And given all that, what is the Viking Culinary Arts Center but a little-bitty Disney World for grownups, conveniently located in Brentwood? Besides offering a topnotch array of cooking utensils and gourmet comestibles, Viking's top draw is its full slate of cooking classes and demonstrations. The hands-on classroom one-ups the coolest science lab, boasting five ranges and a communal dining table, sleek and shiny, long enough to accommodate the fifteen or so students who sign up for and then devour the labors of each class; the auditorium-style room used for hands-off demonstrations, meanwhile, features two large TV screens hanging from the ceiling that offer close-ups of the instructor's prep area and stovetop.
But don't be intimidated by the top-of-the-line facilities; even kitchen klutzes can find their niche within Viking's class roster, which includes Boiling Water 101 (how to stock a kitchen, how to roast a chicken) and Dude Food (lots of grilling and campfire fare). More sophisticated classes include the Pies & Tarts and Tuscan Dinner Workshops. Recess never tasted so good (1811 South Brentwood Boulevard in Brentwood Square; $39 to $79 per class; some demonstrations are free, and most classes offer a reduced rate for students willing to help with preparations or cleanup; 314-961-1999; www.vikingrange.com). -- Rose Martelli
Thin Is In
WED 1/7
Holiday movie season got you down? Don't feel like dropping ten bucks to watch some weepy, overwrought thespians beg for an Oscar? Cure your blues with a 7:30 p.m. screening of the classic crime comedy The Thin Man at the City Museum (701 North 15th Street, 314-231-2489, $4). Based on the final novel by Dashiell Hammett, it launched a franchise that included five sequels and a television show. Nick and Nora Charles are San Francisco's most charming socialite lushes, and they decide to solve a murder for the fun of it. In between verbal witticisms and hundreds of martinis, a scientist disappears, a murder is committed, blackmail ensues and a dinner party is thrown. Watch it, though: Someone at the table is (gasp!) a killer. -- Jedidiah Ayres
You Like Nice Things
One of the pieces at the Craft Alliance Function Follows Form furniture show is a hutch shaped exactly like a carrot; it's orange, of course, and about two feet tall, but instead of coming to a point, it looks as though the subterranean vegetable root is still partially submerged in a brown cabinet. That's good -- that's real good, and it's but one of the pieces available for purchase; the show features the work of eleven furniture/sculpture artists, so even if carrots aren't your thing, you'll find a piece that is (maybe an avocado ottoman?). Check out the wonderful room-art at Craft Alliance (6470 Delmar Boulevard, 314-725-1177, www.craftalliance.org) from January 9 through March 7. -- Mark Dischinger
Pastiche, Melange, Potpourri...
Those of us who have to look up the word "farrago" in the dictionary find that it means "a confused mixture; a hodgepodge." The Farrago Café (1212 Washington Avenue, 314-231-3466) is indeed an unusual hybrid of businesses -- it's a place where you can rent a DVD, buy a comic book, shoot pool, sip a cappuccino on a comfy sofa and order from a film-themed menu of snacks (we're partial to the "Fight Club Panini," and "It's a Great Sandwich, Charlie Brown"). The current art show features "magic-motion" lenticular works by members of the artsy Trotter family, and Friday night's "Floetry" spoken-word open-mic brings 'em in. Farrago is open late, too -- till 8 p.m. on Sundays, till 10 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and till midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. -- Byron Kerman
