Unique Experiences

Item Description

Not a wine expert? Learn to discuss wine like a pro with two tickets to an Elements of Wine class at the Astor Center. You'll also be able to hone your culinary skills with a cooking course at the Brooklyn Kitchen. Learn how to sharpen your knives, make low-brow sushi, cook legumes, cook Chinese stir fry, or butcher a whole pig.

Directly above Astor Wines & Spirits, we have built three unique spaces which together comprise a facility unlike anything else in the city – or the world, for that matter. We wanted to create an environment conducive to the sort of progressive thinking that has suited us so well in the past – to build a place that would facilitate exchanges between winemakers and wine drinkers; between Michelin-starred chefs and masters of the Manhattan apartment kitchen; between omnivores and herbivores; between legendary cookbook authors and razor-sharp restaurant bloggers; between politicians and pig farmers. More than just a place to take a wine class or watch a celebrity chef wield a blow-torch, at Astor Center we’re building a concept – a new approach to education, a new way of exchanging ideas, a new forum for discussing that which brings us together around the table.

The Brooklyn Kitchen - Preparing for our annual New Year's Day Chili Party in 2005, we (Taylor and Harry) lamented the lack of a neighborhood kitchenware store. Taylor was tiring of her job as a construction project manager, and Harry a freelancer always up for a new project and adventure was happy to fan the flames of entrepreneurship. At first it was what seemed like a good idea over dinner with friends, but the more we talked about it and got excited about it we decided to go for it. The Brooklyn Kitchen is the result of those ideas.

We are amateur chefs and enjoy cooking but there was nowhere in Williamsburg or Greenpoint to get cooking tools and supplies. This became abundantly clear in the summer of 2005 when we went in search of pectin for making grape jelly. There were 25 pounds of ripe grapes on the vine in the backyard and they needed canning, quick! Finally, after a somewhat failed attempt at making it from scratch, we headed to CT to buy the much-needed pectin.

This neighborhood is filled with people who enjoy food, and located between the butcher and the baker, we are right on your way home. As we all enjoy a return to simple pleasures, cooking and baking are at the top of the list. The smell of soup on the stove, a pie in the oven, or fresh bread made by your own two hands, there's nothing quite like home cooking.

So stop by, and get inspired to make something yummy!

We believe in running a fair business. We do not use the markups provided by the manufacturers to advertise false "sale" prices when everyone is already selling at the lower price. We do our best to keep our prices at or below the prices you will see in larger national chains. We are commited to local products as well as products of the highest quality. You will find things in our store that you may not find in larger stores, or anywhere for that matter. We pride ourselves on bringing our customers the best customer service and the best products the industry has to offer.

Item Special Note

Additional shipping fee of $3 applies to this item.

Astor Center: 2 tickets to the Elements of Wine class

The Brooklyn Kitchen: $100 gift certificate towards cooking classes