By Bill Parry
A Long Island City man is taking his love of cooking and turning it into a second career, right in his own home on Crescent Street. After traveling the world for 30 years, Dan Dolgin decided to quit his job as vice president of Global Sourcing for Vanity Fair and open a culinary school.
“I teach basic cooking classes for singles who never learned to cook,” Dolgin said. “I’m always surprised at the amount of young people I meet who don’t have the basic skills or the confidence to prepare meals for themselves. They have no idea how much money they can save instead of habitually ordering out, getting takeout or dining in restaurants.”
Dolgin became aware of the problem when his 25-year marriage ended seven years ago.
“That’s when I started meeting single people again and realized that so many people are growing up without learning how to cook for themselves,” he said.
Dolgin started CookSingleNYC in September and already has 250 students.
“Not just from LIC but they’re coming from Westchester, Brooklyn and Long Island, too,” he said. “It’s my passion to build a community of people who have a desire to cook, share ideas and support each other through the process.”
Each student pays $95 per three-hour class where six participants are divided into two groups. After a quick lesson in knife safety they are taught how to prepare two full meals.
“I show them the techniques of roasting or stir-frying in a wok and after each meal is completed they get to sit down and enjoy the meals,” Dolgin said. “I really enjoy seeing people’s faces light up when they are cooking something for the first time. It’s wonderful to see their sense of ownership when they realize what they’ve accomplished.”
Once he has finished the course with the 250 students, he will create a more advanced program and teach them all the next step.
“I’ll probably incorporate Thai cuisine next,” Dolgin said. “Everyone wants to know how to make Thai food it seems.”
He added that despite his school’s name, CookSingleNYC, it’s not some new singles club.
“No, it’s not some singles thing or a dating club — it’s just about cooking,” Dolgin said. “It’s for single people who just want to learn to cook, but it is a social environment and people make friends while they’re learning.”
He teaches three times a night in “a huge chef’s kitchen in my home at the foot of the Queensboro Bridge” and he also offers private tutoring.
Dolgin believes his school is the only one of its kind in New York City and it will become more popular as word spreads beyond social media.
“It’s been a good response so far,” he said. “But the goal is to make a living from it, but right now I’m still living off my savings.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparry@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4538.
