The class hasn’t yet begun, but my taste buds are fully alert as two chefs move before us, preparing large, promising pans and opening bins brimming with flour, salt, and sugar. On one side of the counter, freshly picked herbs cozy up to a bottle of olive oil. On the other end, basting brushes line up with sticks of butter.

Tonight is The Stocked Pot & Co.’s first cooking class since the culinary mecca closed 10 years ago. But watching the dynamic father-son duo of Don and Andrew McMillan buzz around the kitchen, it’s hard to tell any time has passed.

Chef Don has been a celebrated figure in local cooking for decades. He owned The Stocked Pot cooking school — formerly in Reynolda Village — from 1985 to 1996, hosted cooking shows on local television for 16 years, and operated three former restaurants downtown. Don also founded Simple Elegance Catering, a service that has been the backbone of his culinary career.

“I’ve been in food for most of my life,” he says. “I came to Winston-Salem to manage food services for R.J. Reynolds, but I stayed because I love this community.”

As one of Don’s three sons, Andrew recalls how growing up a McMillan meant exploring good food early on. “Cooking — and enjoying — fine food has always been big in our family, and because of this, I have an appreciation for the entire process,” says the company president. “Nowadays, though, people have an easier access to gourmet foods through Fresh Market, Whole Foods, and shops like that. I worry that as access increases, the importance of learning how to cook these things will diminish.

“We hope to change that with The Stocked Pot.”

Class curriculum varies greatly from “Gastropub Cooking” and “Romantic Dinner for Two,” to “Grilling Fish” and “Cooking With Herbs and Spices.” You can even try your hand at “Ice Carving 101.”

A Back to Basics series offers an introduction — or refresher — to basic culinary techniques like knife skills, baking, vegetables, meat, and seafood, while Saturday morning Jr. Chefs courses like “Valentine Cookies for Mom” and “Italian Favorites” teach kids the fun of working in the kitchen. Courses are offered at convenient times — especially the Lunch and Learn series that has you in and out with plenty of time to return to work.

Tonight, I’ve signed up for “Bread Baking” — a popular choice, judging by the crowd of eager students. Over the course of the 2.5-hour class, we bake olive French bread, rosemary focaccia, bruschetta, potato rolls, seven-grain, and crusty bread with dates and cashews.

Much like a television cooking show, Chefs Don and Andrew work behind a counter at the front of the classroom, while a high-tech video screen projects camera-captured video of every stir, spin, and slice.

Unlike television, though, students are more than audience members. We touch, smell, and taste our way through the class, asking questions and volunteering to help. As he works through the recipes — given to us on a clipboard when we walked in — Don passes samples of bread dough so students can feel the stages of preparation.

And when it comes time to knead it into servable shapes, he calls a young girl from the audience. Grinning, she takes her place at the front of the classroom, covers her hands in flour, and proceeds to roll out a perfectly formed braided roll.

“The best time for you to ask a question is when you think of it,” says Don, who selects easy-to-cook recipes with easy-to-find ingredients. The class obliges, tossing out ponderings from the difference in salt types to the best way to remove rosemary leaves.

Soon, with a few minutes left in the class, the moment we’ve been waiting for arrives: the buzzers chime and our fresh-from-the-oven delicacies are ready to be savored. The group samples the fare while they wander around the shop, browsing the shelves of cookware gadgets — offered at a discount to cooking-class students — and chatting with the chefs about their own culinary adventures.

“Our courses offer the full experience. We want people to leave saying, ‘I can do that,’ ” Andrew promises. “Of course, if they get home and they can’t, they can give us a call and we’ll talk them through their questions. Television shows can’t give you that.”

For more information about The Stocked Pot, or to register for cooking classes, call 336-499-5844 or go to http://www.stockedpot.com. You can also check out the company’s frozen take-home meal options at http://www.easymealstogo.com.