Momma Rosa’s cooking class at ‘7 Numbers’ Italian Restaurant (Eglinton Ave. W location)

Website: http://www.sevennumbers.com/
Address: 516 Eglinton Ave. W
When I attended: Sept. 15th, 2014

My experience at a cooking class at 7 Numbers!

I first heard about the restaurant and the class from my blogger friend Mary (@citrusblack), so I have been scoping out their website for awhile. When the restaurant ran a contest worth $85 for their once a month cooking class, I jumped on that opportunity to win it. If you know me, I have won many contests in my life, but winning a cooking class that included unlimited wine? That’s like winning the lottery for the day.

The $85 classes are normally held on the last Monday of every month in the evening at the Eglinton Ave. location. The price per person includes LOTS of food (family style), unlimited house wine and an opportunity to work with Momma Rosa Marinuzzi in the kitchen to prepare part of the meal. The guests were seated in a communal table that fits 20 comfortably. Everyone came in pairs except for me, which gave me an opportunity to mingle with other guests. Many of the guests have been to 7 Numbers on a separate occasion and were raving about the food.

We started out with fresh baked bread and wine before we moved toward the small kitchen at the front of the restaurant. Before the start of each course, we would go the kitchen to prepare a few of the dishes on our menu. On the most part, the cooking portion is mainly demonstration from Momma Rosa who will ask for a few volunteers each time to help her out. Momma Rosa’s has got her recipes down pat because she does not use measurements, yet she gets the flavouring just right in her dishes.

Rosa was definitely the life of the party! She was loud, friendly and the “mamma/nonna” that everyone wished they had!

Highlights of the evening:

• I got to get down to business and helped out in the kitchen! I volunteered for the antipasti course and got to grill calamari over a hot grill.

• I learned some recipes! The recipe for the fried and baked eggplant batter included 5 eggs, 2+ cups of flour, 2 + cups of water, a handful of Romano cheese and parsley and salt.  The batter was adjusted to get a slightly thick consistency to coat the eggplant. As for the tomato sauce, it was made of plum tomatoes, garlic, onion, olive oil and fresh basil.

• Normally house wines are so-so at many Italian restaurants…but this house wine was really good! The Farnese Casale Vecchio Montepulciano D’Abruzzo was smooth and complimented the dishes.

• On that evening, it was announced on CMT’s show “Best in Chow” that 7 Numbers had the best lasagna in TO! Congratulations to 7 Numbers for winning the lasagna title, it was well deserved! The lasagna was a stand out and my favourite dish of the evening.  This one was hearty, meaty and saucy, the way I like it. I would definitely come back for this.

• To celebrate the win, Momma Rosa brought out the lemoncello! What happens at 7 Numbers stays at 7 Numbers. Needless to say, we had a good time!

• I enjoyed the classic Italian feast! Check out the pictures of the menu and see how much food we ate!

Overall:

I am thankful to have won the contest. Would I recommend this to a friend? Yes! Now the only thing is, it was not much of a cooking class as the practical time in the kitchen was limited and only a few volunteers helped out each time. What you do get from attending is Momma Rosa’s contagious energy, LOTS of delicious food, lots of laughter and a fun night out. It’ll make your Monday evening feel like a Saturday evening!

* As I won the contest, the food and drinks were complimentary. As always, the opinions in the post are entirely my own.