Whole Foods and I haven't always seen eye to eye. In fact, I still refuse to shop in their stores when I have a better, locally-owned option. But it's not their fault, that's just the kind of locavore jerk (locajerk) I am.

With that mild reproach out of the way, I feel much better talking about an awesome event sponsored by my pals over at Whole Foods: It's Flash Kitchen and it's popping up in Director Park this Saturday at noon.

The idea is pretty simple: Whole Foods and the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of Portland, fostered by all-around PDX food guy Mike Thelin, will be setting up a mobile kitchen and performing cooking demos for folks who show up.

That's about it. But the details make it so much better: The Chefs demoing recipes will include Mercury friend and kitchen lover (as in, lover in the kitchen) Adam Sappington of Country Cat. With him will be Ken Rubin and Andrea Slonecker, both of the Art Institute Culinary School.

Best of all, the audience will be allowed to step up and learn a few things by helping out. In other words, it is (as the press release points out) “an on-the-spot cooking school.” This is the first outing for Flash Kitchen, which has future plans to land one of its ten cooking stations just about anywhere you can fit a propane burner and cooking implements.

So, stop by at noon and check it out. For everyone who shows up, Whole Foods will donate $1 to the Young Musicians and Artist Camp. Awesome!