Fergus Henderson To Give Cooking Class at Ciudad

Julian Andrews/The Age

Fergus Henderson goes whole hog at Ciudad

English chef Fergus Henderson of St. John Restaurant is coming to Los Angeles. While he's not opening a restaurant (much as we'd love to hear that he was), he will be coming to downtown restaurant Ciudad on May 15th to offer an exclusive cooking class with Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger. Henderson, known for his nose-to-tail cooking approach (and cookbooks) will be firing up dishes highlighting some of those less popular animal parts.

This is an rare opportunity for Angelenos, so Squid Ink caught up with chef Mary Sue Milliken, co-owner of Border Grill and Ciudad, to find out how it all went down.

"Fergus is a very dear friend of mine and I've known him for 20 years. I think he's a genius," she said. "He's opening a hotel soon [in London] in the summertime, so he's making a couple of rare stops, mostly because he doesn't get over to this neck of the woods very often. I think he's doing something in New York and something in San Francisco, and he called seeing if we wanted to do something."

Milliken and Feniger have regularly offered cooking classes on Saturdays, but never with a guest chef until now. It will be a 2 hour class, from 11 am to 1 pm, with drinks served and a small tasting of the food he is cooking. "We don't have a huge amount of space. But we'll probably take between 60 and 70 people." Reservations for the $95 class can be made by calling Ciudad, which you should do sooner rather than later. "We've already got some reservations and it's going fast."

The menu is still in the works, but some early thoughts from Henderson were sent to Milliken via email:

Are you happy with my thoughts on pig's extremities and a heart for good measure?

Pot Roast pigs head (a romantic meal for two)

Trotter gear damp and warm salad (trotters can be summery too)

Crispy pigs ears, a nibble or in a salad

Ox heart with red coleslaw and horseradish (it's important to have one internal organ and what an organ)

Pig's tails (have to be long) a perfect place to end.

Ciudad: 445 S. Figueroa St., Downtown, (213) 486-5171.