We get asked the same questions every week by people looking for a cooking class around Adelaide, so here they are with straight answers. The short version: our public classes run in working venues across the Fleurieu Peninsula, a McLaren Vale cellar door 45 minutes from the city and a distillery and an old homestead a little over an hour south, and for private and corporate groups we can also come to Jackson Square in Hindmarsh. Classes cost $125 to $250, run about two and a half hours, and you cook everything yourself. If your question isn’t here, send it through and we’ll answer it, and probably add it to this page.
Where can I do a hands-on cooking class near Adelaide?
Our public classes are on the Fleurieu Peninsula: Hastwell and Lightfoot in McLaren Vale is about 45 minutes from town, Cut Hill Wall Distillery in Hindmarsh Valley is about an hour, and Bungala House and Lot 50 in Yankalilla are about an hour and ten minutes. For private and corporate groups we also run pasta, dumpling and mozzarella classes at Jackson Square, 57 Manton Street, Hindmarsh, five kilometres from the CBD. Every class is at a working venue, a cellar door, a distillery or an old homestead, rather than a training kitchen, and that setting is half the reason people make the drive.
Which venue is closest to Adelaide CBD?
For a class you can book a ticket to, Hastwell and Lightfoot in McLaren Vale, about 45 minutes down the Southern Expressway. It’s a cellar door, so the day comes with vines out the window and a drinks package you can add at the bar, and it hosts gnocchi, dumplings, paella and kingfish. For private and corporate groups who would rather not leave town, we also run classes at Jackson Square in Hindmarsh, five kilometres from the CBD, designed especially for the group booking. Public tickets are on the class calendar.
How far is the Fleurieu Peninsula from Adelaide, and is it worth the drive?
McLaren Vale is 45 minutes down the Southern Expressway, and Yankalilla, Hindmarsh Valley and Victor Harbor are an hour to an hour and a quarter. Yes, it’s worth it. A class on the Fleurieu is a day out rather than an appointment: you cook in a cellar door, a distillery or an 1856 homestead, then there are cellar doors, Normanville beach and coastal drives on the way home. Most of our weekend classes start at 11 or 11:30 in the morning so you can leave Adelaide after breakfast and be back before dinner, with dinner in your hands if it was a pasta class.
What classes can I do in Adelaide itself?
For private and corporate groups, Pasta Like Nonna Makes, The Ultimate Dumpling Making Experience and Exclusive Mozzarella Making at Jackson Square. They’re the same classes we run on the Fleurieu, with the same presenters and the same take-home food, in a city venue with the bar open. We don’t sell individual tickets to Adelaide classes, so if it’s just the two of you, the Fleurieu is where to book. Our sausage, pizza, hibachi steak, paella, kingfish and native cooking classes need a fire pit or a working kitchen, so those stay at Bungala House and Hastwell and Lightfoot in McLaren Vale.
Can I get to a class without a car?
To Jackson Square for a private group class, yes. Bowden station on the Outer Harbor line is a ten-minute walk, and buses along Port Road stop within 400 metres. There’s on-street parking on Manton Street if you do drive, and the Entertainment Centre car park is close by on nights without a show. Hastwell and Lightfoot is the exception on the Fleurieu: a bus to McLaren Vale and an Uber or taxi to the cellar door gets you there. The other Fleurieu venues really need a car or a designated driver. For groups we recommend AM PM Chauffeurs for up to eight and can suggest other providers for a bigger bus.
We’re visiting Adelaide for a few days, which class should we book?
Start with your dates, then your base. If you’re staying in McLaren Vale, look for gnocchi, dumplings, paella or kingfish at Hastwell and Lightfoot. If you’re heading further south to Victor Harbor or Normanville, the mozzarella and pasta classes at Cut Hill Wall Distillery and the sausage, pizza, hibachi steak and native classes at Bungala House are within 15 minutes of both. If you’re a group of 20 or more who would rather stay in the city, ask us about a private class at Jackson Square. Every class on the calendar shows its venue and start time, and if you’re celebrating something tell us at booking and we’ll make a fuss.
What are the best food experiences near Adelaide for a visitor?
In the city, the Adelaide Central Market is the place to start, and Tasting Australia in May is the festival to plan around. Out of the city, the food is south. McLaren Vale’s cellar doors are 45 minutes away, the Willunga Farmers Market runs every Saturday morning, and a hands-on cooking class in a cellar door or a distillery is the one experience that sends you home with a skill rather than a memory. Do the class in the late morning and the cellar doors after, and you’ve covered the region’s two best things in a day.
Is a cooking class a good day trip from Adelaide?
It’s built to be one. Leave the city at 9:30, be at the bench by 11, cook until 1:30, then a cellar door, Normanville beach or the Willunga Farmers Market on the way home, back in Adelaide by five with dinner in a bag. The masterclasses with lunch push that to a full day out. Nobody needs to plan more than the class booking and a designated driver.
Is a cooking class a good gift for a foodie in Adelaide?
