Begin the cuisine with confidence through culinary school
Learning from experts at cooking schools will smarten up anyone’s skills in the culinary arts.
GOLDEN PIG FOOD AND WINE
Newstead, Brisbane
Foodies in the know reckon this is the best cooking school in Brisbane. It helps that teacher Katrina Ryan is an ex-Rockpool head chef and husband and co-owner Mark is a former chef and restaurateur-turned-noted designer of green and pleasant spaces — including the school’s lovely cafe. Classes cover all tastes: you can do hands-free (demonstration workshops), hands-on, bespoke, corporate … there are even wine masterclasses with high-profile guest instructors. And since you ask, make mine the Kitchen Essentials class so I can finally learn how to fillet fish without screaming.
goldenpig.com.au
THE BUTTER SMITH
Norwood, Adelaide
The name is key to these classes. No paleo or ancient-grain fads here, just real food and time-honoured technique from teacher Steve Smith, energetic home cook and Patricia Wells devotee. Full-day classes start at the Central Market, end with dinner at Smith’s home and emphasise “learning by doing”. So no virtual cooking here, folks; because if you want to make a proper lemon tart, first you have to crack some eggs.
thebuttersmith.com.au
LA CUCINA DI SANDRA
Richmond, Melbourne
Another home-based cooking school, albeit one with more emphasis on watching than doing. Abruzzo native and self-taught cook Sandra Del Greco holds scheduled and bespoke classes on regional Italian cooking — “20 regions, 20 cuisines” — culminating in lunch or dinner. And it’s not all defined by region: love the sound of “La cucina di nonna”, “La cucina povera” and the class in how to cook fish like an Italian.
lacucinadisandra.com.au
URBAN KITCHEN
South Melbourne
With capacity for 100 students, Melbourne’s biggest cooking school is fast becoming the corporates’ choice for team-building exercises — such as a burger-making class, overseen by chef Daniel Wilson, that starts with a race around South Melbourne Market and ends with dinner on the balcony after a suitably MasterChef-style challenge in the very flash kitchen. Owners Ben and Georgie Vile also do cocktail parties, hens’ nights and scheduled classes such as the one on duck from Melbourne chef Ian Curley.
theurbankitchen.com.au