Article by Erin Byers Murray and Tate Jacaruso, Image Courtesy of Kate Greer, Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards

Culinary Class

7 Grade A Cooking Classes in the South

By: The Local Palate

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To play on the proverb, if you teach a person to cook, you feed them for a lifetime—and hands-on cooking classes are an easy place to start. For your next weekend getaway, consider heading out in search of one of these culinary educations that are worth the drive.

Hotel Emma + CIA Texas

San Antonio, Texas

Since 2008, the Culinary Institute of America has operated a Texas campus inside San Antonio’s historic Pearl Brewery. And while the program is mostly known as a full-scale culinary college, they also offer continuing education, called CIA Foodies, to interested adults. The classes are numerous and range from two-to-five-day boot camps where you’ll be immersed in technique, to single-day hands-on classes to learn everything from everyday grilling to sushi secrets.There are also wine and beverage classes as well as seasonal options. Turn this into a culinary getaway by posting up at the luxe Hotel Emma, steps from the campus, where many of the employees once studied at the CIA. Use the hotel as your anchor as you engage with CIA instructors by day and take in the district’s many exceptional restaurants by night, like the hotel’s Supper restaurant, led by chef John Brand, or the nearby MICHELIN-starred Nicōsi, a dessert-tasting restaurant.

The Laurel Hotel Courtesy of Craig Godwin — The Laurel Hotel & Spa, Image Courtesy of Craig Godwin

The Laurel Hotel & Spa

Auburn, Alabama

Connected to one of the South’s most prestigious culinary programs, The Laurel Hotel & Spa has a symbiotic relationship with Auburn University’s Tony & Libba Rane Culinary Science Center and the program’s Horst Schulze School of Hospitality Management: The hotel helps provide lab experiences for hospitality students while also serving the university’s students, faculty, and visitors. While the culinary science center offers cooking classes to the public during epicurean weekends, the hotel makes it easy to customize your own hands-on experience. When booking in advance as a small group, you can choose from a selection of classes and experiences, like making pasta, preparing seafood, torching crème brulee, or grilling the perfect steak, as well as wine tasting with one of the school’s four sommeliers. The academic team teaches the classes, which end in a tasting. Meanwhile, a stay here is luxury defined—expert service from the time you walk in; smart tech in the rooms; access to Walt’s, the rooftop layered with gardens overseen by the horticulture school, sitting besidethe heated salt pool; The Laurel Spa with its pink Himalayan salt room; sommelier-selected wines in rooms; plus, 1856 restaurant, the MICHELIN-recognized tasting menu dining room, headed by chef-in-residence Joel Antunes and one of the country’s few Master Sommeliers, Thomas Price, also in residence.

Zero Restaurant + Bar

Charleston, South Carolina

Zero Restaurant + Bar delivers one of the most memorable (and romantic) dining experiences in Charleston, thanks to its intimate dining room and tasting-menu experience. It’s also one of the best spots in the city to learn the nuances of cooking from one of the restaurant’s talented chefs. Classes are limited to a manageable eight students (available Saturdays and Sundays at lunchtime, and Mondays for dinner) and take place inside the restaurant’s historic, cozy kitchen. After demonstrating a few skills, the chef leads guests through a three-course tasting menu, complete with wine pairings, making it a luxurious day of learning.

Zero George Cooking School Chef Tyler Chavis Hack Hargett — Zero Restaurant + Bar, Image Courtesy of Hack Hargett

Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards

North Garden, Virginia

Much of the draw of visiting Virginia’s famed Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards is the view. Set among bucolic, rolling green hills, the property is an idyllic place to while away an afternoon tasting wines or enjoying tapas-style plates inside the Tasting Room. If you feel like rolling up your sleeves, their hands-on cooking classes are interactive and built to teach fundamental skills. Capped at 22 guests, each class starts with a guided tour of the gardens with a glass of bubbles in hand, followed by time in the kitchen where guests work in small groups to prepare several family-style dishes. Once the cooking is done, dinner is served inside the Tasting Room, complete with paired wines. This class is for those looking to get their hands dirty while picking up a few skills to take home—plus the joy of savoring your work with your new friends. For those looking to make a weekend of it, you can stay on property inside the historic, six-room Crossroads Inn.

Tides Inn

Irvington, Virginia

There are waterfront views, cozy rooms, and endless reasons to chill when staying at the Tides Inn, a 70-room boutique resort set along the waterfront on Virginia’s Northern Neck. But there’s also plenty to do, including a hands-on cooking class. Classes take place within the Marsh Room at the inn’s restaurant, Salt & Meadow, and are taught by members of the culinary team. Sign up for a session of rolling, shaping, and cooking fresh pasta, or heading to a nearby farm to harvest produce and then bring it back to learn how to make a farm-to-fork salad. There are also mixology classes, Crafted at the Tides, during which you can learn how to make a Chesapeake-inspired cocktail. Classes end, naturally, with a tasting of what you’ve prepared.

The Alluvian Hotel + Viking Cooking School

Greenwood, Mississippi

Want to know how to prepare a Vegas steakhouse-level meal? Or get inspiration for your next Southern soiree? The Viking Cooking School has long been a destination for culinary demonstrations and classes, thanks to its ties to the well-known residential kitchen brand. In fact, Viking Range, now owned by another entity, still operates a production facility in Greenwood and opened The Alluvian Hotel in 2003. The cooking school, set across the street from the hotel, hosts classes for up to 14 people, often with multiple classes a day on weekends. Once your apron is on, you might learn how to bread and pan-fry oysters or roll and steam tamales, all of which you get to enjoy at the end of the class. Add on a stay at the hotel for a full Mississippi Delta experience.

The Cooking School at Saint Bibiana, Hotel Bardo

Savannah, Georgia

Upstairs at Hotel Bardo’s coastal Italian restaurant is The Cooking School at Saint Bibiana, which offers classes to hotel guests and the public. The school runs Tuesday through Sunday, with beverage classes held twice a month on Thursdays. During the Farmers Market Cooking Class, one of the school’s year-round offerings, executive chef Jim Anile leads participants across the street to Forsyth Park to shop for fresh produce and local products at the Saturday morning market, then back to the school to prepare and enjoy a collaborative, multicourse meal of flavorful, seasonal plates such as heirloom tomato salad with burrata and handmade pasta.