Ranch cooking school readies for business

LAKEWOOD RANCH — As a mechanical engineer, Jim Butler loves to design and build — a passion that landed him in the homebuilding business when he moved to Florida 15 years ago.

“I love what I do,” Butler said. “I love building things. I’m always reaching out, looking for the next adventure in life. I’m an explorer, I guess you could say.

And Butler, owner of both single-source homebuilder Paradise Homes and remodeling company Extreme Remodelers of Sarasota, is putting himself on the exploration map once again, opening the second Viking Cooking School in the state of Florida and one of about 19 nationwide.

“This is one of those opportunities I couldn’t wait to do,” he said.

The 4,000-square-foot Viking Culinary Center, located at 8130 Lakewood Ranch Main St., will offer a wide variety of culinary classes, such as Basic Knife Skills; One-Day Culinary Basics; Pickling, Canning and Preserving; Mediterranean Grill; and Foods of Provence. Some classes are interactive demonstrations, while others require participants to cook the dishes themselves.

The school also will sell products it uses in classes, such as pots and pans, cutlery and more. Customers also can order larger Viking appliances through the culinary school, Butler said.

Although the Viking Culinary Center doesn’t officially open for its first set of classes until Sept. 14, the school already is filling its calendar with events.

It hosted an Open House during the Sept. 2 Music on Main event and stayed open throughout the weekend to accommodate traffic from Premier Sports Campus’ Labor Day Nike Cup Soccer Tournament. It also welcomed Main Street’s merchants through its doors at plaza’s monthly Merchant Mixer Sept. 7 and plans to host the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance’s Nov. 2 networking social.

The facility plans to host seminars, fundraisers and birthday parties and other private events, as well, as part of its day-to-day operations. The culinary center also will have a wine club, as well as regular wine-tasting events and classes.

Although opening a cooking school is not typical for any homebuilder, the cooking school concept, Butler said, furthers Paradise Homes’ efforts to create a lifestyle for its customers. The school will create opportunities for customers and others in the community to learn how to cook and entertain. It also gives them an opportunity to experience high-quality appliances and purposeful entertainment spaces in action.

“Everything you see in this facility is (things we use in our homes),” Butler said, noting he strongly believes in the quality of Viking products. “People can come to one location and (try everything out). That all comes together with trying to make the process easier, more efficient.”

“(Many) people don’t know how to use their big, beautiful kitchen,” he said. “The biggest parts of homes are entertaining areas. In this facility, we’re trying to teach a lifestyle.”

Butler owned a successful metal stamping company before selling his business and moving to the area from Rhode Island more than a decade ago. Butler said he immediately was drawn to the homebuilding industry and finding ways to improve it. When Butler opened his own home-building business, he brought nearly everything in-house.

“We do very little subcontracting,” Butler said. “We are a granite company. We are an appliance company.”

Butler first envisioned opening a Viking Culinary School in 2007, initially planning to open his new facility in the Sarasota Square Mall, but eventually he decided to launch his new venture in the heart of Lakewood Ranch, he said.

“We felt, with the demographics of this area, people are looking for a new hobby,” Butler said.

Starting Sept. 14, the Viking Culinary Center will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, with classes offered from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

For more information, visit www.lwrviking.com.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].