Small plates encourage sharing, make petite portions look bigger, and are easily repurposed as ceramic baby hats. Explore the versatility of smaller-circumferenced saucers with today's Groupon: for $30, you get a spot in the Small Plates Santa Cruz class at Chowhound Cooking Classes in Aptos. Beginning with the first meeting on October 22, Small Plates Santa Cruz classes will be scheduled on most Fridays from 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. Custom classes for groups are available by appointment. If desired, customers can apply the $60 value of today's Groupon toward any other class that Chowhound offers.

Chowhound Cooking Classes is a one-woman culinary school run out of the home of Denise Ward, a worldly chef who lived throughout Europe and Asia, learning the regional dishes and blending them with her own Greek culinary roots. In the 3.5-hour Small Plates Santa Cruz class, students prepare a series of plates combining seasonal ingredients from local Monterey Bay purveyors. Amid the sears and jeers, Denise provides chefs with samples of Santa Cruz Mountains, and also permits them to enjoy a BYO bottle imported from their own homes or gas-station marts. Past hands-on classes have prepped plates including roasted halibut with walnut crust and tomato-pepper compote, flourless chocolate cake, and other tasty edibles that can be enjoyed as appetizers or portioned as main courses.

After untying aprons and leaving the dishes to soak, students share the fruits of their labors around the dining table, experiencing immediate appreciation of their collective achievements and delayed realizations that life is precious, delicious, and incredibly analogous to small-plate cooking classes. For those who apply the value of today's Groupon to another course, Denise's kitchen boasts an eclectic lineup of upcoming classes such as Asian Fusion Menu on October 19 ($75) and Wine Pairing with Aptos Creek Vineyards on October 26 ($75). Click here for a full schedule.

Reviews

The Santa Cruz Sentinel featured Chowhound Cooking Classes owner Denise Ward, and six Yelpers give Chowhound an average of five stars.

• My husband and I took a class for his birthday and had a blast…My husband said it was one of his favorite birthday presents! – Jennifer A., Yelp
• The class instructor Denise is a wonderful teacher, full of stories and helpful tips about how to make some very exciting dishes. I really enjoyed the small class format (4 people in my class) and the personal setting that her private home brought to the feel of the evening. – Bronwyn C., Yelp