Raise the Root

I needed a Dessert Chef for a small corporate team-​building event and my internet search lead me to Mark Dessert. He suggested a beautiful and convenient location for our event and showed up with everything we needed for a fun and delicious time. From what I could tell, everyone loved it and several of the guests stopped by to see me today and talk about what a great time they had. I hired Mark specifically to learn how to make some yummy desserts and he really came through. I can’t wait to try them again in my own kitchen.

These guys are AWESOME! Mark led a cooking lesson/​team building event for us at La Honda winery and our crowd loved it (which says a lot, because we all have very high standards)! The food was amazing and he made it fun, engaging and relaxed. While we were planning the event, he even gave us venues to choose from and handled all of the communication with the venue contact and set up the day of the event. We highly recommend them for any high-​end team building or other event and are looking forward to booking our next adventure with them!

We had them for a wedding rehearsal dinner. Excellent hog roast & sides. Would definitely recommend!

Whoot! for Raise the Root!
I contacted Raise the Root to arrange for a cooking party for my partner’s 40^th birthday party. Chef Mark responded back to me right away and we were able to work out most of the details through email. Raise the Root is focused on creating healthy dishes with a focus on nutrition, using local ingredients, and on teaching people how to enjoy cooking food that’s good for them. I found Chef Mark to very accommodating and he put together a delicious mostly-​vegan dinner menu. The day of the party, Chef Mark came over to the house, prepped all the dinner items and got the kitchen set up. Once all the guests arrived, Chef Mark spent about 45 minutes explaining how we would prepare each dish. We basically got a mini cooking lesson right there! it was so much fun making fresh ravioli, learning how to caramelize onions, and of course eating the great food that we made. The whole event was about 5 hours –and Chef Mark stayed to make sure the kitchen was all cleaned up. If you are looking for a unique way to celebrate an event, or to bring friends together for fun experience, I definitely recommend Raise the Root!

Mark welcomed me and 4 others into his home for a knife skills 101 lesson today. We were greeted by lemon and mint-​flavored water and apples and a cheese plate. That was a very nice welcome amenity that I was not expecting.
I was a little worried because I really have NO cooking experience (yes, I was told by my bf that cooking eggs and ramen and boiling pastas don’t really count). But everyone in the class was nice and Mark was very approachable. It was a really great course. First he explained the proper way to hold, sharpen, and store knives. He reviewed some culinary terms. And then we got down and dirty and he demonstrated how to quickly and efficiently break down some fruits (apples, oranges, grapefruits, grapes, etc.) and we got to try it ourselves. After putting all the cut fruits together, we took a break and ate the fruit salad we made. Then he did a demonstration of how to break down some other common ingredients (including garlic, onions, celery, carrots, bell peppers, jalapenos, kale, cilantro, parsley). Then we got to try it ourselves. I loved the small group as Mark was able to watch over us and give us tips and answer our questions. At the end, we had a delicious kale salad to eat. We also learned other useful things like which foods to buy organic (the dirty dozen) and how to give guacamole an extra fresh kick. I appreciated that they use fresh, local, and season ingredients. The only downside was that I think I was very focused and gripping my knife too tightly because by the end of the 4 hours my fingers were numb. We weren’t even cutting the entire 4 hours — I think I just need more practice!
I gifted this cooking class to my bf as a belated Valentine’s day present since it’s been on our bucket list to try to improve our cooking (and start to learn how to cook for me). But it turned out that this was also a gift to myself since I definitely learned a lot of useful tips. I’m a beginner, but Mark is so knowledgeable that I’m sure that more advanced cooks could definitely still take something away as there are a variety of different classes he offers. Would highly recommend Mark and Raise the Root classes!

