San Francisco Cooking Classes That Spark Your Inner Chef

The art of cooking is a celebrated tradition in San Francisco. World-renowned restaurants make up the city’s landscape. With these options, you can easily become tempted to test your culinary skills. San Francisco is home to many cooking classes that aim to inspire your inner chef. Below, we offer our best cooking class recommendations.

Spice Mission

Cousins Tanya and Sonya Rao are on a mission to introduce southern Indian vegetarian cuisine to adventurous students. The duo teaches students how to prepare traditional vegetarian dishes that are quintessential to southern India. Regional spices are the centerpiece of each recipe; they serve as the cooking lesson backdrop. Tanya and Sonya travel to participants’ homes for three-hour cooking sessions. Students receive hands-on cooking experience along with a meal. Standout dishes like puliyogare (tamarind rice), vangi bath (eggplant rice), mango pachadi (gojju), and aloo bhindi (potato and okra) are favorites among students. Participants also receive a kitchen cabinet makeover—with southern Indian spices—to encourage future cooking of the recipes. Spice Mission cooking lessons are available in New York and San Francisco.
Spice Mission, 333 Webster Street San Francisco, CA, USA +1 415 670-0205

Italian and Spanish cuisines highlight Cook With James cooking classes. Owner and instructor James Stolich takes pride in sharing his food knowledge from various regions of Italy and Spain. Classes such as A Night in Spain, Rustic Vegetarian Italian Cooking, Neapolitan-Style Pizza, and Italian Comfort Dinner are popular amongst participants. Students use seasonal ingredients to make their creative meals. Spanish treats—chorizo (spicy sausage), pimientos del padrón (small peppers usually roasted), paella (rice medley of meats and vegetables), and la quesada pasiega (pudding desert with a cheesecake like texture)—provide students with flavorful options. Italian menu selections, pasta alla bolognese, slow-cooked beef, and handmade ravioli with ricotta are reminiscent of an Italian grandmother’s home cooking. The cooking classes are three-hour sessions and include a four-course meal. Information for cooking classes is available on Cozymeal and Cook With James websites.
Cook With James, 1373 Masonic Avenue San Francisco, CA, USA +1 415 425-3444

Mama Thai Cooking Club

If you ever thought it was impossible to make Thai food healthy—think again. Chef Jirayu Sirirueng-Poeter is transforming the bad reputation surrounding Thai cuisine. When people imagine Thai cuisine, they have thoughts of salty, oily and monosodium glutamate (MSG) laden food in their minds. Mama Thai Cooking Club emphasizes a healthy approach to Thai cooking. Chef Jirayu teaches students there is a correlation between fresh ingredients and quality Thai meals. Within three hours, participants learn how to cook Thai vegetarian and vegan recipes. The recipes are low sodium, contain no MSG and are gluten free. Students enjoy making dishes such as phat si-io (pad si ew), som tom (green papaya salad), mango sticky rice, and panang gai (red curry with coconut milk). Mama Thai Cooking Club classes are available on the company website.
Mama Thai Cooking Club, 1558 39th Avenue San Francisco, CA, USA +1 415 572-3001

Jordan’s Kitchen

Three continents worth of traveling influenced the cooking lessons at Jordan’s Kitchen. Chef Jordan Schachter takes students through culinary lessons of Californian, Italian, French, Spanish, and Mediterranean cuisines. He provides classes for culinary basics, holiday meal planning, kids, and specialized menus. During Chef Jordan’s classes, students cook in a commercial kitchen. Participants work in groups and create dishes on the assigned menu. Fennel and brown sugar pork tenderloin, seafood paella, and wild mushroom risotto are popular among students. Plan a cooking class with Jordan’s Kitchen website.
Jordan’s Kitchen, 413 10th Street, San Francisco, CA, USA +1 415 872-9160

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.