Your chance to take a flavor-lesson from Chef Tre Wilcox, a two-time James Beard nominee and a popular contestant on Bravo’s “Top Chef,” is this Saturday, when the celeb-chef comes to Oakland to teach a class.

The class, sponsored by the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association, and made possible by a community grant provided by Kaiser Permanente, will teach people some ways to make great dishes — that are good for your heart (ie: less cholesterol.)

When I talked with Tre, he admitted that cutting back on fat isn’t exactly his passion, but as he tested out some low-fat versions of some of his favorite recipes, he was pretty pleased.

“I would say that olive oil is a great substitution for butter, and you can almost always substitute half and half for cream. You don’t want to cut all the fat when you use dairy or your sauces will tend to curdle.”

Tre says he didn’t mind using lowfat margerine in place of butter, but he doesn’t plan to do that at home.

“The thing is that you don’t go crazy with butter or something like that. If you keep in mind that food should taste like what it is, you won’t have a big problem. When I maked mashed potatoes, I just put a little bit of butter in there. If you put too much, the potatoes taste like butter, not potatoes.”

the trick with celebrating the flavor of each food, he says, is to cook it nice and gentle.

“Even potatoes. When people cook them in fast boiling water, when they drain those potatoes, all that potato flavor goes right down the drain.”

Tre, who is mindful of his diet, says the real key to eating healthy is to start eating as many fresh vegetables as you can. “You want to start kids on fresh veggies when they’re young. Give them a piece of protein and a big pile of veggies at dinner and they’ll be trained for life.”

The 3-hour class is just $5, all of which goes to the American Heart Association. It’s from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Beebe Memorial Cathedral, 3900 Telegraph Ave., Oakland.