I needed to plan a holiday party for a small business with six employees, and with spouses/​significant others, we had a group of about 12. I wanted the intimacy of hosting this party in our home, but I didn’t want it to be boring, and I wanted us all to do something that would help us get to know each other better and smooth over some work-​related interpersonal tensions. Ah-​ha, a cooking party! Once I realized that a team-​building cooking party would be the ideal way to go, I looked into several firms to organize it. Most wanted to work with a larger group and/​or charge us a lot extra to do it in our home (rather than do it in their commercial kitchen). Thankfully, I found Raise the Root, and they were happy to work with our small group in our home.
First I met with co-​owner Mark Dessert who was on time, friendly, and gave me a rundown of menu options and assured me he’d make our kitchen space work well. All I had to do was choose the menu items, and I was basically done with the planning – what a relief! I chose a four-​course menu of: butternut squash, goat cheese & chard ravioli; white beans, greens & risotto soup; olive oil friend chicken with brussels sprouts & garlic mashed potatoes; and to-​die-​for chocolate amaretto budini.
The night of the party, Mark and co-​chef MikeC showed up with all the equipment and food we’d need, and they transformed my kitchen so it looked like it was set up for a TV cooking show with different work stations. They also brought print-​outs of the menu recipes to give to guests, a gourmet cheese platter for guests to enjoy as we mingled before we started cooking, and they brought any additional plates/​bowls/​utensils I’d need for our dinner table.
Right on time, the cooking demo and hands-​on work began. Imagine the potential for awkwardness: 12 people slightly crowded into a home kitchen, intimidated at the prospect of hands-​on work and daunted by the amount of cooking that faced us to produce a meal. But, MikeC and Mark effortlessly made the transition to starting the cooking demo and put everyone at ease. MikeC handled most of the presentation, showing how to slice, dice, roll out dough, handle the meat, etc. He captivated everyone’s attention and threw out one-​liners to keep us laughing. It was truly educational and inspirational to learn these cooking tips. Then he and Mark divided our group into cooking stations, and we all got to work. You know the sign of a good party when the volume in the room rises because everyone is talking and laughing — well, that’s what happened in our kitchen. The saying «many hands make light work» held true — in less than an hour, we had produced this complicated, sophisticated, amazing four-​course meal. We all felt a sense of accomplishment and camaraderie. Then we transitioned into the dining room, and Mark and MikeC served each of the courses. We essentially had a four-​star-​quality restaurant meal in our home. As we lingered over the meal, Mark and MikeC busied themselves with cleanup in the kitchen, so I didn’t have to worry about the pile of dishes. They even swept the floor, cleaned every speck of grease off the stovetop, took out the trash and left us wrapped-​up leftovers.
I can honestly say this is the best party of this size I’ve ever hosted. It was so easy and reasonably priced — and, most of all, fun. I would highly recommend Raise the Root to host a cooking party and I would love to hire them again for another party.

I went to a garden party to reminisce with my old friends
A chance to share old memories and play our songs again
When I got to the garden party, they all knew my name
No one recognized me, I didn’t look the same
So that’s the song that last night’s memory evokes. Even if Ricky N. was singing about Madison Square Garden, in my imagination it describes something more genteel. The Garden never was genteel.
Last evening’s garden most certainly was.
My friends they put on a little party. It was a celebration for the supporters of City Slicker Farms. I’ve told you of them before and in case you don’t remember which kind of hurts me you should look them up. One of our Board members, and for the sake of her privacy I will simply refer to her as K, Special K, had these friends. One had a house, the other a catering and food teaching business. She said they were way cool, the both of them. «Way» doesn’t even begin to cut this mustard.
Raise the Root won’t typically create for free, but in this case, as they’re friends of CSF, they came and made and talked and simply were, for the cause. We bought the food, they turned it into something very special. They prepped and cooked in our gracious hostesses smaller kitchen, plated and served and filled the smaller spaces with their genuine congeniality, wisdom, and warmth.
Dude. I’m serious. It was really, really, really good. Here’s what we had to choose from:
SAVORY
— Deviled Eggs w/​Crispy Smoked Trout Skin OR Bacon & Chive OR Fine Herbs
— Mushroom, Greens & Leek Frittata with Herb Crema
— BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders with Carolina Coleslaw
— Caramelized Onion and Comte Cheese Tarts
— Calamari Salad
— Vegetable Crudite w/​Trio of Dips (Pick 3)
Spicy Hummus w/​Smoked Paprika
Burnt Eggplant w/​Tahini, Parsley & Olive Oil
Creamy Kale Parmesan
Spinach and Artichoke
— Crostini Bar (Pick 3)
Early Harvest Ratatouille
Tomato Mezzaluna
Beet and Goat Cheese
Smoked Trout Brandade
SALADS
— Toasted Farro Salad with Cherry Tomato, Cucumber, Mint & Feta
— Kale Salad, Carrot and Pine Nut Salad w/​Garlic Lemon Vinaigrette
— Arugula Salad w/​Strawberry, Feta, Toasted Almonds and Pickled Shallot
DESSERT
— Macerated Strawberries on Mini Shortbread Fingers
— Cherry Tomato and White Peach Cobbler w/​Ice Cream
This has to speak for itself. I don’t have any more words. Except perhaps only these — my mind regarding parties in houses is now completely changed from what it was this time yesterday. Last night was amazing.
Thank you RtR, Special K, CSF, and the hostess. I’ll be smiling for a while, all because of you.

