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| - All you need to master the culinary arts
Far too many hours of my misspent adulthood have been spent wandering the narrow aisles of Orange Tree Imports (OTI). And that's not a particularly bad thing. I attribute much of my growth as a home cook to the wonderful cooking classes I've attended. I also have OTI to thank for my serious addiction kitchen gadgets for which I am in search of a twelve step program. While the store has its idiosyncrasies, it's a tremendous resource to those Madisonians who practice the home culinary arts.
Things I like:
* I am a HUGE fan of the OTI cooking school. For the cost of a dinner at a nice restaurant, you'll gain some mad cooking skills, pick up some great recipes, enjoy a scrumptious meal and get a coupon for 10% off most anything in the store. It's a crazy good value. I've taken about 20 classes there over the past five years and enjoyed the overwhelming majority of them. For instructors, OTI uses chefs from local restaurants or OTI staff members. Some of my favorites were the knife skill class taught by Clark Stone of Wusthof, bread baking class with an instructor from Batch Bakehouse, the pizza making class with an instructor from Roman Candle, a quick bread class with Angie Derr from the Creamery Cafe in Paoli, a dumpling class taught by Jeanne Tentis and anything taught by Francesco Mangano of Osteria Papavero. I've also scored some nice swag from attending classes sponsored by vendors like Le Creuset and Chantal.
* I've always found the staff eager to offer advice. OTI seems to hire people whose passion is cooking, so they often have personal experience with many of the items sold in the store.
* Selection, selection, selection!!! Cookware, cutlery, kitchen electrics, specialty ingredients, chocolates, coffee and tea brewing supplies, bakeware, cookbooks and gadgets galore - you can find it all at OTI.
Things I don't
* Finding a parking spot on Monroe Street is a skill that seems to have eluded me.
* OTI can be difficult to navigate when it gets busy since the aisles are so narrow. The store can resemble a rush hour Tokyo subway during the holiday shopping season.
* Their prices are generally higher than what you can find on-line. I have been able to offset that difference by using the coupons from the cooking school and the quarterly catalog (get on the mailing list!). They also have a customer rewards card that offers additional savings for frequent fliers. I also appreciate the advice I get from the staff and am willing to pay a premium for that.
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