Welcome!

Posted on April 22, 2013 in Uncategorized

This site is designed to help you search all the many culinary tours and cooking classes that are out there.  It’s an amazing number!

The information is taken from the websites of companies offering the tours or classes, and I can’t vouch for it unless I happen to have taken the tour myself (in that case, I’ve left comments on the listing). Nobody has paid for a listing.

Below, on the right, you’ll find a detailed menu, listing all the locations (including international ones) and types of tours, which are too numerous to include in the menu above. There’s also a search box where you can put in a location or type of tour that interests you. You can even search my items tasted on a tour (try searching for chocolate!).

I hope you’ll review any tours that you’ve taken in the comments section of each post, to help others know which ones are best.

If you operate a tour that you’d like me to add, please leave the info in a comment.

Please sign up for our newsletter, where I’ll review tours I’ve taken in depth, including photos. Just leave your email address in the grey box to the right >>
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Round Table Tours: Vegan Montreal, The Luxury of Well-being – Montreal, Canada

Posted on April 22, 2013 in Canada, Culinary Walking Tours, International, International Tours, Search by Location

From the fake-meater, to Montreal’s Meat-a-tarian classics without the meat to the raw and living, meet the different sides of the Montreal vegan both casual and chic.  From cultivation to transformation to plate experience different stages of your food. This tour straddles  the abundance in simplicity and the brave new world of innovation informed by ethics. Visit responsible restaurants and connected production sites hearing the stories of the chefs and entrepreneurs. This tour will draw you back into your five senses and this moment of sharing with one another.

The tour includes an appetizer, meal and dessert as well as two innovative drinks, the visit of a production site and a cooking course is available most days of the week. A gastronomic guide will walk you through the food experience and the stories of the chefs, entrepreneurs and businesses. A basic taxi service is included, but customized transportation is recommended like bicycles or electric scooters, for example. Base prices per participant are between $185 and $205 depending on the day of the week and group sizes. Additional drinks, celebration cakes, customized transportation, team-building activities or an end party in a bar are all possible for an additional cost.

Times: Varies depending on the tour

Distance: Always within one or two adjoining neighbourhoods

Age limit: No

Language: French and English

Price: Base prices per participant range between $185 and $205 depending on group sizes. Additional drinks, celebration cakes, customized transportation, team-building activities or an end party in a bar are all possible for an additional cost.   Tours must be reserved and paid 48 hours in advance for individuals and 7 days in advance for groups. No refund in the event of a cancellation.

More info and reservations

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Round Table Tours: Southwest Montreal – Montreal, Canada

Posted on April 22, 2013 in Canada, Culinary Walking Tours, International, International Tours, Search by Location

Out of abandoned industry and the sooty past blooms colourful, delicious and new food businesses and restaurants.  Gritty meets nouveau riche along train tracks and canal, possibility and nostalgia. Market, food factory, historical figures and discoveries for those of the neighbourhood, the newly arrived or gastronomic explorers of all kinds.

Four-hour tour that includes 2 restaurant stops, 3 market stops, beer tasting and one food production site. A gastronomic guide will walk you through the food experience and the stories of the chefs, entrepreneurs and businesses. A basic taxi service is included, but customized transportation like bicycles is recommended, for example. Base prices per participant are between $165 and $205 depending on group sizes. Additional drinks, celebration cakes, customized transportation, team-building activities or an end party in a bar are all possible for an additional cost.

Includes a gastronomic guide, the visit of four or five establishments that add up to a lavish meal, and the stories of the chefs and entrepreneurs – and meeting them when possible. Surprise gifts are also to be had. A simple taxi service is included, but customized transportation, celebration cakes, adding on a bar stop are all possible for an additional cost. Each tour is offered twice monthly at a discounted rate.

Times: Varies depending on the tour

Distance: Always within one or two adjoining neighbourhoods

Age limit: No

Language: French and English

Price: Base prices per participant range between $165 and $205 depending on group sizes. Additional drinks, celebration cakes, customized transportation, team-building activities or an end party in a bar are all possible for an additional cost.   Tours must be reserved and paid 48 hours in advance for individuals and 7 days in advance for groups. No refund in the event of a cancellation.

