Cooking Classes in Austin
Austin’s foodie scene is vibrant. Every year in April, Austin’s Food and Wine Festival provides cooking demonstrations and plenty of samples. This festival draws big name Food Network Chefs and some Austin local favorites such as Paul Qui and Jack Gilmore or Dallas based Tim Love.
Austin has outstanding foodie resources. There are farm stands for fresh produce and several grocery stores have professional kitchens for cooking classes. These cooking schools provide a variety of hands–on and demonstration cooking classes that anyone would enjoy.
Whole Foods Culinary Center
Whole Foods Lamar Culinary Center has an active cooking class schedule. Cooking classes are available on everything from basic cooking skills to a culinary adventure. Most classes require several hours to complete however Whole Foods Culinary Center also offer one hour “Lunch Express” courses. Private classes are also available. I also enjoy spending time at this flagship Whole Foods Store.
Central Market Cooking School
HEB’s Central Market has two cooking schools in Austin (Westgate and North Lamar). These hands on classes highlight Texas specialties or help you expand your foodie knowledge beyond Texas. The Grilling Spanish Style would provide insights into great tapas or the Alaskan Brewery Seafood & Spice Dinner might help you cool off.
Several Austin kitchen equipment stores also have cooking classes or cooking demonstrations:
Faraday’s Kitchen Store
This Austin based company has an amazing kitchen store and provides demonstration cooking classes with samples and a light meal. Class size is limited to 10-15 students. There are a wide variety of culinary classes.
Williams Sonoma
Williams Sonoma as two Austin stores. The Barton Creek Stores holds their cooking classes most Sundays at 2:00pm and The Arboretum Store holds their classes most Saturdays at 2:00pm. Sign up several days in advance to ensure your spot and plenty of food for tasting. The classes are generally free demonstrations; recipes and samples are provided. Cooking class participants receive 10% discount on other purchases the day of the class.
My next post feature additional Austin cooking schools.