Long Island cooking classes to take this fall
As the weather cools and the leaves begin to turn, here comes the long march through fall and into winter. Long Island food lovers can keep the days interesting and the weekends busy at cooking schools, workshops and classes.
Whether you’re a kid with kitchen curiosity, a budding novice behind a burner, or a seasoned home chef who creates elaborate family meals on a whim, there’s a class for you. Want to learn to make your own pasta? Bake rainbow cookies? Try rolling your own sushi? Hands-on instruction, complete with recipes to take home and replicate later, await.
"I love cooking but need a lot of help," said Lindsay Buchel, a Melville resident and advertising executive who recently took class at The Cook's Studio's Huntington location. "I never know where to start and always feel so overwhelmed by it."
Cooking classes are learning environments, so the basics for attending any cooking class are as follows:
- Reservations are essential as classes often sell out.
- Arrive a few minutes early to get familiar with your station.
- Pay attention to the demo, replicate instructions as best you can.
- Ask for help when you need it.
Here are some upcoming cooking classes across Long Island:
Babylon Mercantile
45 E. Main St., Babylon
Making arancini (Sicilian rice balls) at The Babylon Mercantile in Babylon. Credit: Linda Rosier
This meticulous cooking studio is part of a well-curated culinary general store selling luxury pots and pans, olive oil, serving dishes and other epicurean sundries by brands you’ve probably never heard of before — Smeg appliances, Smithey cast-iron pans, Staub ceramics. Opened in 2020 by Babylon resident Donna Sesto, the store offers cooking classes led by chef-instructors with a whole lot of expertise and patience. Cuisines run the gamut from Japanese to Italian, Chinese to New American, French to Mediterranean. Consider the art of making ramen — noodles and broth — to baking and layering Italian rainbow cookies. Roll handmade tortellini or braise some short ribs. On weekends, morning classes for parents with children are organized by age and difficulty. Date-night options for two include making a meal (and then eating it) — and there are chef’s counter culinary experiences where you merely watch, learn and indulge.
UPCOMING CLASSES Sept. 20 at 6:30 p.m.: Date Night: Chicken Piccata preparing the featured dish with broccoli rabe, roasted potatoes and zabaglione ($285 for two); Oct. 8 at 6:30 p.m.: Spicy Miso Ramen ($115); Oct. 20 at 10 a.m.: Crème brûlée and jelly doughnuts ($95); Nov. 1 at 10:30 a.m.: Adults and kids ages 6-14 learn to make gnocchi pasta ($145 for two)
More info: 631-818-1100, babylonmercantile.com
The Cooking Lab
160 Main St., Port Washington
The business was founded in 2019 by Michelle Capobianco and Mathieu Lanfant, individually trained chefs — she in Italy, he in France — who met when they were both focused on creating less frenetic lives for their growing respective families. The former flower shop features top-of-the-line appliances and communal tables that double as work spaces and settings for the family-style dinners that are typically held at the end of class.
The Cooking Lab also runs an after-school program and a summer cooking camp for kids.
Offering less frequent, but no less interesting, classes that trot the globe, The Cooking Lab hosts visiting chefs when the cuisines veer too far from their Italian and French expertise. They also offer date nights, individual classes and technique seminars, as well as culinary tours in France and Italy.
UPCOMING CLASSES Sept. 19 at 7 p.m.: A Taste of Thailand with chicken curry and Thai spring rolls ($100); Sept. 27 at 7 p.m.: Oktoberfest flammkuchen (aka tarte flambée), a savory Alsatian tart with onions, bacon and cheese and beer braised mussels ($100); Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.: Dinner for Two: Hong Kong with pork and shrimp dumplings, steamed fish and stir-fried bok choy ($260 for two); Oct. 12 at 10 a.m.: Knife Skills, learning all types of cuts as well as how to properly hold and sharpen a knife ($75 includes sharpening stone).
More info: 516-570-0050, thecookinglabpw.com
The Cook’s Studio
10 Wall St., Huntington, 3 Village Green Way, Patchogue and 805 Broadway, Amityville
Cavatelli with broccoli rabe and sausage during a cooking class at The Cook's Studio in Huntington. Credit: Newsday/Marie Elena Martinez
This Suffolk chainlet of cooking schools offers the most options for cooking instruction on Long Island. At the Huntington location, overseen by resident chef Catherine Tysland-Breskin, classes are held in a large open kitchen studio with bright red accents and chalkboards, brimming with cookware and food storage containers. Overhead cameras above Tysland-Breskin’s station capture close-up demos of the day’s recipe. She and The Cooking Lab's founder and owner, Victor McNulty, are graduates of the French Culinary Institute. Daily classes offer students ethnically diverse cooking instruction. Consider pad thai, Mexican tacos, fresh pastas, Polish pierogi, shrimp and Southern grits, sushi, Louisiana jambalaya and Chinese dumplings — even a mozzarella making class.
"Cooking classes are so popular because it’s an experience," McNulty said. "Our most popular classes have been fresh mozzarella, Chinese dumplings, street tacos and sushi for many years."
While most classes take place in the evenings, there are lunchtime workshops on Wednesdays and Fridays for those who can’t attend after work hours. More info: 631-896-1315; thecooksstudio.com
UPCOMING CLASSES Sept. 18 at 6:30 p.m.: Traditional Spanish paella made with mussels, clams, scallops and shrimp ($100); Sept. 25 at 11:30 a.m.: Mozzarella workshop including a creamy burrata version ($75); Thursday, Oct. 3 at 6:30 p.m.: Learn how to make your own sushi, plus the knife skills necessary to roll and cut it ($100); Friday Oct. 4 at 3:30 p.m.: Fresh cavatelli with broccoli rabe and sausage in broth ($75).
More Long Island cooking schools
Apron Masters
956 Broadway, Woodmere
This glossy kosher spot looks like a swank cooking show studio, and hosts adults, kids, corporate events, private parties, even bar and bat mitzvahs. More info: 516-569-2665, apronmasters.com
What's Cooking
30 E. Main St., Oyster Bay
A rustic space that prioritizes kids cooking classes and birthday parties, it also has infrequent workshops for adults. More info: 516-922-2665, whatscookingny.com
The Well Seasoned Chef
45 New Hyde Park Rd., Garden City
Catering mostly to kids and teens (junior and executive chefs), adults night out classes are offered sporadically. More info: 516-488-1008, thewellseasonedchef.com
A global freelancer who has checked her suitcase to raise her young daughter on her native Long Island, Marie Elena will always make time for good mezcal, even better tacos and killer conversation. Preferably, in a corner bar seat. She can be found on Instagram at @mariesworldeats.
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