Bring Home Global Flavors with these Arlington Cooking Classes

Cookology: Connect through Food

Flex your cooking skills at Cookology, the culinary school in Arlington’s experiential town center, Ballston Quarter. In six commercial kitchens, an expert chef guides each participant step by step.

• Sushi Making (Sundays 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) teaches the art of making sushi rolls, miso soup, wasabi sauce and mango cream with fresh berries. It’s open to kids too.
• Mixology Basics (Fridays 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.) features liquors from local Virginia, D.C. and Maryland distilleries in a class where adults make three cocktails and mixers and dine on heavy appetizers included in the course fee.
• Wine Down Wednesdays (Wednesdays at noon) lets you incorporate wine into classic recipes like Chardonnay Braised Chicken with Braised Fennel, Crushed Roasted Baby Potatoes and Red Wine-soaked Strawberry and Cheesecake Parfait.
  
  Check out the full list of classes available during your visit.
  
  “You can act like you’re in your own kitchen,” said Cookology owner Maria Kopsidas, because the chefs maintain a relaxed atmosphere. “It really is about fun.”

Lebanese Taverna: Experience Authentic Lebanese Cuisine

Arlington’s homegrown favorite Lebanese Taverna Market will teach you how to cook Middle Eastern cuisine. Learn about Lebanese food, nibble on tasty treats and sip wine as you learn the Abi-Najm family’s cooking secrets. A sample menu might include lentil soup, Lebanese rice, stuffed baby eggplant and um ali, a Lebanese-style bread pudding. Or learn to make basic vegetarian favorites like hommus, falafel and baklava.

Class registrants get a 15 percent discount at the Lebanese Taverna Market which offers pine nuts, dried fruits, Middle Eastern chocolate, olive oil and spices you can take home to make your own delicious dishes. Register online. Or eat the dishes as prepared by the pros at Lebanese Taverna in Pentagon Row.

Sur La Table: Choose Your Course

Ever wish you had your own gastro pub at home?

With cooking classes at Sur La Table in Pentagon Row, you can gain expert knowledge to make it happen. Learn to make your own freshly ground handcrafted burgers and pommes frites using hands-on techniques from professional chef instructors. Or, if you have more of a sweet tooth, try your hand at global doughnuts: hazelnut-chocolate filled bomboloni, beignets with powdered sugar, and churro fritters with Mexican hot chocolate sauce. Yum!

Sur La Table also offers classes in fundamentals like knife skills, bake shop basics and specialties like Thai food, Mexican street-style tacos and Tuscan chicken. Chef Scott Cacchiotti and Assistant Resident Chef Marion Anderson offer hands-on classes you can drop into and they will send you home with recipes. Cooking adventures for kids ages 8 to 12 are also offered!

Check out Sur La Table’s calendar to peruse the full array of courses. After class, shop for Sur La Table merchandise with a 10 percent discount for class participants.

Williams Sonoma: Learn Technique

Williams Sonoma, in Market Common Clarendon, offers technique classes at the stove in the center of the store. Check the course schedule, updated monthly, for classes on topics such as how to make steakhouse sauces, tacos, paella and Instant Pot dinners. In addition, kids’ classes, for ages 8 to 13, are offered on Saturdays.

Call the store at (703) 248-8150 or sign up online to reserve a spot. Enjoy 10 percent savings on select store purchases the same day of the class.

Want to continue your food education? Check out Arlington’s farmers markets for fresh ingredients, or sit down for a meal to sample Arlington’s array of global cuisines.