Jim Fair
Upstate Nutrition / Plate 108 gave visitors a smorgasbord of tastes with nutrition its focus and with artful presentations.
Jim Fair
The stadium-seating venue offers dinners for parties of 14, office and birthday parties and international/ethnic cooking classes.
Jim Fair
The ribbon cutting at Plate 108 on Poinsett Street marked the official opening of the cooking and entertainment venue.
Jim Fair
The cooking classes will feature the preparation and serving of dishes with nutrition the focus.
The grand opening, at 108 Poinsett Street, gave visitors a smorgasbord of tastes with nutrition its focus and with artful presentations. Visitors were still hovering near the 9 p.m. closing.
Wendy Watkins and her husband, Billy, are owners of the 2,000-square foot building.
“There were a lot of hands and a lot of ideas that went into this,” said Wendy Watkins. “This is a place where you learn how to cook and enjoy food from flavors and the nutrition of it all.”
“It was a lot of do-it-yourself,” said Billy of creating the interior. “We could sit on the floor and just look and think what we wanted to do.”
Upstate Nutrition Consultants will provide a wide range of services to long-term care providers, acute-care hospitals and rehabilitation units. It will educate clients and guests to learn how to cook and prepare meals for a healthy lifestyle.
Genny Komar, Karen Neely and Susan Watson, attending today’s festivities, are certified dieticians. Komar is also a certified chef. “They are all college educated and board certified,” said Watkins of her staff.
The cooking classes will feature the preparation and serving of dishes with nutrition the focus. The stadium-seating venue offers dinners for parties of 14, office and birthday parties and international/ethnic cooking classes.
The cooking class/demonstrations run the gamut of Baby Bites, how to make and store baby foods from seasonal fruits and vegetables, to Doggie Day, teaching children how to make treats for their pets, and Steve Perone creating some of the Perone’s family recipes.
Classes are routinely two hours with prices ranging from $20 - $45.
A camera is strategically placed in front of the kitchen to videotape the cooking sessions. “We have a TV so guests can watch the food being prepared and we will provide a link so they can follow up with what they learned,” said Komar.
The kitchen is located in the front of the building, enticing walking traffic to observe the cooking. However, this is not a place for walk-ins to order food and expect to be served. A sign will signal when a cooking session is in progress.
The dieticians will participate in the Harvest Market on the City Park promenade during the spring and summer. “We will walk with people while they shop and explain what all they can do with what they are buying,” said Komar. “It will be like a show and tell. We’ll walk and talk.”