Creative Cooking Schools and Classes

Do you dream of attending culinary school but don't have the ability to attend a full-length professional program? Luckily there are a whole lot of alternatives out there. We rounded up a few of the more intimate cooking classes and unique kitchen classrooms that provide perfect extracurricular activities for amateur cooks and well-versed foodies looking for fun.

Austin's Thai Fresh is one part locally-sourced eatery, one part gourmet grocer, and one part culinary lab. Cooking classes are led by co-owner and Thai native, Jam Sanitchat, and are fully hands-on. Sanitchat educates students about an array of Thai ingredients and how to properly use them in her authentic recipes. Plus, you'll get a feel for what it is like to be a real restaurant chef as the lessons are hosted in a commercial kitchen. Or, if you prefer a house call, Sanitchat offers private lessons in your kitchen.

Is it a gourmet shop? A cooking classroom? An event space? In fact, Haven's Kitchen is all three housed under one fantastic roof. This renovated carriage house with Parisian accents, white subway tiles, and a sublime urban rooftop garden is the perfect New York City setting for a relaxed recreational cooking class. The hands-on classes are available day and night, and they range from vegetarian soups to nose-to-tail butchering. Of course, each class ends with a delicious communal meal. In addition, "master" classes are led by well-known chefs, expert mixologists, and other gourmet artisans. Haven's Kitchen also hosts a monthly Supper Club for those looking to share a meal with strangers (soon to be new friends), discuss food politics, and experience world cuisines.

Make friends and get to know new cuisines at Kitchen in the Market — a commercial kitchen by day, cooking classroom by night. Classes last from one to three hours and focus on the fun in addition to the food. Case in point: You can opt for Karaoke Kitchen (yes, you'll sing for your supper) or Food Porn (it's not what it sounds like). The space also doubles as a shop where you can purchase prepared foods — fresh or frozen — on nights when you don't feel inspired to act as the chef.

Does your kitchen have a spectacular view? Crescent City Cooks' kitchen certainly does. Smack on top of the New Orleans Industrial Canal, this cooking classroom gives prospective cooks the opportunity to learn some of the signature dishes — Etoufée, Jambalaya, Gumbo — that make "N'awlins" such a spectacular culinary destination. Owner Nita's warm personality and the small class sizes create an intimate vibe. Prices range from $30 for a demonstration to $150 for a hands-on class.

At Charleston Cooks, the kitchen store-cum-cooking classroom, folks get to hone their culinary chops. Classes focus on technique and focus on Southern cuisine as well as the cuisines of the world. The signature class, Taste of the Low Country, allows students to learn more about South Carolina's food heritage and its regional recipes. Featured dishes include shrimp and grits, bourbon pecan pie, fried chicken, and, a true Southern favorite, pimento cheese grits. Classes range from 12 to 34 people and are affordable at $25 to $75 a person. And the best part? You can stock up on all your kitchen gadgets after leaving the classroom.

Growing up in an Italian family in the food business, La Cucina at the Market owner Anna Maria Florio always had a penchant for cooking. Five years ago, while teaching Italian language at Temple University, she decided to combine her two passions: cooking and people. A space opened up in Philadelphia’s Reading Market — a collection of 80 purveyors and food artisans — and she grabbed it. La Cucina’s classes focus on everything from basic knife skills to the most popular class, Date Night ($175 for two), in which couples prepare an elegant six-course meal. Recent recipes include: crostini with caramelized onions, fig jam, and goat cheese; sweet potato ravioli with brown butter; roasted pork tenderloin stuffed with Fontina, basil, and prosciutto; and mini ricotta canoli. Before class, students whet their appetite with a wine and cheese reception, then everyone gets down to business trying their hands at each dish. At the end of the night, couples leave with print-outs of the recipes and full bellies.