people are just not interested in traveling and waiting in line at some big-box store.”

Tune in today and every Wednesday afternoon for the next few weeks to pick up some family-style cooking tips from some great local restaurants and chefs! These cooking demos make for great, family-friendly projects while we’re all staying Safer at Home and help support local businesses during these challenging times. 

Full schedule here: