Table for Six Expands Palettes, Dining Options

Chef Dyan Carlson has been wowing clients and patrons at Table for Six for the past three years. Carlson offers appealing meals from a wide variety of culinary styles and traditions, complete with an informal lesson on how to prepare them at home. It's clearly a recipe for fun, as many local devotees can tell you. Relying mostly on word of mouth and social media, her classes have a tendency to fill up quickly. Fair warning: Carlson's classes are aimed at adults, and colorful language is pretty common.

Carlson has been living in Glasgow since 2012 and began leading classes in 2013. The best part of all of it, she states, has been meeting new people and creating memorable experiences for each of her classes. Her expressed purpose for speaking to the Courier (we've been asking for ages!) was to make Table of Six accessible and inviting to newcomers. If you've never attended one of her meals, this article is aimed at you.

Since her first class, which was held at her home and attended by none other than GCCL Director Megan Haddix and FMDH's Nick Dirkes, was a menu featuring tilapia fillets over cous cous with a sesame sauce. Since that time, Carlson's business has grown, fueled largely by her reputation as a chef and host. It's not uncommon to hear Table for Six devotees describe Carlson's meals as hands-down the best food in town, but she's quick to distinguish between what she does and what she views as unfair comparisons to local eateries. "It's not a restaurant," she explains, adding that she feels it's like comparing apples to oranges to try and view her brand as competition for local eateries.

Patron Ginevra Kirkland explained the next-level usefulness of attending Carlson's events: "Not only does she teach a wide variety of cuisines, but she also helps you learn where and how to source different products for a variety of meals." Chef Carlson places a special emphasis on local ingredients, looking elsewhere only when pressed. Kirkland added that locals looking to expand their culinary horizons often have as much trouble sourcing and purchasing a variety of ingredients. Dyan, she claims, can help.

Along with cooking and teaching, Carlson has lent her energies recently to various charitable efforts, with sales benefiting the Northeast Pet Rescue, Libby Webber's art class, and over $2,000 dollars raised on behalf of Relay for Life.

Downtown Glasgow is experiencing a minor renaissance via a surge of new businesses on the southside opened by young entrepreneurs. The renaissance includes several new businesses like Shippwrecked, Vintique 406, The Loaded Toad, and the Sean R. Heavey Gallery, to name a few. Table for Six has been a lynchpin business in this burgeoning scene, despite the by-appointment nature of Carlson's operation. She hopes the trend will be synergistic and ongoing, and plans to include increased retail sales, with a focus on kitchenwares and specialty foods, as part of her business model.

Upcoming classes offered can be viewed online at tableforsixglasgow.com. Some of the courses being dished up in Oct. include Mediterranean, Tex-Mex, Thai, and German. Her German course will include beers from Glasgow's own local brewery, The Busted Knuckle.

For more information on Table for Six classes, contact Chef Carlson at (406) 263-2433 or [email protected].