Saute Culinary Academy, Monrovia

Although they begin each day pristine and silent, Sauté Culinary Academy's spotless kitchen and gleaming countertops don't stay that way for long. Soon, cooking students of all ability levels fill the room for three-hour classes. Professional-chef instructors guide them through the intricacies of cooking three-course feasts that include an appetizer, main dish, and dessert. Depending on the day, counters may find themselves covered with seaweed and sushi rice as novice chefs learn to roll their own maki or dotted with flour and sugar from a cookie-baking session. In other classes, the instructors may spend their time revealing new ways of using pantry staples, demonstrating twists on the usual mashed potatoes, or alternative takes on cooking with chicken besides placing it on the engine during long car rides.