Night at the Italian Opera

Treat your mouth and ears to a romantic evening of food and song. Guided by Italy-trained Chef Christopher Atwood and serenaded by acclaimed tenor Todd Wedge, you’ll be swept away to a trattoria in Naples, Italy.

Guided by Chef Chris Atwood, you’ll learn to make:

• Neapolitan-Style Tomato Bruschetta with Fior di Latte Mozzarella
• Imported Scialatielli Pasta
• Scallops & Calamari Sugo (Sauce) with Squid Ink
• Limoncello Tiramisù with Organic Meyer Lemon

During your Southern Italian cooking class, Tenor Todd Wedge (Professor of Voice at KSU) will sing two Neapolitan art-songs—marrying the beauty of an authentic Italian meal with classical Italian music.

This class is hands-on. Attendees will prepare the bruschetta, seafood sauce, and tiramisù once Chef Chris has demonstrated key steps and techniques.

Red and white wines, to pair with dinner, are available for purchase during your class at Leaning Ladder.

· OPERA PERFORMANCE X 2 SONGS by Todd Wedge

BIO:

Christopher Atwood is a cook, author, teacher, and scholar. He is the founder of the Atlanta-based culinary events company, The Food Society. Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, he has hung his apron in many places – Atlanta, Chicago, New York City, San Francisco and Vermont, with international work in Italy and Spain

Each of these places became beloved homes-away-from-home, and left an indelible (and edible) mark on Chris’ cooking: from learning to make pasta in Tuscany alongside Italian grandmas to foraging among the Pacific’s fog-kissed redwoods. Chris earned his PhD in Italian from UC Berkeley (2014). During his studies in the Bay Area, he hosted hundreds of pop-up dinners, unlocking the secrets of regional Italian cooking. Chef Chris spent more than two years eating and cooking his way through Italy, living in Bologna, Florence and Rome. Chris has been teaching for 20 years and also holds a Master’s of Science in Education.Since 2013, Chef Chris has instructed over 3,000 students in the arts of cooking, including adults, children and teens, and corporate teams. For Chris, savoring a meal together is one life’s rarest universal human experiences. “Even if we don’t speak the same language,” he says, “we can understand each other through the foods we choose to make and share with each other.”

Todd’s Bio

Todd Wedge is an Associate Professor of Voice at Kennesaw State University. Todd attended Oberlin Conservatory and Northwestern University, studying Voice Performance. After graduating, Todd sang with Chicago Lyric Opera and then joined the Grammy-winning ensemble “Chanticleer” in San Francisco—performing across North America, Europe, and China.