Private Events & Classes
Hosting a private event, whether for sharing a special life event or a business success, can be a bit challenging. Generally, it’s a matter of finding the right fit for your group.
Since I opened my doors in 2005, I’ve hosted everything from family dinners, team building groups, bachelor and bachelorette parties, to birthday parties and other celebratory events.
I take great pride and joy in hosting these “dinner and a show” events. When you choose the Market Kitchen for your event, you will experience a comfortable, private space that looks and feels like a home kitchen.
In fact, many of my clients have said it’s like hosting a dinner party in their homes… without having to shop, cook, and clean up, but with the same warmth and relaxed atmosphere.
Some of my past groups that I’ve hosted include:
Private Event Offerings
6-Course Small Plate Menu
Fresh foods produced, harvested, and locally sourced by my extended market family are the foundation for your private dinner party. While preparing your authentic Northwest Meal, you’ll learn more about the families and local food community who produced the ingredients you’ll find in the Market Kitchen.
Menus will be based on seasonal ingredients and include: appetizer, fish/seafood, meat (chicken, pork, beef or lamb), salad, artisan cheese plate and a fruit-based dessert. Sit back and relax. This is a unique opportunity for you and your chosen guests to join me in my kitchen where cooking and companionship combine to create a memorable event.
$175.00 per person (wine/beer/dry soda/sparkling water included)
Mexican 101
Join me for an evening filled with exploration into the beauty and simplicity of Mexican cuisine. Starting with fresh ingredients sourced from the most reliable purveyors in the Pike Place Market and surrounding area, these wonderful dishes will be simple and loaded with flavor.
As a special note, all the food is gluten-free!
Sample Menu: red enchiladas, green rice, refried beans, flan. Please note: Traditional Mexican food utilizes meat, poultry, and lard.
Duration: 3 hours
$125.00 per person ($140.00 with wine/beer/dry soda/ sparkling water included)
Pasta 101
Learn to make fresh pasta at home. We will make this common element of many traditional dishes. We’ll use the pasta to make a Northern Italian style Lasagna Bolognese. We’ll begin with a couple of bruschetta and make a salad. Oh, and we'll probably figure out a quintessential Italian dessert as well.
Sample Menu: Lasagna Bolognese, arugula salad, olive oil cake.
Duration: 3 hours
$ 125.00 per person ($140.00 with wine/beer/dry soda/ sparkling water included)
Seafood Secrets
How to re-create some of your favorite restaurant seafood dishes. Love wonderful sweet bites of the ocean? Learn to make the Market Kitchen's signature salmon dish followed by an exquisite fruit tart. Join me as I share signature dishes from several of Seattle's favorite restaurants.
Sample Menu: Seared scallops with brown butter, salmon with pistachio tarragon cream sauce, arugula salad, fruit dessert
Duration: 3 hours
$125.00 per person ($140.00 with wine/beer/dry soda/ sparkling water included)
Celebrating the Americas
As a historian and anthropologist, I love sharing wonderful meals that are based on native ingredients and techniques. This menu is based on ingredients that come from the New World as well as those that were brought by the various groups that came to the Caribbean. I was fortunate to go to several of the islands and Central America. This was the menu I taught in my classes aboard Holland America's Zuiderdam, and a few extras.
Menu: Ceviche, Avocado Soup, Arroz con Pollo, Mexican Brownies
Duration: 3 hours
$125.00 per person ($140.00 with wine/beer/dry soda/ sparkling water included)
The Perfect Quiche and other Savory Pies
There is nothing like a trip to France to do a bit of a quiche re-boot. I was reminded of how truly wonderful this quintessential French meal can be. I've also been a fan of pies for years and savory ones are not something many of us think about. So here you go. And by the way, these make for some pretty good second meals too.
Menu: Classic Bacon and Cheese Quiche, Chicken Pot Pie, Pastie (classic Midwestern meal from the iron range of Minnesota)
Duration: 3 hours
$125.00 per person ($140.00 with wine/beer/dry soda/ sparkling water included)
Cooking and Eating Local: A Celebration of Artisan Foods
One of the treasures of Seattle and the Northwest, Pike Place Market is a trove of merchandise and vendors, many of whom have long and illustrious histories at the Market. While the foods of the Market are the focal point of the tour, what makes the tour really special are the vendors who share their expertise and enthusiasm generously with us. As a natural storyteller, I can provide you with the context of these amazing people and their products. Based on more than three decades of relationships, these folks are not only collaborators in creating an innovative and committed “food community,” they serve as important resources and ongoing inspiration for Diane’s Market Kitchen.
When you leave, you will have a satisfied palate, a set of recipes, and wonderful memories… a true taste of the best Seattle has to offer: the people of Pike Place Market and a meal created with the gifts from the waters, farms, and orchards which surround this gem of the Northwest.
Duration: 4 hour class. (6 person minimum, 12 person maximum)
$150 per person (wine/beer/Dry Soda/ sparkling water included)
Have a special request for another type of cooking class? Contact me and let’s chat.