5 Things To Do Inside: Virtual Cheese And Wine Tasting Classes And More

Kevin and I aren’t the kind of guys to stick around inside our condo in West Hollywood. Let’s just say, we’ve had days so packed that the only time at home is to sleep! But then coronavirus happened — and our entire social calendar went down the drain. But trust us, there is a lot more to do than just binge Netflix, eat cookie dough and then feel guilty and do back-to-back Peloton rides. It’s a vicious cycle… Am I projecting?! Kevin is with me and has drank the Peloton Kool-Aid, too.

But it turns out there is a lot to do inside besides binging. And luckily for you, I’ve become absolutely obsessed with finding fun things to do inside — from Michelin-star restaurants offering gourmet take-out to real-time virtual cheese, chocolate and wine tastings and bakery tours. Something tells me that after all this, we’ll be clocking a lot of Peloton time!

5. Free Virtual Wine Tastings at Daou from Paso Robles, Things to Do Inside on a Budget

Daou, located in Paso Robles, California, is one of our favorite wineries to visit. We even included it in our top pick of where to visit for a romantic weekend away from LA. Paso Robles, while not as famous as Napa and Sonoma, is producing some of California’s top wines. But don’t just take our word, Daou has regularly been selected by Wine Enthusiast Magazine as the “American Winery of the Year,” competing mostly against the big players in Napa.

Tastings are typically $40 in person at the winery. But you can now do it for free with their virtual wine tasting. It’s in real-time with one of their wine educators. Reservations are available on Tock nearly every day of the week on the hour from 12 – 5 PM. Advanced reservations are recommended — especially for Fridays and Saturdays. The only thing you need — beyond a computer  and Wifi — is a bottle or two of Daou wine to join along. You can either order this directly from the winery, or search your local wine shop. Most places in LA carry it.

While all of California’s wine cellars are shut right now, many are offering virtual tastings including the biggies in Napa. Though, most of the famous Napa wineries come with a pretty high price tag. If you’re looking for a classic Napa virtual wine tasting, we suggest Priority Wine Pass. The site includes some of the more famous Napa wineries along with other regions. The wine is shipped ahead of time and you connect online. Though prices are much higher, starting at $85 per tasting.

4. Virtual Chocolate Tasting from Las Vegas’ Ethel M. Chocolates

Ethel M. Chocolates is a Las Vegas institution. For the past several years, Kevin and I have made it an annual tradition to visit Las Vegas right before Christmas. It’s a fantastic time to see Vegas since temperatures are cool. And Vegas goes all out with decorating for the holidays. Though frankly, Kevin and I aren’t your typical Vegas guys — playing slots, joining the buffet lines and clubbing it up until 3 AM! Each year, we put together a packed itinerary for Las Vegas (for those who think they hate Vegas!). And Ethel M. Chocolates is always on our list. They go all out with their Christmas lights in the desert garden. Though, it’s the chocolate that brings us back.

The shop has made life in quarantine a little sweeter by offering its popular chocolate tasting experience at home. They’ll send you everything you need — including a placemat, bottles of water, pens and the chocolates to be sampled. Just try not to eat them all before your class! Chocolatier Mark Mackey hosts the event live from Las Vegas. Over the course of 30-40 minutes, he walks you through the subtleties of tasting their fan favorite chocolates, as well as provide tips on what drinks to pair with each chocolate. Tastings are $30. Sign up for a chocolate tasting class on their website here. If you’re on a chocolate tasting kick, we’re also intrigued by Austin’s Delysia Chocolatier’s virtual tastings where they have themed tasting classes such as ‘date night’ and chocolate ‘movie night’ classes (starting at $15).

3. Virtual Cheese Tasting With Murray’s Cheese Shop, Live From New York City

The next tasting will take you to New York City. It’s almost like we never have to leave our condo again! While most people are stocking up on water, toilet paper and eggs during the pandemic, in our condo, the #1 food item is cheese. Seriously, if you’re out grocery shopping in West Hollywood and can’t find cheddar, you can blame it on us!

