Cook, Cork & Fork

The story

Cook, Cork & Fork opened on March 20, 2015, at 34 W. Palatine Road in downtown Palatine. John Mahler, a Palatine native who had left corporate life in Chicago, and his wife Mica spent months renovating a vacant frame shop that had been shuttered for four or five years. The 3,000-square-foot space was completely gutted down to the studs—the landlord demolished the interior walls, carpet, and old fixtures—and the Mahlers rebuilt it as an open, airy kitchen classroom with exposed ceilings and wood floors. The only original architectural feature they kept was a fireplace in the middle of the space. The design philosophy was deliberate: instead of one cooktop per class like their competitors, they built four cooktops with four burners each to allow students to learn hands-on. The retail section up front stocks gourmet cookware, knives, oils, and wine. Since 2015, the business has hosted thousands of students through hands-on and demonstration cooking classes taught by Lucio Davila, a Peruvian chef, covering everything from Italian to Vietnamese cuisine. In 2024, the Mahlers expanded into an adjacent space to launch "The Cork @ CCF," an upscale wine bar with small plates designed to complement their curated wine selection.

Everything that was here

• 2015–present · still open

  Cook, Cork & ForkSchool

  John and Mica Mahler opened their cooking school in a gutted frame shop because a 2011 cooking class on a friend's bachelorette/bachelor party struck John as half-hearted, and he knew he could do better.

  See the map in 2016 →

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