More info and reservations

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Round Table Tours: Iberian Montreal Circuit of Tapas – Montreal, Canada

Posted on April 22, 2013 in Canada, Culinary Walking Tours, International, International Tours, Search by Location

Discover the delicious manifestations of the Iberian Peninsula in Montreal’s Plateau neighbourhood that have grown out of its Latin roots. Come “tapear”, go from place to place eating Spanish tapas, Portuguese petiscos and Basque pintxos with friends. This tour brings you to three restaurants for tapas paired with carefully chosen wines, a specialized grocery store and a food production site. Meet the chefs and entrepreneurs that bring you the traditional, re-visited or Iberian-inspired delights. Stories and explanation of the food and evolution of the businesses that culminated to bring you the experience will be told. Experience each establishment intimately, with privilege and an insider perspective- like being inside a TV show!

The tour lasts four hours and includes: three tapas, three well-paired wines (or  non-alcoholic drinks of choice), dessert, coffee, and surprise tastings at a specialty grocery store and food production site as well as surprise gifts. A simple taxi service is provided during winter months, but when the weather is nice, the distances of a few blocks will be done on foot. A gastronomic guide will lead you through this rich experience for the taste buds.

Times: Varies depending on the tour

Distance: Always within one or two adjoining neighbourhoods

Age limit: No

Language: French and English

Price: Base prices per participant range between $165 and $185 depending on group sizes. Additional drinks, celebration cakes, customized transportation, team-building activities or an end party in a bar are all possible for an additional cost.   Tours must be reserved and paid 48 hours in advance for individuals and 7 days in advance for groups. No refund in the event of a cancellation.

More info and reservations

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Le Foodist: Daring Pairings – Paris, France

Posted on April 15, 2013 in France, International, International Tours, On-Location Cooking Schools

Ever wanted to know how to match wine with cheese, or wine with any flavour such as chocolate?  Let our sommelier help you discover which wines work with which food and why.

With games galore and anecdotes aplenty, our sommelier will introduce to a selection of four excellent wines and how they combine with a range of culinary delights, in a refreshing, memorable and above all entertaining approach to wine tasting.

As ever, you will be hearing Le Foodist’s surprising stories behind the wines and produce you encounter along the way, before enjoying a scintillating surprise finale. Paris‘s wine stores and restaurant wine lists will hold no secrets for you. The perfect aperitif to a culinary soirée in Paris!

Here are some of the possibilities:

An introduction to classic cheese and wine pairings

This is a unique experience to discover some of the variety of tastes that France can offer – and we will give you very surprising ways to bluff your friends by identifying the origin of wines with our expert touch. It’s deceivingly simple, incredibly effective – and we might add, quite unique!

Northern France Whites

Come and taste with us dry and sweet wines from Alsace, Burgundy and the Loire Valley. Late harvests (vendanges tardives), soil effects on Sauvignon blanc and Chardonnay and many more will have no more secrets for you. To many people surprise, white wines are often the best match to cheese. So come and find out first hand which pairings really work.

Southern France Whites

Here we explore dry and sweet wines from Bordeaux, Languedoc, and the Rhône valley – all the way down to Chateauneuf du Pape. The famed “noble rot” of Bordeaux equally famed Sauternes will have not more secrets for you, nor will the perfect cheese pairing of these various wines full of sun. To many people surprise, white wines can be the most surprisingly balanced match to cheese. But which cheeses? Come and find out first hand.

Southern France Reds

From Bordeaux to the Rhône – from Languedoc to Chateauneuf du Pape. These wines share a lust for the sun and they all stand like tall figures with broad shoulders. These wines have so much character you could almost hear them talk. Their poetry and complexities will have not more secrets for you, nor will the perfect cheese pairing of these various wines full of sun.

Northern France Reds

Here we explore Pinot Noir from Burgundy but also Alsace, but also excellent and surprising Gamay and Cabernet Franc based wines expressing all that some terroirs (specific areas) can offer. This is where elegance in wine is best experienced. And always, first-hand experiences on unique cheese pairings.

Timing: 6:00 pm -7:45 pm (see the calendar)

Price: from €65

More info and reservations

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Le Foodist: Sweet Pairings – Paris, France

Posted on April 15, 2013 in France, International, International Tours, On-Location Cooking Schools

Learn the secrets of perfect pastry and magic macaroons, while enjoying Le Foodist’s own surprising stories about sweet sensations through the ages. At the end, you can savour the fruits of your labour with a selection of refreshing tea-time beverages.

