Montreal: Ateliers et Saveurs

"I never have more than one drink before dinner. But I do like that one to be large and very strong and very cold and very well-made." Yes, James Bond. I agree.

One of the first things you notice when you enter Ateliers & Savuers are the light fixtures. Specially designed and created by lighting artist François Legault of UNIK Sculptural Lighting you realize immediately that this is no ordinary culinary school.

A spiral chandelier featuring 260 spoons shines above, in the wine tasting room a 7 foot-long pendant lamp of 476 spoons and 21 Champagne flutes draws your near, on the walls espresso cups act as sconces.

"We designed them especially," says Parisian-born sommelier and co-owner Arnaud Ferrand. And indeed no expense has been spared in this half a million dollar restoration. Housed in a heritage building in Old Montreal, Ateliers et Saveurs is unique to this metropolitan city offering cooking, cocktail and wine classes to locals and tourists alike.

With so much to take in — attractive, young clientele, gorgeous decor — it was hard to know where to look as we waited our turn for our Friday night cocktail class after all, if the food you lovingly cook is more delicious, than surely the cocktail you shake is far superior - and possibly more toxic!

Armed with nothing but our enthusiasm (part of the allure of going to elsewhere to make cocktails) the four of us girls waited patiently for our turn at the bar, props at the ready. The class was sold out and so two rotations of budding bar tenders took it in turns to turn mere ingredients into the nectar of the Gods - or at least die trying.

The first cocktail was a classic Margarita.

As the ingredients were poured and the instructions translated for us English speakers, the music got pumping and all involved shook and shimmied like there was no tomorrow. The result, a perfect Margarita worthy of the best Manhattan watering hole.

We created three cocktails in all with special shot pouring classes topping off the night. As you can imagine the atmosphere was quite festive by then, strangers becoming friends, work foes becoming allies. Thankfully, a delicious array of h'ordeuvres were also served to help soak up all that fun!

All in all, I couldn't recommend it highly enough. The price you pay for three or four hours of fun is less than it would cost to purchase the drinks and definitely less than it would cost for the ingredients alone. Even better, you could put this down as an educational experience - much more socially acceptable than a mere night on the town (of course, this is a great prelude to that too, if you so wish).