Learn from the pros and elevate your kitchen skills by heading to one of these local kitchen classrooms—or have the kitchen classroom come to you.

IF YOU’RE YEARNING to learn how to make perfect pasta, to sharpen your knife knowledge or to build a delicious meal out of whatever is on hand, there is a  cooking class led by a local chef for you. From the basics to more advanced topics—fermenting sauerkraut, anyone?—a typical class lasts around three hours.

Class sizes are small, allowing for interaction with the chef and hands-on experience. Menus and materials are provided, wine is encouraged and participants often enjoy their creation afterward with new friends. Local culinary educators say hands-on classes are a fun and fulfilling way to up your food game and inspire kitchen adventures for years to come.

“Food, gathering and eating is part of my Italian culture,” says Chef Daniela Kalota, chef and culinary instructor of Kalota Culinary, a culinary education company.

Her earliest memories were in her grandmother’s kitchen, cooking next to Nani, in her Northville home. The Kalota family lived just down the road in Livonia.

“She’d put me up on a stool right next to her with an oversized apron rolled up three times to fit me and, with the utmost patience and care, she’d let me get my hands in everything,” she says. It was at Nani’s hip that Kalota learned the family ragu recipe, Nani’s special pasta fagioli and stewed rabbit with polenta, complete with a lesson on how to skin and clean the main ingredient.

Today, Kalota takes that same handson approach to her cooking classes, based out of the Proud Mitten Kitchen in the PARC building in Plymouth. She says the best way to cook well is to learn the basics, like she did under her grandmother’s gentle guidance.

“In a fast-moving culture, especially on social media, you see the beginning of a recipe, some glamour shots of the ingredients, and then the stunning finished product,” she says. “But you’re missing the best part—the what, where and why of each recipe. The reason you sear meat, what is the best salt to use, why you need to use fat and where to find the best sausage.”

“Everyone needs to know the fundamentals,” she says. “It’s not a cooking class for just entertainment. It’s learning skills for the future.” Kalota has nearly 90 recipes she keeps in seasonal rotation, with an emphasis on cultural, economic and health trends.

She develops class menus based on the season, a theme and realistic timing, a lesson she learned the hard way when she taught at the Culinary Center of Kansas City a decade ago. “I had the bright idea to teach a Christmas favorite: lobster ravioli with a brandy cream sauce,” she says. “Since I teach everything from scratch—[make] the pasta dough, boil and break down fresh lobsters, make the filling, the sauce …—it was three hours later and we weren’t even halfway done, and was only supposed to be a two-hour class.”

Kalota now offers more achievable classes like sheet pan dinners, stews and soups and raviolis. “I love it when people say they don’t know how to cook but are brave to show up and learn,” she says.

Manal Hussein, owner of For the Love of Sugar, is a self-taught baker who found a way to combine her Wayne State University marketing degree with her passion for teaching baking.

After years of filling requests from friends and family, in 2017 Hussein opened the original For the Love of Sugar bakery in the Midtown area. The bakery soon moved to a larger, more affordable kitchen space in Garden City. Hussein took some of that extra space and in 2024 opened the Sugar Studio and began offering baking classes. The studio can accommodate six to 20 people, depending on the class.

Hussein combines practical knowledge with fun recipes and experiences like cinnamon rolls, cake decorating and macaroon making.

“For the cinnamon roll lessons, we make everything from scratch, and I spend a lot of time going over the shaping of the rolls,” she says. “My classes vary, depending on what people want to learn,” Hussein says. She can teach a cookie class to 7-year-olds one day and a corporate event the next.

She’s eager to share her expertise so people can learn from her mistakes. “I wanted to teach so people didn’t have to learn through trial and error, like I did,” she says.

Taking a class with Chef Evelyn Stokes at her Evelyn’s Midtown Kitchen in Eastern Market is more than a gastronomic tutorial. It’s a delicious way to relax and connect with others.

“Cooking with us is a therapeutic experience. It gives people a break from everyday stress,” says Stokes, founder and head culinary instructor. “In our classes, students disconnect from their phones and connect with each other. Most times with a glass of wine in hand, they knead, chop and taste their way through the evening and leave with new skills and a sense of accomplishment.”

Stokes grew up making meatballs and marinara sauce next to her father in the family’s Highland Park kitchen, but it wasn’t until after college she blended her professional goals with her passion for cooking.

“I wanted a career with meaning, something that made a difference. I realized food was my way to do that,” she says. She does that, one class at a time, by bringing people together, building a community and creating connections through food and shared culinary experiences. “I’ve seen people come as strangers and leave as friends. They don’t just fill their stomachs; they fill their hearts.”

Every class is multi-course and hands-on. Guests prepare their own appetizer, entrée and dessert, and always eat what they make, she explains. Stokes enjoys collaborating with community members to create authentic dishes that honor their heritage and personal family history.

“Together we teach culture, history and culinary technique in one unforgettable culinary experience,” she says.

Pretty soon, Stokes will be able to share her skills and passion with more students as she is expanding her presence in Eastern Market.

“We’re creating Detroit’s first full public cooking school with two teaching kitchens so we can serve more families, youths, adults and community partners,” she says. “The permanent home will let us expand our impact and reach people interested in international cuisine and market-centric scratch cooking.”

Jason Gold, co-founder and director of the Michigan Folk School, Ann Arbor, couldn’t agree more that the most important ingredient to a successful meal is a solid understanding of the fundamentals of food, preparation and flavors.

The Michigan Folk School is part of a global network of folk schools that teach historical and modern skills in everyday areas of life, Gold says. Food techniques are a major aspect of the curriculum.

“What we have done is to create an enriched program of classes and workshops that teach people how to cook, not read a recipe,” he says.

Gold and his wife, Julia, founded the school in 2012. In 2017 the school moved operations to the former Staebler family farm and in 2023 the Michigan Folk School became a part of the Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation system. The campus includes historic farm buildings, a blacksmith shop, woodworking studios and the Blackbird Lodge, expanding the capacity for traditional craft and homesteading classes, Gold says.

The school has more than 700 classes in 26 craft categories, including food crafts, scheduled for 2026. Students can take a deep dive into the world of food crafting essentials including butchering and knife skills, canning, baking and mastering flavor combinations by understanding the science behind cooking, among others.

“We offer several cheesemaking classes that are a balance between craft and science,” he says. Science gives a better understanding of the how and why of the transformation of milk to cheese and students like learning how to intensify flavors, he says. The Date Night classes are also extremely popular. “They are a hands-on, creative and memorable alternative to a typical night out,” says Gold.

After an evening of working side by side, learning new skills and chatting with other participants, couples finish the experience enjoying their creation, family-style.

“The classes provide a chance to step away from daily routines and screens and create an experience that strengthens connections and leaves lasting memories,” says Gold.

After writing this story, freelance writer Gretchen Van-Monette is inspired to make more than reservations.