The Best Cooking Classes in Toronto

The best cooking classes in Toronto range from fun recreational workshops for home cooks to serious instruction geared towards budding chefs. Whether you want to reconnect with food sources by learning how to break down a whole beast or simply want to impress your guests at your next dinner party, there's a class for pretty much everything.

Here are the best cooking classes in Toronto.

George Brown College
The GBC Centre for Hospitality and Culinary Arts offers a wide array of semestered evening courses and certificate programs for basic, intermediate and advanced level cooks. Highly specialized classes focus on subjects like pasta, charcuterie, and sauces and marinades while others zero in on the regional culinary traditions of France, Italy, and Mexico.

Dish Cafe
This recreational cooking school on College helps cooks brush up on basic techniques like knife skills and how to produce specific dishes like gnocchi, paella and pho.

The Healthy Butcher
From basic knife skills to the art of cooking a roast, this butcher shop with locations on Queen West and Eglinton West is the place for carnivores to brush up on their culinary prowess.

The Edible Story
Interactive classes hosted by this cooking studio at Richmond and Sherbourne lead students through the steps of creating a complete meal, from appetizers to the dessert course. Intimate classes capped at 10 feel like a kitchen party as students are greeted on arrival with an amuse bouche and set up at a fully equipped work station.

The Cookery
This high end kitchen supply store and cooking studio on Roncy sells everything aspiring cooks need in the kitchen and dispenses the know-how to get started. The course calendar offers beginner level Cookery 101 classes, which cover subjects like pasta making, whole fish butchery and bread baking.

My Place for Dinner
Held at the Market Kitchen in Historic St. Lawrence Market, this cooking school led by Debbie Diament hosts three-hour hands-on cooking classes that include a full meal, a glass of wine, and a take-home recipe booklet. Scheduled classes delve into subjects like sushi, Tuscan cuisine and the flavours of Thailand, while private and team building classes can be booked as well.

The Big Carrot
Vegetarian cooking classes are held every Monday night at this Danforth grocer. The introductory classes are geared toward novice cooks and cover topics like Cajun & Creole cuisine, Spring Detox recipes, and how to make fermented drinks.

Nella Cucina
This kitchen supply store at Bathurst and Bloor offers a variety of hands-on classes and interactive demos designed to inform and educate home cooks. Learn tips and tricks from top Toronto chefs while sprucing up knife skills or delving into subjects like holiday baking or classic chowders and quick breads.

Pitchfork Company
Multi-week courses and one-off workshops for kids, teens, and adults are on the itinerary at this cooking studio in Little India. Youth can enrol for classes covering kitchen fundamentals and pastry making, while adults can partake in hands-on workshops led by experts on subjects like pasta-making, naan baking, and dumplings.

Aphrodite Cooks
Whether looking for one-on-one instruction, couples classes, or recreational group classes, this cooking school on Weston Road can accommodate any skill level or set of tastes. Classes range from interactive group demonstrations to hands-on sessions and cover subjects like Chinese dumplings, empanada making, and sushi 101.

Marni Wasserman
Certified natural chef and holistic culinary nutritionist Marni Wasserman offers classes rooted in healthy eating. Hands on classes focus on topics like clean eating and Mediterranean cuisine, plus Wasserman offers one-on-one instruction, workshops and retreats.

The Depanneur
The informal open kitchen on College Street hosts hands-on workshops on Monday evenings. The topics of interest are always changing, but recent workshops have covered whole hog butchering, marmalade-making, cheese making and more.

Cirillo's Culinary Academy
Chef John Cirillo's cooking school in Etobicoke offers a comfortable class geared towards budding cooks from all backgrounds. Brush up on basic knife skills or tour the world with two-hour classes focused on Thai, Italian or Latin cuisines.

Hooked
Seafood-centric learning is the specialty of this fish monger on Queen East. Practical hands-on classes cover special interests like oyster shucking, fishmongering 101, grilling, sushi-making and more.

Sushi Making for the Soul
Currently hosted at the same location as Aphrodite Cooks, these recurring cooking classes from Sang Kim teach beginner students how to make makimonos while intermediate classes delve into the art of cut fish for both nigiri and sashimi.

Photo of Dish Cafe by Jesse Milns.

by Liora Ipsum via blogTO