Montauk Pioneer - April 17, 2009

He looks a bit different from Rachel Ray or Martha Stewart, but Chip Monte has all the style and personality of both these cooking gurus.

On April 3, Monte was doing what he loves most-demonstrating his cooking skills before an audience of 16 food enthusiasts at the second Gurney's Inn cooking class held this year. Dressed in his signature white chef uniform, Gurney's Executive Chef Chip Monte was sautéing some fennel, tomatoes and onions in a large skillet, over a small burner in front of the class, which consisted of two men and about 14 women.

"We decided to limit the classes to 16, so everyone can have room and see what's going on," said Monte, tossing in some skinless and boneless chicken breasts to his mixture, and heating it up.

He explained that he and his wife, Gurney's Fitness Director Candice Monte, had decided to start "healthy" cooking classes this year at Gurney's Inn Resort & Spa.

"We wanted to educate people on how to eat in a more healthful, diet-conscious way," he said. "People had been asking for it. They love our spa cuisine, and good food doesn't have to be fattening. So we decided to share our secrets with the public."

In a semi-circle before him, the class members also wore white aprons, and each one had his or her own cutting board, paring knife and small bowls to prepare the food. They watched as Monte explained how to create one of his famous healthy spa favorites, "Orange-Fennel Chicken." Besides the fennel bulb, onions and tomatoes, this dish also included orange zest and juice, cloves, balsamic vinegar, red pepper, cinnamon, and olive oil.

As he set this entrée aside, and his staff proceeded to make more in the kitchen, Monte and Sous Chef Mike Oransky went around and gave all the class members some fresh spinach leaves, fresh strawberries, and leeks. We all proceeded to thinly slice the strawberries and marinate them in a dressing of balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and pepper.

"These strawberries look like they were picked in the summer, they're so red," quipped Maria DelVecchio, who attended the class with her daughters, Grace Siedlarz and Amy Davis. She said her family has been coming to Gurney's since her daughters were babies, and they all love food and cooking.

Now we were soaking our leeks in cold water to rinse them off, and cutting off the tops to use later for a garnish. Chip told us to also wash the spinach.

"You should wash all your vegetables first-even organic ones," he said.

Grace Siedlarz said she came to this class, designated as a "spa cuisine" class, because, "I wanted to learn how to cook healthy."

Linda Gamble, of Amagansett, said she came after attending the first cooking class in March and, "loving it."

"I really like to cook, and I enjoyed the first class, where we made codfish with Julienne vegetables, wrapped in foil and baked in the oven," she said.

Margie Martin, a self-proclaimed "foodie," said she also took the first class, and that it taught her new techniques.

Now Sous Chef Mike was walking around our group, instructing us to pour our strawberries onto our mounds of spinach, and then to pour the marinade dressing over the whole salad, to which we had added the sliced leeks. This "Strawberry and Spinach Salad" looked sumptuous.

Candice Monte was also helping to supervise our group, as we all prepared our meal that we were about to sit down and eat. As we watched Chip prepare and then clean up his food, we were also given glasses of wine for an even more fun party.

We took our wine glasses and sat around a long table in the Sea Grille Restaurant. Chip told us the staff was preparing the rest of the main course in the kitchen, since it was impractical for us to all have stoves.

Mike and Chip carried out the wonderful first course salads, which tasted fantastic, with the sweet and sour combination of the strawberries and the vinegar. We then sampled the Orange-Fennel Chicken, which was a wonderful and surprising combination of tastes. We tried different wines with our delicious meal.

Another seasoned cook, Becky Edwards of Montauk, who had come with her son, Beau, said, "I was looking for more recipes and I really like these two. My son and I wanted to do something together that we would both enjoy."

Beau Edwards, 27, said he had been going through his family recipes, and he wanted to learn how to cook new meals. "So when I heard about this class, right in Montauk, I thought we should come," he said.

Bill Becker, of Montauk, said it was also his second class, since cooking was one of his favorite pastimes. "I love to cook and I love to eat," he said.

When the meal had ended, Candice Monte asked the class to e-mail Chip Monte after they had tried these recipes at home, and say how they came out. For more information on the next cooking class, check with Gurney's Spa at 631-668-2345.