Haven’t we all wanted this idea to emerge? Americans love to watch cooking shows and finally after years of chefs not getting the praise they deserve, the last decade has showcased the talents of chefs on TV, and turned them into celebrities. I have so many friends who wish they either could go to cooking school or are constantly trying new ideas in the kitchen. I gather new ideas for ingredients and dishes from the restaurants I go to, and now America finally has this – Salted, the equivalent of Cordon Bleu in your home for a Netflix subscription price.

Fascinated with the ever growing LA food scene where there seems to be constant creation and invention, we are giddy over this new platform SALTED designed by CEO Jeff Appelbaum. Salted, an online cooking school with over 50 of the country’s top chefs has launched to teach anyone how to cook. Designed to transform how home chefs of all levels learn to cook, Salted takes a video-based, step-by-step approach that brings home chefs inside prestigious kitchens across the USA.

Salted members can enroll in exclusive classes and learn the skills and signature recipes of master chefs, including Chef Roy Choi (Kogi Truck, Chego, Pot), Chef Ori Menashe (Bestia DTLA), Chef Neal Fraser (BLD, Top Chef Masters), Chef Jonathan Benno (Lincoln Restaurant), Chef Daniel Holzman (The Meatball Shop), Chef Ricardo Zarate (Picca, Paiche, Mo-chica), Chef Giuseppe Tentori (GT Fish and Oyster), and from restaurant institutions like Katz’s Deli in NYC and Malnati’s in Chicago.

Unlike signing up for expensive culinary schools, Salted aims to deliver the same caliber of education, but without the excessive costs. Last time I checked, the famed Cordon Bleu was close to $50,000. Members can experience basic culinary skills such as “How to Cut an Onion,” and “How to Grill” to more advanced skills and recipes such as “How to Break Down a Lobster” and “Beef Heart Tartare.” They even have tutorials on how to make cocktails. Also, Salted provides browsing by tutorials by class, ingredient, cuisine, dish type, mood, and other criteria.

“Learning to cook shouldn’t be difficult,” says CEO Jeff Appelbaum. “With Salted, we want to offer the same value as Cordon Bleu but put it right at your fingertips and make it available to anyone who’s interested in cooking.” Currently, Salted already features 200 exclusive video tutorials, 8 classes, and 50 master chefs from LA, NYC, and Chicago. Every month Salted will film with acclaimed chefs and add tutorials to the library based on member feedback.

Some of our absolute favorite chefs in the City of Angels will be featured in Salted, which launched Tuesday morning, September 9.  We spent some time at Hotel Erwin in Venice getting a sneak peak of this culinary vision. A spirited chat occurred Monday night with LA’s celebrated chefs including Eric Greenspan, Adam Steudie, Jason Travi, and Bryon Freeze in the Red Bull suite as the sun was setting. “It takes a certain kind of pirate to be a chef,” mused Greenspan who shared how he started as a short order cook and was blasting out meal after meal and loved the intensity of the multi-tasking. Greenspan, known for Patina, The Foundry on Melrose, the roof on Hotel Wilshire, and Greenspan Grilled Cheese, shared how he will be unveiling his six course set menu restaurant soon.

All chefs spoke of their long hours and how being in the kitchen working is no substitute for cooking school, if you want to make it a career. It was exhausting just listening to how hard these chefs work with little days off. We learned how the desire of becoming a chef began for Greenspan, Steudie, Travi, and Freeze, which included mothers who didn’t cook, mothers who were horrible cooks, watching food channels, working in the family’s restaurant as a child, and going to culinary school.

Being open minded, creative, passionate, and willing to create the trend all seemed to be common themes as well as making sure to please the general public. Luckily, those of us who would never be able to hack the chef life as a job can learn how to cook even better from the comfort of our own homes thanks to Salted, and we don’t need to please a paying audience.

Get your foodie frenzy going and reserve your spot on www.saltedtv.com. The full tutorial library, plus additional perks, are available to members for $9.99 a month.

For our LaLaScoop Readers, enjoy 3 months free of SALTED Membership by using promo code: scoop3.