Best cooking classes in Vancouver

Jun 1 2016, 11:04 pm

Looking for a hands-on cooking class to help build up your repertoire in the kitchen? Here is a list of Vancouver’s best cooking classes, designed to sharpen your cooking skills, regardless of whether you’re a home cook or a culinary professional.

The Dirty Apron Cooking School

The Dirty Apron / Facebook

The Dirty Apron / Facebook

The Dirty Apron has risen to become perhaps the most prominent cooking school for food enthusiasts in Vancouver–and they’ve got their own cookbook, too. The school is owned by former Chambar Sous-Chef David Robertson and his wife Sara. Robertson teaches many of the classes (and teaches classes for other schools, too) and also brings in talented instructors and famous names to add to their impressive and wide-ranging roster of course offerings. The hands-on classes cover anything from the basics to themed courses focused on meat or seafood, or regional cuisine.

Address: 540 Beatty Street
Phone: 604-879-8588
Twitter: @Dirty_Apron

Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts

On the weekends, the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts (PICA) makes way for the home cooks with their hands-on Saturday technique classes and their fun Friday evening Cook! and the City classes. They’ll cover your basics, or take you on a journey to learn specialties like sushi making or bread baking

Address: 101 – 1505 West 2nd Avenue
Phone: 604-734-4488
Twitter: @picachef

Cook Culture

Cook Culture not only stocks a range of kitchen supplies, but it also runs a variety of cooking workshops in both Vancouver, at the Lonsdale location, and in Victoria. Crafted for every interest and skill level, Cook Culture operates a hands-on instructional class, in addition to a demonstration class. A host of celebrated local chefs lead the classes, including Ned Bell (YEW seafood + bar), Jonathan Chovancek (previously Executive Chef at Café Medina), and Chris Whittaker (Forage).

Address: 1230 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver
Phone: 604-662-4918

Address: 1317 Blanshard Street, The Atrium Building, Victoria
Phone: 250-590-8161

Twitter: @cookculture

Barbara-Jo’s Books to Cooks

Events at Vancouver’s premier cookbook shop are about inspiration, learning, and eating, though not in a traditional classroom setting. Hosting a spectrum of culinary voices, Books to Cooks‘ Sunday Social Suppers and chef-author visits afford food lovers the opportunity to sit down and savour the words and the food. Events sell out quickly, and while pricy, do tend to include the featured book and a meal.

Address: 1740 West 2nd Avenue
Phone: 604-688-6755

Gourmet Warehouse

Get acquainted with your wok, the cuisine of Morocco, or how to make sushi at Gourmet Warehouse and their array of cooking classes. They offer hands-on and demonstration-style courses in a variety of skill and age levels, for amateurs and experts alike. You may also be tempted to do a little food and housewares shopping in their store while you’re there, too.

Address: 1340 East Hastings Street
Phone: 604-253-3022
Twitter: @GourmetWHouse

Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver

While the Northwest Culinary Academy attracts those aspiring to have careers in the food industry, they also offer a set of “Enthusiast” classes aimed at teaching the home cook. Their 8-Day Basics is a popular pick for those looking to hone their skills at their home stoves, though the NWCAV also has private classes and specialty theme courses, ranging from knife skills to baking to Latin foods and more.

Address: 2725 Main Street
Phone: 604-876-7653
Twitter: @nwcav

The Perky Parsnip

Priding itself on presenting healthy home cooking classes, The Perky Parsnip has a designed a range of workshops, where new skills in the kitchen are learnt by creating healthy, organic, and nutrient-rich dishes, which can be whipped up at home. Classes include Healthy in a Hurry Breakfast, Healthy Sushi at Home, and Guilt-Free Desserts.

Address: Float on Bakeshop & Café, 4384 Fraser Street
Phone: 604-441-7302

Homestead Junction

This East Van store, formerly known as Homestead’s Emporium, specializes in homesteading projects. In addition to providing customers with an assortment of tools to make things from scratch with, the locale also offers a list of unique and hands-on cooking workshops, including courses on how to make sauerkraut, ginger beer and wild herbal soda, kimchi, and even Kombucha.

Address: 649 East Hastings Street
Phone: 604-568-7675

Quince

Vancouver’s Quince has a cooking class for just about any occasion or kitchen skill. Indian Bar Snacks, knife skills, pasta making, wine pairing, Valentine’s day cooking, or a series for the serious amateur are just a few of the numerous courses you can sign up for at this café, food shop, and cooking school one-stop-shop. Quince emphasizes fresh local food in their cooking and engage in green practices in order to be more sustainable. Chef and Sommelier Andrea Jefferson is the owner of Quince, and she brings her over two decades of professional cooking to the table.

Address: 1780 West 3rd Avenue
Phone: 604-731-4645
Twitter: @QuinceKitsilano

The Uncommon Café

In addition to serving a range of casual eats, The Uncommon Café hosts a variety of cooking classes. Led by the talented Valentine Kitamura, owner of Tartine & Maple and baker at The Uncommon Café, these intimate classes have been crafted to enhance participant’s skills in the kitchen, while they learn new recipes, and discover the secrets of French cooking.

Address: 477 Powell Street
Phone: 604-254-0477

Pastry Training Centre of Vancouver

If breads, cakes, and pastries are more your culinary cup of tea, head to the Pastry Training Centre of Vancouver. Of note is their series of Artisan Bread Baking courses. Once you’ve completed the basics class you can move on the a variety of specialty classes to learn the finer points of bread making.

Address: 818 Renfrew Street
Phone: 604-569-1680

Lindsay William-RossLindsay William-Ross
Jess FlemingJess Fleming

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