Story Inn to reveal its cooking secrets

One of the culinary favorites of Indiana is about to open its doors and reveal its secrets. \nDr. Allen and Joan Olson will be at the Story Inn from Feb. 3 to 6 showing as many as 14 culinary students how to prepare French meals and enjoy a variety of wines.\nJoan Olson, who also teaches art at the Southern Indiana Center for the Arts in Seymour, will instruct students on how to turn salmon, chicken and scallops into classic French meals, and how to create a couple of French desserts. The students will later be able to eat the meals they have prepared.\nDr. Olson will start things off with a wine tasting and tutorial Monday night, which will include four different wines from France, New Zealand and the U.S. The tutorial will be served with a light dinner at 6:30 p.m. Discussion will include wine selection, wine glasses, and tasting techniques, as well as lighter subjects such as favorite wine stories and wine myths.\n"The dinner is as much a get acquainted session as a class," Dr. Olson said.\nFrank Mueller, owner of the Story Inn, will also be involved in the 12 hours of intensive culinary training. Mueller has had an extensive career in restaurant management and ownership, spanning over 30 years and two continents. He will teach French cooking with Joan on Tuesday and Wednesday.\nJoan Olson and her husband originally intended to have the first cooking class in January, but ended up combining the January class with the February class.\n"The classes in January didn't generate the enrollment because they were probably too close to the holiday season," Dr. Olson said.\nThe classes will be conducted in the Wheeler Homestead East Cottage which is located in the center of Story. The cottage was chosen because it is big enough to hold a class and for its availability of residential equipment.\nThe tuition for the classes is $200, which will include the cost of the wines, facilities and equipment. An additional $200 will be tacked on if the students wish to stay at the Story Inn for three consecutive nights. Rooms at the Story Inn generally are over $100 for a single evening.\nRichard Hofstetter, co-owner of the Story Inn, explains the difference between staying at a place like Story compared to a hotel giant located next to an interstate ramp. The rooms at the inn have no clocks or telephones, and a television was finally put in the inn to accommodate sports fans.\n"We're not like a Holiday Inn, where we have a hundred rooms that are all the same," Hofstetter said. "Our rooms don't even have numbers; they each have names that match their individual charm."\n"The key to coming to Story is to separate yourself from the rest of the world, so you can really start to enjoy yourself," Hofstetter said.\nThe classes in the past have brought in a wide range of interested parties according to Joan Olson.\n"We sometimes get doctors and lawyers in our classes but a lot of times the students are just people who want to cook a good meal for their families," Olson said.\nDr. Olson and his wife come to the Story Inn with years of restaurant experience in Europe. Together they have written seven guide books to restaurants in Europe, and Joan has worked and trained with a few of the most prominent chefs in France, including Emile Jung, Paul Haeberlin and Georges Blanc.\nCurrently, Dr. Olson and his wife work at the Southern Indiana Center for the Arts, where he gives wine seminars and she teaches painting.