Champaign-Urbana has an amazing selection of ethnic eateries available for your tasting pleasure. Let's go on an international food safari and sample the best of what our little town has to offer. Led by local private chef and cooking instructor Paul Young , these small group tours will take us all over town to visit the most interesting family-owned grocers and restaurants. Paul is passionate about international cuisines and a "curious foodie" who has traveled to over 25 countries (so far). Here's an incomplete list of stops we could make and the ethnic cuisines we could try: Chinese Congolese Indian Japanese Korean Mexican Middle Eastern Thai/Laotian Vietnamese  Zambian These tours are best scheduled for either mid-day or early evening. I usually only take two to four people at a time. The cost is $100 which includes all the food and beverages (non-alcoholic). Each tour is customized and adapted to the interests of the group. Advanced reservations are required: to...

Residents of Champaign-Urbana (people living within the boundaries of the Urbana and Champaign Park Districts) receive discounted tuition for all Park District programs, including my FLAVOR PRINCIPLES OF ETHNIC COOKING series. The lowest tuition is the "early bird" tuition of $40 for all my cooking classes, but only if you register 2 weeks before the class. So today is the last day to register for the FRENCH CLASSICS class on February 20. Starting tomorrow, the tuition goes up to $50 for residents. So if you want to enjoy a three-course French dinner for $40 and also learn how to make it at home, register today! Full menu and details are here:  www.cooking-with-paul.com/classes For future reference, here is the tuition schedule and the registration deadline for our spring classes: French Classics (Feb 20) - $40 (before Feb 5) - $50 (after Feb 5) Vietnamese Cooking (Mar 3) - $40 (before Feb 27) - $50 (after Feb 27) A Taste of Palestine (Mar 27) - $40 (before Mar 13) - $5...

I often refer to my cooking classes as "cooking parties." That's because they're fun events where you get to cook and eat and learn all at the same time. I always remind students to come hungry and thirsty because there's always lots of food at my classes, and I never let you walk away hungry. So think of my cooking classes as an alternative to eating out at a restaurant, or maybe an interesting twist for "date night" ( see more pictures ). So what happens at a "cooking party"? Starting last year, we converted our classes from cooking show "demonstrations" to 100% hands-on classes where all students will participate in the preparation of the dishes on the menu for that evening. Starting at 6pm, we'll slice, dice, and chop our way to a multi-course dinner. I get to share how I cook at home, and you get to participate in a unique cooking party where we'll eat everything that was prepared that night.  This spring, my long-runni...