School of Cooking in New Orleans, Louisiana
Offering “fun, food, and folklore”, the New Orleans School of Cooking has been part of the city’s cultural and food scene since 1980. Situated in a renovated 1830s molasses warehouse in the French Quarter, the cooking school offers a plethora of classes and special events for both locals and visitors, all taught by well known local chefs that are among the best in their business, including former NFL player turned chef Kevin Belton, Michael DeVidts, Anne Leonhard, and Tom Nagelin, who is not only a chef but an experienced motivational speaker and team building expert.
Classes at New Orleans School of Cooking are held seven days a week and most center on either Cajun or Creole cuisine and include a chance to eat what you make. For a fee of around $25.00, visitors can enjoy Open Participation Lunch Classes, which includes a 2.5 hour instructional lesson featuring four different food items. These foods include traditional New Orleans or Louisiana cuisine such as red beans and rice, gumbo, jambalaya, shrimp Creole, corn and crab bisque, crawfish etouffee, bread pudding, corn bread, pecan pie, and pralines. Additional shorter classes are also available on Friday and Saturday and feature 3 different foods. All class participants are allowed “generous samplings” of the items prepared that day and are also provided with ice tea, beer, or root beer. Recipes are provided for class participants to take home with them.
Groups of 25 or more people can also sign up for private demonstration classes. These will include similar foods to those offered in the open demonstration classes. Private hands-on cooking classes are also offered and give guests an opportunity to cut, cook, and prepare a complete dinner with the help of the chefs that teach at the school. After all is prepared, the group sits down together for a meal. Hands-on classes can be scheduled at any time but require a minimum of 8 people in order to reserve space. They are three-hours long and participants receive recipes and a New Orleans School of Cooking apron to take home.
For corporate clients, school groups, or other organizations, team building lessons are also available. These take on several forms and may include a Cook-Off Challenge, which involves working with a variety of ingredients without a recipe to prepare a dish; or Cooking School Olympics, where teams are guided through four rounds of competition including a culinary challenge, drink mixology, cake decorating, and more. The winning teams receive a special prize.
Also on site is the Louisiana General Store, a place where visitors can purchase a huge variety of food and food-related merchandise including New Orleans School of Cooking apparel, kitchen utensils and other chefware, cookbooks, marinades and sauces, spices and seasonings, pre-packaged mixes, coffee, desserts, and a variety of gift baskets featuring Cajun and Creole foods.
Any reservations for private classes at New Orleans School of Cooking should be made in advance. Most of the time, spots are available for the demonstration classes, but to avoid disappointment, reservations should be made prior to the day you wish to join the demonstration, especially during peak tourist seasons.
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