A gift voucher is the easy answer. Gift vouchers arrive by email, are valid for three years from purchase, and work on any class, masterclasses and add-on extras included, without tying the recipient to a date. For a couple, a pasta or mozzarella class is a shared afternoon with dinner to take home. For the person who has every gadget, the sausage, hibachi steak or native cooking masterclasses teach something they haven’t done.
What’s a good gift for Dad, or for Mum?
For Dad, sausage making, the pizza masterclass or hibachi steak over the fire at Bungala House, all of which end in a long lunch. For Mum, mozzarella at the distillery, pasta or gnocchi with the food to take home. Either way a gift voucher lets them pick the date. Buy two and go with them, because the gift most parents actually want is the company.
I’m single. Is a cooking class a good way to meet people?
Yes, and it’s an easy one, because the class gives everyone something to do with their hands and something to talk about. We get a lot of solo guests and they love it: benches and tables are shared, classes take up to 24, and the shared table at the end turns into a conversation more often than not. Pasta and dumplings are the most sociable classes, since everybody is rolling and folding at the same time and comparing results. Nobody is paired off and nobody is put on the spot; you just cook next to people who also like food.
Looking for a date idea in Adelaide?
A cooking class is the date that fixes the two problems with dinner: nothing to do and nothing to say. You share a bench for two and a half hours, make something together, and take dinner home to eat later. Mozzarella at Cut Hill Wall Distillery is the pick for a first or second date because it’s relaxed and you leave with cheese you made together. Pasta or gnocchi suit a couple who already cook together. Book the late morning class and you have the afternoon in McLaren Vale or on Normanville beach as well. The drive from Adelaide is part of it, so decide who’s driving.
Hens day ideas near Adelaide?
A private cooking class is a hens day where everyone does something instead of watching the bride do it. Private groups of 8 to 24 book pasta, dumplings or mozzarella at Cut Hill Wall Distillery, Lot 50 or Hastwell and Lightfoot, with a drinks package at the bar where the venue has one, and can add the shared table lunch at Lost Phoenix Farm next to the distillery. For a hens day in town, Jackson Square in Hindmarsh takes groups of 20 and up with a bar package. We’ll raise a toast to the bride and take extra photos, look after dietary needs across the group, and for transport we recommend AM PM Chauffeurs for up to eight or can suggest other providers for a bigger bus. Tell us the date and the numbers and we’ll put it together.
Is a cooking class a good alternative to a long lunch at a restaurant?
That’s exactly how to think of our masterclasses. For $160 to $250 you get two and a half to three hours at the bench, then a long table lunch of what you cooked, sausages, pizza, hibachi steak, paella or kingfish, in a homestead or a cellar door rather than a dining room. It costs about what a good lunch out costs on the Fleurieu, and you go home able to cook the meal again. The $125 classes work the other way round: cook, take it home, and eat it that night as dinner. If you’d like a proper restaurant meal after one of those, see the next question.
Can we add a restaurant meal after the class?
Yes. At the moment the add-on is the Shared Table at Lost Phoenix Farm, next door to Cut Hill Wall Distillery, a long table lunch after the morning mozzarella or pasta class, booked with your ticket. We’re talking with other local restaurants about post-class lunch vouchers for our guests, and each one will appear on the class page as it’s confirmed.
Where does the food come from?
Fleurieu first, South Australia second. We buy from local producers wherever we can, Feather and Peck eggs and Fleurieu Milk among them, and everything is made fresh by hand at your bench on the day. Ask at the bench where anything came from and we’ll tell you, and where to buy it yourself.
What does each class focus on, a cuisine or a technique?
Both, one at a time. Pasta, gnocchi, mozzarella and pizza are Italian, taught the way a nonna would. Dumplings are mixed Asian, with our own fillings and flavours and several folding techniques. Paella and sangria are Spanish. Sausage making is a butchery skill with a South Australian pantry. The hibachi steak, kingfish and native cooking experiences are our own, built around native Australian ingredients like wattleseed, pepperberry, saltbush and lemon myrtle. Every class teaches a technique you’ll use again, not just a recipe.
How much do cooking classes near Adelaide cost?
Our pasta, gnocchi, mozzarella and dumpling classes are $125 per person. Sausage making with lunch and the pizza masterclass are $160. The hibachi steak masterclass is $200, and the paella, kingfish and native cooking experiences are $250. The $125 classes include all ingredients, equipment, an apron, a recipe book (printed, or online through our Cooking Club) and the food you made to take home. The masterclasses from $160 up finish with a long table lunch at the venue, which is the main difference in price. Drinks aren’t included in the ticket, and each class page shows exactly what is.
How long is a class and what time do they run?
Two and a half hours for most classes, closer to three for the masterclasses with lunch. Weekend classes on the Fleurieu usually start at 11 or 11:30 in the morning, and as the team grows we’re adding mid-week and extra weekend classes, some at different times. Private groups can book a mid-week class at Jackson Square or on the Fleurieu on the day and at the time they choose. Please arrive at least 15 minutes before the start, because we start on time. If you’re running late, call us on (08) 7221 1685; we’ll catch you up on arrival but can’t keep the rest of the group waiting.
