Publix Apron’s Cooking School

Great date spot.
So my mom actually tipped me off on this.
They have three kinds of classes make sure you know which one you’re signing up for:
–You Cook
–You and your kids cook
-«Demonstration» They cook, you watch and eat
Wifey and I went to the Champagne Demonstration style Dinner last night. It was a good time. They had three diferent chefs and a sommolier all working together. They prepared 4 dishes, all of which were tasty: Sushi, Salmon with Portobello fries, Fried Chicken Thighs and Mac and Cheese, and Strawberry Shortcake. Each course was paired with a sparkling wine.
The three chefs all had different presentation styles, but al were good. The sommolier was very well informed. I feel like I’m a decent chef, and they taught me a couple things.
You get 20% off any wine or hardware used in the class, but it isn’t a hardcore pitch.
A really nice evening.
My two gripes are that I wish they had a little background music, when the chefs wern’t talking the room was kind of sterile and still. The traffic and construction on 589 is a pain, but that isn’t their fault.

I’m so glad that I signed up for these classes. I was looking for a class to learn some basic techniques. My instructors are Alan and Scot. They both were hilarious and very informative. I wish I could take them home to cook for me everyday! I loved how it was a laid back informative class. Questions were always welcome and they would give us tips on anything that was sparked from the current lesson.
The facility is very clean and professional looking. They not only teach about foods but cooking products as well. You get a 20% discount on some cooking products the day of your class as well.
I loved the family style dinner at the end. Meeting new people, eating great food, and options to drink some alcoholic beverages! If you have good restrictions, let them know in advance and they will accommodate you. I’ve taken culinary basics but look forward to taking more class in the future. My husband and I also took a class called breakfast in bed with 3 of our other couple friends and had a blast! Scot and Anthony were a hilarious duo that morning. At our last class of culinary basics, they even gave us an apron to take home. I Highly recommend taking classes here.

We went to MEXICAN MADE MEJOR and what a fun class! They were very organized and all ten of us got plenty of chances to participate. I’m not a bad cook already but I learned a few new tricks. So it’s great for beginners and experienced cooks alike. After prepping and cooking for over an hour, they set out the food family style and invited us to help ourselves to the full stocked beer and wine fridge to enjoy with our dinner. They even put out plastic containers for leftovers! Our two chef instructors were entertaining and super friendly. Very reasonably priced — I am looking forward to my next class already.

What an amazing opportunity for any foodie or home cook! The Publix Apron’s Cooking School started about 5 years ago on the second floor of this grocery store located on Gunn Highway in the Citrus Park area. The store is opposite Sickles High School, and it’s nearby to Westchase, Citrus Park, Carrollwood, Town & Country, Odessa, etc.
To start, you should visit this website:
for an introduction to the whole Publix Apron’s concept. 8 of the stores within the chain have a self-​contained cooking school, and we’re lucky to have both the Citrus Park and Sarasota stores in our area.
Classes are offered almost every evening of the week, and you’ll find the calendar on the website listed earlier. Apron’s offers demonstration classes where you just sit back and watch either a celebrity chef or the Apron’s culinary experts prepare a meal. They demo the steps which you can easily see on the flat-​screen TV monitors located above the center island. Meanwhile you’re happily drinking glasses of wine while they prepare your dinner. At the end of the evening you’re presented with a complete set of recipes and cooking instructions for that night’s class. The demo classes run about $ 45 per person with a full dinner plus wine, plus a great time. Celebrity chef appearances will run higher.
In addition, Publix Apron’s offers hands-​on cooking classes where smaller groups of 8 — 12 people actually participate in the prep and cooking of the meal under the helpful and watchful eyes of the Publix chefs. These hands-​on classes focus on tricks of the trade, and range in skill level from «recreational» to «master.» These classes are about the same price.
If the thought of cooking at home seems a bit intimidating, then I’d suggest taking some of their beginner classes which focus on basic knife skills and simple recipes that anyone can prepare. From there you can move through the intermediate and advanced classes as well as focusing on various international and ethnic cuisines. They generally have classes on preparing seafood, great steakhouse dinners, romantic Valentine’s dinners, Sunday brunch ideas, and so on. All of the classes are tremendous fun, and I highly recommend them for a great night out with family and friends.
My class tonight was called «One Pot Wonders», and it was a hands-​on cooking class. We had about 10 people in the 2.5-hour class, and we all took part in preparing and cooking the meal — and of course we all sat at the communal table and shared the meal family-​style when we were done. Tonight’s menu was Beer and Coffee-​Braised Boston Butt; 3-​Bean Beef Chili; Truffled Potato Soup; and Ropa Viejo. Four very delicious dinners that can easily be prepared in a 5-​quart covered casserole or in a crock pot.
As you’ll see from the website, they offer vegetarian cooking classes as well as classes for little kids and teenagers. Oh, and no problem if you have a food allergy — just let them know.
If there’s enough interest, and everyone is willing to pay their share, we could coordinate a small UYE private class at Publix Apron’s Cooking School.