In every Sweet Stories session, you will experience:

Hands on and Hands In

Maybe we should say: hands in … the dough.  There is no avoiding getting dirty when you cook pâtisserie.  But at the end it is mostly sugar and butter we are talking about.  So it’s not so bad, is it?

Precision

Everybody says it is the most critical in pâtisserie.  We will explore the limits together, to see how far you really need to go …

Tasting and learning stories

When the time comes to taste the fruit of your efforts, we will share tea or coffee – and the stories of how these exotic beverages have helped shape the face of the earth, and more modestly, Paris.

Choose from these classes:

Macarons and Meringues: Not only the opportunity to learn how to make a French, a Swiss or an Italian Meringue; but also to see how to get amazing colors and flavours!  And a bit of the history of the conspicuous but notoriously challenging little cake – and our best addressees in Paris (not all as famous as you might think …)

The secret to Croissants and Napoleon: At the basis of many a French sweet delicacy there is a special dough: pâte feuilletée. Learning the secret to build literally thousands of layers of dough is fun! And the result has many applications, as we will see. But there is no Napoleon without crême pâtissière, so we do that too.

Choux Pastry: The basis for St Honoré or Profiteroles, but also for savoury Gougères, this is definitely one you will use again and again after you master it. So many applications; paired with cream bases, mmm

Timing: 2:30 – 5 pm (see calendar)

Price: €65

More info and reservations

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Le Foodist: Travel and Chef – Paris, France

Posted on April 15, 2013 in France, International, International Tours, On-Location Cooking Schools

We offer comprehensive culinary classes where you learn to select produce at the market,  plan your preparation, and learn the culinary techniques involved while producing the menu yourself. Our approach is fun and informal, but also a learning experience, and as always we shall be sharing our surprising stories of what the contents of your plate can tell you about French culture.

After the hard work, sit down with classmates to savour the fruits of your labour: a three-course meal with matching wines.

In every Travel & Chef session, you will experience what we detail below.

Learn by doing

It is said we learn by doing; OK.  But it is also said we learn by our mistakes.  Using that insight (based on experience unfortunately …) we have developped an original technique for accelerating the learning of how to cook – where you might fail first, but you will definitely succeed in the end.  And this works wonders to make the lesson memorable.

Technical mastery

Simple techniques are the foundation of any great French meal; this is the basis for French professional cooking certification.  So we ensure that you cover 5 to 7 of these fundamental techniques in each of our classes (for a total of 192). And then we explain a bit of the theory, because we all learn differently.

Storytelling

In France, the pleasure of a meal derives both from the food and the fact that we share our meals.  And what do we share?  Usually conversations about food.  So we will make sure you hear our stories about the ingredients and recipes along the way, and take the opportunity to discover a bit more about the French culture along the way.

Planning the meal

This might be the topic about cooking which is the least covered in classes or books.  Yet we think the most critical – and at the heart of professional cooking.  So why not learn something about it with us?  We will be happy to share.

Sharing the meal

At the end of our class, we always sit down to enjoy the meal together – and to hear some stories about the wine we pair with the food.

Timing: 8 or 10 am - 1 pm (see calendar)

Price: From €95, including tax and wine pairings

More info and reservations

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Le Foodist: Once Upon a Table – Paris, France

Posted on April 15, 2013 in France, International, International Tours, On-Location Cooking Schools

Once Upon a Table is an exceptional gourmet dining event, where you get to savour not only a fine traditional French gastronomic meal, but also to explore French wines, discover French culture, learn the history of what is on your plate and meet your French hosts.

In every Once Upon a Table dining event, you will experience what we detail below. To help ensure we source the best ingredients, our events change with the seasons.

Enjoy a traditional French gastronomic meal

Let our gourmet chef prepare you a traditional five-course French gastronomic menu for your delectation. The dishes have been carefully chosen to reflect the best of the French culinary tradition and each has a unique Le Foodist touch to charm the palate. Our dishes contain only the finest French sourced ingredients.

Explore French wines

Our sommelier will introduce you to five delicious French regional wines, finishing with a refreshing champagne. The wines have been carefully selected to accompany the menu to perfection and introduce you to the diversity of France’s vineyards. Our sommelier will also let you into a few secrets of tasting so that by the end of the experience you too will be talking like a true wine connoisseur.

Discover French culture

Food and wine are windows to the French soul. Throughout the evening, you will discover a little of the essence of the “French exception”.

Meet the French

Your authentic tricouleur-blooded hosts, Stéphane and Fred, will share their experiences of different cultures and give you a chance to find out what makes France so different.