Is it really hands-on, or do we watch a chef?
You cook. Every guest has their own or a shared work station, and you roll, knead, stretch, fill, mince and cook your own dishes. Our presenters demonstrate each step and then walk the benches, with one team member for every eight guests. Public classes take up to 24 guests with one team member for every eight, and there’s no hierarchy at the bench: beginners and confident cooks work side by side.
What makes your classes different from other cooking classes?
Two things. The setting, because you cook in a cellar door, a distillery or an 1856 homestead rather than a training kitchen. And what happens afterwards: every guest gets access to our Fleurieu Cooking Club, with the self-paced version of the class you just did, a place to ask questions and show off what you’ve made since, and tools and recipes developed just for our guests. It’s why so many people come back for a second and third class.
I’ve never made pasta or cheese. Can I still come? Can I come on my own?
Yes and yes. Most of our guests have never made pasta, cheese, sausages or dumplings before they arrive, and every class is written for total beginners with recipes you can repeat in a normal home kitchen. Solo guests are common and always welcome. You’ll have your own station or share with another solo guest, and by the time you sit down at the end you’ll have made friends.
Can you cater for gluten free, vegan or allergies?
Always, if you tell us at booking, and Jackie has plenty of practice through her own family. Vegan and vegetarian guests are easy in the pasta, dumpling, pizza and paella classes, and the steak class has an alternative menu. Allergies such as pork or nuts are handled by swapping ingredients at your bench. Gluten free is where we’re careful. We can run gluten free pasta inside a normal pasta class, but with flour in the air we can’t guarantee it for coeliacs, so we’re building an online gluten free pasta and dumplings class and a live cook-with-us session for coeliac guests. The sausage, steak and kingfish classes are gluten free by design, and the paella will be too, and on the hibachi we give you a separate small cast iron pan to avoid cross contamination; the rest of our equipment is stainless steel and cleaned well between uses. Note dietary needs in the booking form and we’ll confirm before the day.
Can teenagers or babies come along?
Teenagers from 14 are welcome with a paying adult at our public classes, and they usually out-roll their parents. Public classes are designed for adults and older teens because of the knives and hot pans, so younger cooks come to our family classes instead, which are covered in the next question. A baby in arms or a pram is fine at any class, we’ve had plenty, just let us know so we can set your bench up with room.
Do you run cooking classes for children and families?
Yes, and it’s growing. We run family classes where children cook alongside a parent or grandparent, we’re building a program of short, fun family sessions, and we run a monthly family event at the Willunga markets, where the last one had 50 people, young and old, making butter together. Family dates go to our mailing list before they go public, so join the list at the foot of this page if you’d like to hear first.
Is wine included?
No, and that’s deliberate: the ticket pays for the cooking. Each class page lists exactly what’s included. Some classes come with a tasting from the host venue, at Hastwell and Lightfoot you can buy a drinks package at the bar, Lot 50 is a community venue rather than a winery, and Jackson Square runs its own bar for private groups. Non-drinkers get a soda or juice, and John, who looks after our wine side, will happily tell you what to drink with what you’ve cooked.
Can we book a private or corporate class in Adelaide?
Yes, and Adelaide is where our private and corporate classes live. Jackson Square takes groups of 20 and up, with a bar package if you want one and room for well over 50 for a special event, and it’s five kilometres from the CBD. On the Fleurieu private groups start at 8 and run up to 24 at our venues, or 50 and more for a larger event, always with one team member for every eight guests and the program segmented so a big room still gets a hands-on class. For transport we recommend AM PM Chauffeurs for up to eight and can suggest other providers for bigger groups. Hens days, birthdays and work events are typical private bookings. Tell us about your group and we’ll suggest a class and a date.
I have a RedBalloon or ClassBento voucher. How do I book?
Book through the site your voucher came from. RedBalloon and ClassBento each list our dates on their own pages and the booking arrives in our system straight away, so we can’t apply their vouchers directly. Our own gift vouchers are bought and redeemed on our site and work on any public class.
What should I wear and bring?
Enclosed flat shoes, clothes you’re happy to cook in, and your reading glasses if you need them for a recipe. We provide the apron, the ingredients, the equipment and the recipe book. A cool bag is handy in summer for taking pasta or cheese home, and a container if you’re the type to keep leftovers from lunch. Bungala House’s pavilion is open on some sides, so bring an extra layer there in the cooler months.
What if I need to cancel?
Give us 14 days’ notice and we’ll refund or move you to another date. Inside 14 days the ticket is non-refundable and there’s no credit, because the ingredients and the venue are already committed, but you can transfer it to another person if you let us know before the day. In extreme weather we may need to cancel or move a class, and if we ever have to cancel, you get a full refund or a transfer, your choice.
Ready to get your hands in the flour? See the next classes in Adelaide and on the Fleurieu.