Enjoy A Sweet And Savory Experience In Downtown Chattanooga

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Food News & Notes

Learn how to cook like a professional and enjoy a great meal and camaraderie at The Sweet and Savory Classroom in downtown Chattanooga.

Husband and wife Chefs Jeff and Heather Pennypacker combined their love of teaching and their culinary skills offering cooking classes for adults and children. Jeff graduated top of his class from Johnson and Wales University and worked as the Chef at the Biltmore Estate for seven years.

“I've been cooking since I was 16 and went to culinary school right out of high school,” he said.

He met his wife Heather at a friend’s birthday party. She was the pastry chef at the Historic Grove Park Inn. Together the couple has four daughters.

The Sweet and Savory Classroom has been teaching people how to cook delectable meals for the past 10 years at their industrial looking kitchen off East Main Street.

Jeff said he and his wife had also taught at culinary schools.

“We found out we really enjoyed that,” he said. “So, we both had some teaching experience, and we realized that this is what we're made for, teaching.”

Jeff said their cooking studio has standing-height wooden tables, home style ovens, and a relaxed and inviting atmosphere.

“It's set up to a Look a little bit like a really big home kitchen,” he said. “We can accommodate about 30 people in here at a time.”

Classes typically take three hours. Jeff said it’s an interactive, hands-on, immersive experience. You’ll watch, learn, participate and then enjoy the fruits of your labor.

The Sweet and Savory Classroom has classes for date nights, classes to cook alongside your children ages five and up, cooking camps for kids aged 8 and up, and they also host events for groups of friends or company events.

They offer online classes that teach you the step-by-step process of cooking a specific recipe.

“We go through the equipment that you need, the ingredients, and how to cut, chop, or prepare everything,” he said. “You follow along in your home kitchen while we show you and walk you through every step of preparing that meal.”

Make the perfect Beef Wellington, learn how to properly sear a steak, cook Thai Curry, Chicago Deep Dish pizza, pasta, soups, stews, cookies, cakes, pastries, Mexican food and so much more.

The two chefs offer several kids camps throughout the year.

“Summer is over, but we have our fall break camp coming up,” Jeff said. “We do workshops during the Christmas Holiday. On weekends we host parent / child classes. You and your kids can come and do a class together. We love working with kids. We spend a lot of time teaching and developing the kids to be proficient in the kitchen. Most of our kids go home and they make some of the meals for their parents that they make in the classroom.”

They also offer classes called Homeschool Essentials. These classes teach specific recipes, but some also teach basic cooking skills like knife skills.

Class times and dates vary and include weekday daytime classes, evening classes, and weekends.

The Sweet and Savory Classroom