Chris Stewart's Le Calabash Kitchen Palm Springs

Ok! I’m back and ready to get cooking again. Message me to sign up for any and all classes. I
Also available for private classes if these times don’t work for you.

Two days ago Le Calabash awarded the recipients of the Impact Fund’s internships to France. There were 6 in total for 2024. The first will arrive in early March to start a journey that will change the course of his life. I look forward to working with all of them in the future. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Impact Fund at our Christmas Party.

Part of our work here in South Africa this time is scouting out places of interest. This was our work today.

Soon I’ll be posting about all the classes where I’ll teach what we learn

Our Le Calabash Annual Team Building in South Africa 🇿🇦

There is no better place for inspiration and sharing our passion than on Zevenwacht Wine Estate, home to Le Calabash South Africa ✨

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Notre Événement Annuel de Renforcement d'Équipe Le Calabash en Afrique du Sud 🇿🇦

Il n'y a pas de meilleur endroit pour trouver l'inspiration et partager notre passion que sur le domaine vinicole Zevenwacht, foyer de Le Calabash en Afrique du Sud ✨

The entire Le Calabash team has gathered in Cape Town (most not pictured) to learn this year’s recipes and course direction. Three of us had a open afternoon so we came to lunch at Jordan Winery

Now is your chance! Some of our guests aren't able to come after all and we have space available on our upcoming trip. $7,640 per person/double occupancy. $9,985 per person single occupancy. You merely need to get yourself to Cape Town Airport on April 7 and everything else will be taken care of. Message me for details. These are all photos I've taken on the trips...

The final Christmas Tea before Christmas. We had a wonderful time and my parents attended their first class.

Sibongile is one of the amazing interns at Le Calabash and the final one for 2023. Let’s wish her well on her journey from here

When it’s 28 degrees Celsius or about 80 F, you have your English Christmas Tea on the patio by the pool. It was a wonderful class and enjoyed the process.
The remaining teas are sold out :-(
I even added a special NYE tea for students who couldn’t come to any other class.
I may do an expanded class next year since this was so popular.

We had our first English Christmas Tea class last night. It was a special time to accomodate a special student 🙂.
Everything was made from scratch… even and mayonnaise and sandwich bread! The mince tarts were a hit as were the scones with clotted cream and homemade strawberry jam!
Two more classes left before Christmas. The 16th and 21st at 1:00pm. Message me for details.

We had am amazing time at our annual Christmas Party and Fundraiser for the Le Calabash Impact Fund. I'd like to thanks Joshua, Jared, and Gregory for helping at the party and being alumni of our travel program on Le Calabash Culinary Adventures. We were able to raise over $5,000 Saturday night which will bring at least on aspiring chef from South Africa to France and help get another one halfway there! Thank you to everyone who donated and attended to make this night such a great success. Also, Christmas parties in Palm Springs are outside! (take that France)

I'm teaching 3 tea classes to allow for everyone's schedules. The classes will the the same. We'll learn to make Scones, Jam, Tea Sandwiches and some other goodies before we eat our creations. If you've ever wanted to experience a proper English Tea, now is your chance. Message me to sign up. There is no charge for classes but donations to the Le Calabash Impact Fund 501(c)(3) will be welcome.

I had a wonderful eclair class with some lovely people who requested it. Let me know if you’d like a private class and let me know what you’d like to make. I will be posting the schedule for my upcoming class English Christmas Tea. You’ll not want to miss.

As the holidays come upon us, I’m readying myself to send out some holiday class schedules. I’ve already booked quite a few private classes but, in addition, I wanted everyone to know about my upcoming Christmas Party. This year it’s doubling as a fundraiser for the Le Calabash Impact Fund 501(c)(3), which takes young people out of challenging circumstances and brings them to intern in France. They’ll learn kitchen skills, time management, interpersonal sills, basic computer literacy, enabling them to find proper skilled work upon returning home. It truly is life altering for many.
We’re in the process of setting up a Venmo account to make donations easier. I’ll share that link soon. But this year my goal is to raise $3,750 (enough to bring one person over)
I will match any and all donations made at the party.
It will be a fun evening of South African food, special cocktails and mocktails and desserts from South Africa and France!
The party will be at my home, I’ll provide the address upon RSVP.
I can’t wait to see you there.

In addition to some medical procedures this month, I also got a new puppy. Meet Q. He’s just 9 weeks old and will help my recovery.
Thanks to Tony Garcia for helping with his name.

And our September series of classes comes to an end with our BBQ Class. We had a great time making Chicken PeriPeri, lamb with a PeriPeri rub and hamburgers with our own homemade brioche buns AND MY HOMEMADE CHEESE!!! The class loved everything. Sadly 3 of our students had to miss but it was still a full house.
I had planned to eat outside but the crazy wind showed up and it nixed that plan. We ate as we created which was also fun.
I’ll be off for a bit while as I tend to my health. But I hope to be back in November (fingers crossed) with some holiday baking and maybe another bbq class if you missed this one. For now I’m so exhausted that I will rest for a few days. Message me with any questions.

Last week’s and this week’s classes. We had a wonderful time make Lemon Tartletts last week and Eckairs this week. I was bad at taking photos so I didn’t get everyone 😞. Thanks to everyone who came. We had a blast.

Four months ago I made my first foray into Cheddar Cheese. Today was the day to finally eat it. It came out perfectly. Wonderfully sharp and dry and good on a cracker. Not bad for a first attempt.

I am starting classes again September 7. If you taken any class from me in the past, these set of classes will be free for you. I will make a larger post later, but I want to express my gratitude to my existing students first.
Thur Sept 7 - Tarte au Citron (Lemon Tart) 6:00pm
Thur Sept 14 - French Eclairs 6:00pm
Thur Sept 21 - French Macarons 6:00pm
Sat Sept 30 - South African BBQ 11:00am

Message me to confirm if you’ve already taken one of my classes.

I'm back in Palm Springs, editing photos, getting ready for some classes. I wanted to start new classes next week, but I have some unscheduled work being done on my kitchen so we will start up again the week of May 1. I look forward to welcoming you all back into my kitchen!

I love Cape Town and can’t wait to share it with you on our next adventure. Give this a read and see just some of what it has on offer.

Why Cape Town is one of the world's most beguiling cities | CNN South Africa's most popular destination has the scenery, the wine and the adventure. Cape Town also has a turbulent past that, amid the problems of today, make it the multicutural city it is today, bursting with the spirit, flavors and hope of the locals striving to create a better future.

Our Le Calabash Culinary Adventure ends today. As we go our separate ways, we’ve had such an incredible time in Cape Town and Mbombela. Thank you to everyone involved for making it the best.
I will be posting opportunities soon for more trips like this soon. I can’t wait to welcome you on a tour of your own.

Last day inside Kruger National Park. What a treasure to spot Cheetahs, Leopards, African Wild Dogs and so much more. Our Le Calabash Culinary Tour has just one more day and it will be a doozie!

Today was the Panorama Route. Some of the most stunning landscapes you can find anywhere on earth. We also have some of the most fun people. Oh, and zebras came to our villa and hung out with Nick and Connor. Also, we have amazing guides in Marinus and Tyron… they’re quite popular with everyone on the tour😉 thanks to Gregory and Jared for the photos

Words cannot describe what you feel when on a safari drive. The sheer volume of wildlife and natural beauty leaves one on the verge of speechlessness. I’m grateful to our guide Tyron for sharing his expertise with us as we continue our Le Calabash Culinary Adventure.