So as the good husband that I am, I knew that one of the virtual experiences we had to do was a cheese tasting class. Believe it or not, I had a really tough time finding one that I was excited about. I found shops that offered virtual classes but didn’t provide the cheese. Or simply didn’t have times that worked for us. Just as I was about to give up, I came across New York City’s famous Murray’s Cheese Shop with a wide range of tastings from classic American dairies to world cheese tastings.

Murray’s is bringing their classroom experience online by offering their Cheese 101 course. When you sign up, they’ll send you four different cheeses and accompaniments enough for four people to take the class. You’ll get everything by mail and a link ahead of the scheduled time where you can join in with others from around the world. They have classes for kids along with virtual cheese cave tours. Classes are $110 each. Sign up by visiting their Eventbrite page.

2. Free Virtual Bakery Tour With Secret City LA

Nearly every vacation we’ve taken, there is typically at least one food walking tour on the itinerary. Or in some cases, like our honeymoon, I booked four different food tours during our time in Spain. Clearly, I’m a food walking tour junkie!  But we both feel that there is so much you can learn about a culture just through its food. In fact, a food walking tour was where we got the idea to start this blog. So needless to say, I was thrilled to learn about Secret City LA’s FREE virtual walking tour. Each week, John Bwarie runs a live virtual tour through some of LA’s best foodie neighborhoods. On the last tour I joined, he even stopped at La Mascota Bakery in Boyle Heights where we tried one of their famous tamales before the COVID shutdown.

John shares insights on the community and the establishment and guides you along on a map in case you’re directionally challenged at times. But my favorite part? Some of the bake shops are equipped with web cams and they’ll hop on for a live interview and behind-the-scenes tour. One minute you’re in Boyle Heights and the next you’re in Santa Monica. You’ll never check off so many bakeries in such a short amount of time. Tours take place on Thursdays at 11 AM PT/2 PM ET. Visit Stratiscope’s Event Page for more information and to sign up.

1. Michelin-Star Dining at Home (At a Fraction of The Cost)

Finally, our top recommendation is a twist on our typical dining adventures. Tock to Go is supporting local restaurants across the country with special pick up dinner experiences as well as delivery. For the past two weekends, Kevin and I got to revisit some of our favorite restaurants from the comfort of home. For our first experience, we ordered from downtown hotspot Bon Temps for some good o’l comfort food like butternut squash lasagna, steak, Brussel sprouts and s’mores for dessert. The multiple course meal is filling and priced at $40 per person. And best of all? No clean up if you don’t mind eating out of the containers.

For our second dining experience with Tock To Go, we revisited Vespertine, one of LA’s most mysterious dining spots. A few years back, I convinced Kevin to take me here for my birthday. Though, he wasn’t exactly sure what to think when I told him the 20+ course meal, consisted mostly of unidentifiable food, served on dinnerware that looked more at home on the Starship Enterprise than say, in Culver City. Plus, the entire wait staff wore frocks that resembled the wardrobe from The Handmaid’s Tale.

For the take-out experience, Michelin-starred chef Jordan Kahn keeps things a little more grounded than the typical menu (consisting of a lot of edible flowers). For our take-out experience, the meal was inspired by the rich flavors of Asia.

A typical meal at Vespertine starts at $250 per person. But through their Tock to Go take out, you can try Vespertine for a cool $60 per person plus tax and service fees. Bookings fill up quickly, so we recommend reserving your pickup time as soon as the reservations open on Tock.

And there you have it. Who said there isn’t enough things to do at home? Looking for more fun ideas? Check out our recent staircase climb through the hidden staircases of LA in Los Feliz. If you’re looking to get further away, look at our weekend getaway from LA to Joshua Tree where we escaped from humanity in the California high desert. And of course, read our full coverage for your next LA adventure.