Angelo Cattaneo demonstrates making a sushi roll.
Flambé Gourmet, the cooking school and caterer currently located at 1 Sherman Terrace, near Tenney Park, plans to expand into a new building at 8225 Greenway Blvd., near the Madison Marriott West, says chef/owner Angelo Cattaneo.
The new space will offer a huge kitchen with top-of-the-line Sub-Zero/Wolf equipment and two large islands, to facilitate “dueling-chef” style competitions, says Cattaneo.
Flambé will shift its focus to the west side, though the Sherman Terrace kitchen, with its capacity of about 20, will continue to host smaller events. In addition to classes, Flambé hosts such private events as wine tastings and wedding showers.
The Sherman Terrace space will also continue to be available for use as an incubator kitchen for vendors who need a commercial kitchen in which to prep and cook.
In addition to hosting classes, the new space will allow for the making and selling of an “all-Wisconsin-ingredient puff pastry” of high quality to be marketed wholesale to restaurants that can’t make their own puff pastry but want a better-quality alternative to what’s otherwise commercially available.
Cattaneo has also been experimenting with sauce recipes, starting with “a very good crop of tomatoes.” In this year’s testing phase, he’s donated almost half the trial runs to food banks. He’s hoping to sell the final sauces next year.
The new school will have plenty of classes “modeled after what we have done already,” says Cattaneo, helping home cooks with recreational cooking and focused on simple recipes.
Cattaneo is hoping the new location will be open in January. Although he’s been working on Flambé Gourmet for three and a half years, he left his job as a chef at Epic Systems only this past May. It’s been a “dream to expand our brand,” he says. “There’s a whole new set of fun things to do.”