Learn stories

As each dish is presented, you will be regaled with tantalising tales of the whys and wherefores of French cuisine, putting history into every mouthful. Surprising Stories are a unique core of the Le Foodist experience, offering you a chance to share your own culinary experiences.

Timing: 8 - 10:30 pm; see the calendar for dates (most frequently on Monday evenings)

Price: From €120, including wine pairings, tax & tip

More info & reservations

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Savor Oakland: Jack London Square and Historic Warehouse District Walking Tour – Oakland, CA

Posted on February 1, 2013 in Culinary Walking Tours, San Francisco, San Francisco Tours, Search by Location

Discover one of Oakland’s oldest neighborhoods! Jack London Square and the Historic Warehouse District houses chic restaurants, hidden foodie gems and urban wineries. As you enjoy mouth-watering food and drink samples, we bring to life the historic and savory Oakland waterfront. All food tastings are included in the ticket price.

Sweet, Savory, and Soul – The Jack London Square and Historic Warehouse District Walking Tour takes place in one of Oakland’s oldest neighborhoods, along the Oakland Estuary. This narrated and guided 3.5 hour food tour visits several food and drink tasting locations. This includes Oakland-style soul food, award-winning wine, and a Bay Area favorite for coffee, just to name a few. All food and drink sampled on the tour is included in the ticket price and enough for a moderately satisfying lunch. If you have any dietary restrictions, please indicate this when you purchase your tickets.

Neighborhood Nourishment – Along with the delicious food tastings, you’ll also enjoy a hearty helping of historic, architectural and cultural information about the Jack London and Waterfront communities. Our expert guides share their knowledge of gastronome favorites, architectural gems, the vibrant art scene, and local soulful entertainment options.

Tasting Locations

These tantalizing food locations may serve their specialties on the Jack London Square / Historic Warehouse Food Tasting and Cultural Tour. Tasting locations are subject to change.
Home of Chicken and Waffles: One of Oakland’s top ranked soul-food restaurant.
Urban Legend Cellars: “Mom” and “pop” wine-makers with a knack for award winning wine.
Chop Bar: A neighborhood favorite using the finest seasonal components for its dishes.
Miette: Ranked one of the top pastry shops in the world for its dainty interior and mouth-watering delights.
Bocanova: Pan-American cuisine using local fresh ingredients in a casual fine dining environment.

When: Friday – Sunday
Time: Tours depart at 10:30 and last 3.5 hours
How much: $49 Adult | $40 Child (Ages 12 and under) + fees
What’s included: All food and drink tastings, enough for a moderately satisfying lunch
Who: All age groups and fitness levels
Capacity: 10 per tour
What to wear: Comfortable layered clothing and shoes. Though rare, bring rain gear when wet weather is predicted.
Weather conditions: Tour takes place rain or shine
Where: Tour meets in the Historic Warehouse ‘hood. Detailed directions to our meeting location will be sent with purchase of your ticket.

More info and reservations

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Eddie’s Fun!: Roman Cooking Experience – Rome, Italy

Posted on February 1, 2013 in International, International Tours, Italy, On-Location Cooking Schools, Search by Location

ITINERARY – 4 Hour Day Tour

    • 10am pick up from our Eddie’s Fun main office, Via Aleardo Aleardi, 16. (Center of Rome off the main street of Via Merulana)
    • Quick Italian breakfast at a typical pasticceria. (Coffee and pastry)
    • Travel to specialty markets to purchase fresh items to prepare for a gourmet lunch (spend less than €10 total)
    • Walk through the city center before arriving to the gorgeous personal home of the Chef.
    • Cooking lesson and ingredients listed, for duplication in your kitchen. (She has been cooking for her large family for over 50yrs!!! So you probably won’t be using microwaves and electric stoves =))
    • Lunch with wine pairing
    • Return to our main office.

What’s included:

-Native cooking lesson and meal
-Experience the city as a local with our tiny group size and personal attention
-One tour buddy per group, one local
-Personally Plan and Organize your tour
-Cell Phones distributed for 24 hour service
-Tourist trap protection throughout your vacation
-Private online photo gallery of tour
-Personalized Map indicating our scouted out favorite venues in Rome, and cultural comparison articles
-Language assistance throughout

Price: €99 plus tax (Pricing is in Euros. Children under 12 are half price. €10 market item purchases are not included)

More info and reservations

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