12 top-notch spots to take a cooking class in and around Vancouver
Whether you’re looking to sharpen your kitchen competence, you’re a newly fledgling foodie, or really want to dirty your hands on a date night — a lively cooking class is an unforgettable experience.
The Lower Mainland is full of food courses to up your culinary skills, learn new global dishes, and wow your friends at home. We lost a few cooking classes during the pandemic, but there are still plenty of places for amateur chefs to learn from the pros.
Here are 12 top-notch spots to take a cooking class in and around Vancouver.
The Dirty Apron
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A haven for food lovers and a leading hub for cooking classes, Vancouver’s Dirty Apron jams its calendar year with endless options to advance your kitchen game. Husband and wife team Chef David and Sara Robertson pass on their award-winning ways to over 10,000 people a year, including teens and kids in the popular summer cooking camps.
In a welcoming and warm teaching space, hobby chefs can take single classes from Chef David himself or a revolving door of guest and celebrity cooking pros. Crowd-pleasing classes include the Mama Mia Italian course, the Vibrantly Vegan experience, and Ocean Fling, the ultimate class in all things seafood.
Address: 540 Beatty Street, Vancouver
Phone: 604-879-8588
Lonsdale Quay Market
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Just off the ocean and surrounded by fresh local products and produce, the Quay is a natural environment for diving into a creative cooking class. Here, cooks of all levels can learn the ropes with recipes that incorporate our local ingredients.
In the months to come, you can learn the art of cake making and decorating, experience the Mediterranean combos of Greek cooking, and if you’re lucky, find an open spot for the Asian Street Food class. Always a favourite.
Address: 123 Carrie Cates Court, North Vancouver
Phone: 604-777-QUAY (7829)
Northwest Culinary Academy of Vancouver
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When not training superstar chefs of the future, this academy offers first-rate classes for cooking enthusiasts looking to add to their kitchen arsenal. Culinary instructors conduct comprehensive basic training skills, teach themed recipes, and condition you in cooking boot camps.
Popular single-night classes range from rich paella to sushi secrets. Most excitingly, the hands-on course for Korean Fried Chicken is so in demand the Academy has to keep adding dates for the demand. Act fast, folks!
Address: 2725 Main Street, Vancouver
Phone: 604-876-7653
Uno Gelato
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School has never been this fun. Or delectable. Uno’s Kitsilano lab offers Gelato 101 classes, where lovers of the sweet stuff can learn how to make a specialized batch, appreciate the science and history behind gelato, sample different flavours, and take home a pint at the end of the night.
Each month focuses on a specific theme, season, and flavour scheme of gelato and sorbetto. In 2023, get stoked for an “infusion” gelato January, a hazelnut and blood orange February, and a March made of mango chocolate chili gelato and mango pineapple sorbetto. What a way to usher in springtime.
Address: 2579 W Broadway, Vancouver
Phone: 604-733-5884
Posh Pantry
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Tucked away behind this carefully-curated kitchen shop is Burnaby’s best-kept secret. Well, it’s not that secret, seeing as Posh Pantry’s cooking classes fill up fast. Here, most of the courses are mouth-watering demonstrations. On weekends, a more hands-on pasta course packs in burgeoning Italian cooks. There are always classes offered for kids too, and it’s a joy to peek in while shopping to see the cutest chefs in town.
Some of Pash Pantry’s celebrated courses are paella nights, Spanish tapas, and handmade gnocchi with Chef Marzia.
Address: 4548 Hastings Street, Burnaby
Phone: 604-428-3700
The Gourmet Warehouse
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Vancouver’s premier destination for kitchen gadgets and specialty ingredients ups the game by adding cooking classes to their grocery bag of tricks. Hobby chefs of all levels are invited to take in a diverse set of both demo and hands-on classes — including pastry art, sausage making, pasta lessons, and even butchery courses.
Over the years, renowned chefs like Jacques Pepin, Anna Olson, and Curtis Stone have shared their secrets with students here.
Address: 1340 E Hastings Street, Vancouver
Phone: 604-253-3022
Pasta Boy Peter
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What makes a cooking class go from good to great? The chef and instructor, of course. And with Pasta Boy Peter – an exuberant chef, teacher, and actor – Italian food instruction quickly becomes an evening of laughter and fun. Peter knows his pasta too. A former team member at Vancouver’s acclaimed Savio Volpe, Peter shares his family’s rich recipes in public classes, private parties, and even team-building work groups.
Peter suggests starting with something like rolled pasta first and moving up to his many delectable courses on roman pizzas and sauces, ravioli, mozzarella, sourdough bread, and advanced pasta shapes like orechietti and cavatelli.
Address: 601 W Hastings Street, Vancouver
Phone: 604-675-6982
True Nosh
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This marketplace and cafe not only serves gluten-free and zero-sugar delicacies but also offers a variety of cooking classes for people with specific food needs, proving a celiac or diabetes diet doesn’t have to be dullsville.
At True Nosh, you can learn how to make specialty dim sum dumplings, delicious Indian dishes, and Thai curries from scratch. Owner Renee Chan is a Registered Dietician and is happy to customize classes to any health issues and nutritional needs.
Address: 1450 W 7th Ave, Vancouver
Phone: 604-730-8177
Well Seasoned
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Langley’s go-to gourmet food store passes on its kitchen knowledge in a series of classes, and believe us, they know gourmet. Still, that shouldn’t deter beginner chefs. Well Seasoned cooking classes, both hands-on and demo, are friendly and fun and leave your food knowledge well-stocked.
Look out for 2023 offerings like “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner,” a date night in Mexico, a sourdough masterclass, and an acclaimed knife skills course that includes your own chef’s knife to take home. It’s time to rule your cutting board in ways you never knew.
Address: #117 – 20353 64 Ave, Langley
Phone: 604-530-1518
Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
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As one of the country’s top chef schools, the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts has seen countless grads go on to greatness in the food world. And every month, they hold a few classes for hobby chefs to hone their skills in the home kitchen.
Classes have included deep dives into Japanese Izakaya, Mediterranean feasts, and serious wine appreciation.
Address: 101-1505 W 2nd Ave, Vancouver
Phone: 604-800-5174
Eden West Gourmet
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This lovely fine food and gift store in Port Moody is also a home for some of the most diverse cooking classes out there. Not only do the chefs teach a series of international courses – Peruvian, Iranian, Greek – they also offer some very specific yet important lessons every aspiring chef should know, like cooking and caring for your cast iron pan and the art of plating.
Baking and vegan classes are popular here, but perhaps the one that has us most excited is their Cooking Vancouver’s Best series, where instructors take iconic local restaurant dishes and not only teach them but put a special spin on each.
Address: 96 Kyle Street, Port Moody
Phone: 604-939-6200
Louis Gervais Fine Foods
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Gourmet bistro by day, caterer by night, Louis Gervais also specializes in private group cooking classes, be it a stagette, birthday party, or your boss’s good idea of team building. Groups come here to have fun, going through the steps of a three-course meal (sometimes broken up into teams for sporty competition).
And even if you don’t feel like chopping and stirring, it’s perfectly fine to sit back, relax with a glass of wine, and watch your friends make a delicious mess.
Address: 850 Harbourside Drive, North Vancouver
Phone: 604-359-5628
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