Whole Foods Salud! Culinary Center

The Culinary Center is a hidden gem that I had overlooked many times. Even when looking for cooking classes int he Sacramento area. I some how stumbled upon the Culinary Center at Whole Foods after having to of had walked passed it at least 20 times while shopping here.
The culinary center offers a variety of cooking classes at affordable prices. Most classes are about $ 25 – 45 and they are well worth every Penny. They have different types of classes and informational sessions here throughout the month. There are normally 3 – 4 different types of classes a week. They have everything from knife skill classes, to couples cooking, to cook classes for kids. I even had a private cooking class here for my friends and I. Its pretty awesome.
I took a class her with a friend as an alternative to going out on a Friday night and we had a great time. The class is hands on and everyone attempts to make one of the items on the menu with help from the instructor. The best part of course is eating whatever it is you make in the class! Don’t let me forget the 2^nd best part of the class, you are allowed or encouraged really, to pick up a bottle of wine to enjoy during the class with your meal. It was exciting, yet laid back cooking, preparing, and eating a meal with complete strangers. You leave at the end of the class with 10 new friends.
After our first class here I started speaking with one of the Culinary Instructors who then helped me plan a private cooking party in the Culinary Center for a group of 10 of my friends. Marina was great with helping us select food items that we liked and wanted to learn to cook ourselves. She was great at setting up the class and helping us decide on the menu and the price. Whether you’re a newbie in the kitchen or an experienced cook I would highly recommend looking into the cooking classes here, they have something for everyone!

Just took my second cooking class at Whole Foods’ Salud! cooking school, and it was awesome. They were both really great, and a fun way to spend a weekday evening.
Classes are $ 40 – 70 typically, and last almost 3 hours. Seems kind of pricey at first glance, but you actually end up eating a full gourmet dinner there, and drinking as much wine or beer (depending on the class) as you want. As far as good deals go — you might spend $ 50ish going to a nice restaurant and ordering a couple of glasses of wine anyway — making this a good value, because it’s entertainment, and you end up with all the recipes.
The first class i took was Beer & Bratwurst, and last night was a Filipino foos cooking class taught by a few different people, including Tina Macuha from Good Day Sacramento. And last night, Honig winery in Napa sent wine, and their rep talked briefly (and not annoyingly) abotu ti and then just poured it all night for us!
These classes happen in a demo kitchen inside a separate room in the store — it’s a state of the art facility, the classes are laid back and fun, and especially fun for a group of friends. Most classes are demonstration with certain parts being hands on.
You’ll leave full and happy, too!