A wooden sign with a black wrought-iron lining reads ‘A World Away’. Right behind the cooking studio, gardeners have readied the beds for planting vegetables and fruits. Among hibiscus shrubs and towering coconut trees, there is a quietude that envelopes all five senses. A gravel path leads towards an outhouse where chef Moshe Shek offers us tea, coffee, but no Instagram handle. “I don’t have one,” he tells us, ordering us to put our phones away and get our aprons on. “I am just starting to learn Facebook.”
The house, as the chef refers to his cooking studio, has glass panes, and cooking stations that transport us to a MasterChef set. Up ahead is a demonstration table where Moshe asks us to watch and learn. Racks of bottled sauces, oils and ingredients are meticulously kept at their designated places. Sinks line the sides along with tables that are stacked with kitchen essentials. The team has toiled into the night for a thorough mise en place to allow us to nosedive into cooking. Our recipe files lay unattended — Shek’s main mission has been accomplished.
After 27 years in the industry Shek wanted to create a getaway for people to learn cooking. “I have conducted many classes in Mumbai, and it was always distracting,” says the chef who tried some pilot classes in May when he launched the studio. “Traffic noise, phones beeping and participants trying to jot down notes. No, that’s not how you learn to cook. When you come here, you should observe, and be able to create the dishes when you go back home.
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A World Away caters to people who are able to switch off, get away from the city and detach. With the monsoons behind us, Shek is ready with a bunch of sessions, each priced at ₹6,500 per person per day. Learn to make a Middle Eastern meal with a Lebanese mezze, breads, Italian and homemade pizzas and sauces. The hands-on cooking session aims to hone the skills of anyone who is even a tad bit interested in cooking.
Call/ text 9820288507 to book a class