While I’ve taken a good number of cooking classes around the Tampa area over the past 4 years, the approx. 30 cooking classes I’ve taken here have always been excellent. The classroom is first rate and nicely sized, with equipment equivalent to a good commercial kitchen.
Each of the full-​time instructors is first-​rate, and they all have real-​world, industry experience. I mention that as while I’ve found instructors who only have culinary school experience often have great techniques to share, I’ve never failed to get more from an instructor who has spent significant time in a commercial kitchen. Furthermore, these instructors don’t have any agenda to encourage your purchase of culinary products they’re selling. Yes, the store has a few cooking items you can get if you need them, but there is never a feeling of, «To do this right, you need to buy this.» Rather, it’s quite the opposite, as in, «There are a number of ways to do this, including what you likely already have in your kitchen.» I’m guessing that’s just one way their real world experience in restaurants shines through as there isn’t the luxury of wishing you had just the right tool to get the job done when you’ve got a stack of orders to fill. You grab what you’ve got and get cooking. And that extends to the ingredients they use in the classes. While obviously Publix grocery stores often have a wide variety of ingredients that are used in the Apron’s classes, the instructors are quick to point out other local sources of where to find quality and hard-​to-​find items.
And «get to cooking» is what you’ll find in each of the Apron’s classes, with everything from multiweek classes just on techniques or certain regional cooking themes, to an ever-​changing schedule of single classes featuring certain ingredients, techniques, and cultures. They offer classes for beginner, intermediate and advanced students. The class schedule changes roughly every 3 months, so you need to sign up on the email list to be notified when a new schedule is published.
Most classes are «hands on» with all the students participating in various tasks making the recipes and eating the results, while other «demonstration» classes have students watch the instructors cook, then serve the recipes at tables of 4. Each class usually includes 5 – 6 different recipes from apps to desert. A nice touch is most classes offer complimentary wine or beer to enjoy with your meal.
Considering the class costs are often equivalent to dining out at a nice restaurant, getting the instruction sometimes seems like a bonus! So at the demo classes, you’ll often get couples or groups of 4 friends/​family that attend together as a special occasion to dine and learn. The hands on classes usually have ~10−12 students, and the demo classes about twice that many. And since the class recipes include a full meal, you leave prepared to to cook and serve all of the selections on your own.
Aprons also offers demo classes with local to national chefs and speakers who instruct demo classes featuring their specialties. It’s a treat to get to learn from the chefs that lead one of your favorite restaurants. Aprons also offer classes with industry leading winemakers for those who want to learn more about that industry and food pairings.
I highly recommend Aprons if you want to improve and expand your cooking skills.

Based out of one of the nicer Publix I’ve been to, the Apron’s Cooking School isn’t really a full school, just a place to take one day classes to further your culinary range and skills. It is taught by real chefs and they also bring in nutritional consultants to help explain the health benefits of certain foods as well as answer your questions about food myths.
The class we attended was the Vegan Meatless Monday and it was worth every penny. For $ 35 per person, they give you a list of recipes and the chefs prepare the meals with help from all of the participants. Everyone got to help dice up vegetables, prepare marinades, grill, bake, fry, and whip up a tasty vegan cheesecake for dessert. Our menu included a seared tofu with more Italian style seasonings (to break out of the «Asian rut» associated with tofu), a hearty portobello chili, roasted autumn vegetables, a tomato and eggplant strata, and the aforementioned cheesecake.
After everything was ready, it was served family style and all participants got to try the dishes along with our choice of many beers and wines. They also had sodas and waters for those who couldn’t drink.
This was not an advanced cooking class, but I still feel that I learned a few things, and more importantly, I had a great time. If you don’t have a lot of kitchen experience, the chefs will help you out and make you feel comfortable with whatever task you are assigned. Check out their website for the list of cooking classes they offer and sign up for one soon!