You don’t have a birthday every day, and you certainly don’t have a milestone birthday every year. So when one of my big days was approaching my amazing partner planned a surprise «cooking contest dinner party.» Raise the Root helped her organize and pull off my best birthday ever, and one the guest will be fondly remembering for some time to come!
The concept was a riff on Top Chef and Chopped. We had a nice sprinkling of secret ingredients, healthy competition, and the highest quality ingredients. My partner is quite creative, so we also had coordinated color team aprons adorned with team patches and chef specific tags. The chefs and crew from Raise the Root kicked our dinner party up a notch with a mini culinary class to start the evening, their expert advise and assistance while we worked our kitchen magic, and by doing all the dishes at the end of the night.
Raise the Root is a crew of creative, fun, talented folks who love quality, organic, fresh and wonderful food. They were willing to help out a little, or a lot, with party planning and ultimately their goal was that we had a good time. WE DID!
We are already talking about planning a couples dinner with Raise the Root. Each couple will bring a bottle (or two of wine) and then we will all cook an appetizer for everyone to taste. Each round more people will get «chopped» and have to stand around and watch, nosh and drink wine (life is hard!). By the dessert round only the most skilled will be standing and we will ALL reap the delicious reward! This summer we will be raising our glasses with Raise the Root! I highly recommend Raise the Root. Let you creative flag shine, or let them wave it for you. Either way you will not be sorry. (and if you want to hire out my partner as a party planner, you may have to get in line!)
In the end we enjoyed good company, great food, and an amazing chocolate dessert drizzled with a Maker’s Mark caramel. Life does not get any better than this! And happy birthday to me!

I took Raise the Root’s Knife Skills 101 class and I don’t think I was alone in finding it revelatory. I’ve been cooking my whole adult life and somehow never learned the correct way to hold a knife, select and care for a good knife, and use a knife with grace and efficiency. Mark and Scott taught us all that and more, and they made the whole experience tremendous fun, weaving in anecdotes between their informative explanations and demonstrations. They’re both extremely knowledgeable and helpful, and all-​around lovely people.

My husband and I decided to do something different this year for Valentine’s Day. I found out about a cooking class in Emeryville and loved what was on the menu… lamb chops, fresh pasta, etc. The best part of the experience was doing the blind tasting in the beginning with my husband. It was unique and fun and everyone else there was having a great time. I also appreciated the way Chef Mark took his time in explaining each dish and giving us a demo so that we knew what to do.

I took the pumpkin class in November and had a great time! It was casual, fun and very educational. Mark, Sanaz, and chef Scott were awesome and patient with us. the best part was that we had a fresh, healthy feast of what we cooked at the end. I definitely recommend these pop up cooking experiences to others!

My friend and I took the Pumpkin class together last weekend. We were looking for a class that was hands-​on, not too expensive and would give us some practical ideas that we could use in our home kitchens.
I appreciated the small class size and having lots of interaction with the chefs. Through these interactions, I picked up several tips that were not even directly related to the class material. I also like the emphasis on fresh, seasonal ingredients. The group had a friendly vibe and we enjoyed working together and eating together at the end.