Join your hosts Frances and Linda for a four- or five-day discovery tour of culinary New Orleans. Three hands-on cooking classes and insider’s visits to restaurants, cafés, bars, food markets, and historic music and arts neighborhoods makes this total immersion in Who Dat culture.
Roll up your sleeves and cook with New Orleans chefs using recipes, ingredients and techniques passed down over the generations. Meet restaurateurs up close and personal, visit offbeat spots on and off the tourist maps, and discover the New Orleans eateries the locals love.
Cook New Orleans offers cooking classes in New Orleans in May, July, and November.
Following is a sample five-day schedule.
Arrive: Check into the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, one of New Orleans most historic hotels, centrally located in the vibrant French Quarter, and just steps away from the famed St. Louis Cathedral. Meet your hosts Frances and Linda, and enjoy a cocktail and New Orleans style hors d'œuvres with fellow guests before we walk to a nearby restaurant for dinner.
Following dinner, there is much to do in the French Quarter. You may wish to visit the Bourbon Street clubs, explore the considerably calmer Chartres Street and its wide variety of shops, or window shop for antiques on Royal Street. The French Quarter is easy to navigate, so you won't have trouble finding your way to the hotel for a good night's sleep before a busy day of New Orleans style hands-on cooking.
Morning: After a Continental breakfast at the hotel, your first hands-on cooking class begins at the famous New Orleans School of Cooking.
TODAY’S MENU INCLUDES Shrimp Remoulade, Chicken & Andouille Gumbo, Cajun Jambalaya, Bread Pudding, and local Abita Beer and Root Beer. Enjoy your creations with fellow guests at a leisurely lunch.
Afternoon: Free time to rest at the hotel or enjoy the French Quarter.
Mid-Afternoon: Walking cocktail tour of the French Quarter’s bars and restaurants to sample unique local cocktails -- try the Sazerac, the Hurricane, the Roffignac, or the New Orleans gin and tonic called the St. Charles.
Evening: Dinner at Deanie’s Seafood, one of New Orleans’ best seafood restaurants.
Morning: Get ready for your second hands-on cooking class at the Crescent City Cooks.
TODAY’S MENU INCLUDES Seafood Gumbo, Crawfish Étouffée, Sweet Potato Biscuits, Bananas Foster, and Red Bean Hummus. Enjoy your creations with fellow guests at a leisurely lunch.
Afternoon: Enjoy a taste tour of the historic restaurants while strolling through the French Quarter sampling the classics of New Orleans cuisine -- gumbo, brisket, muffuletta, pralines, gelato, and more.
Early Evening: Bus tour of the “West Bank” district of New Orleans on the Mississippi River. We’ll stop for cocktails at one of New Orleans’ famous drive-through Daiquiri shops before joining the locals for dinner at Salvo’s Seafood, famous for boiled seafood dinners and po’boys.
Morning: Begin your day with café au lait and beignets at Café Du Monde on Decatur Street before plunging into the Crescent City Farmers Market to sample artisanal food creations and the season’s best locally grown produce.
Lunch: Start your afternoon with lunch at Mother’s Restaurant, where the motto is “A Whole Lotta Food!”, and try one of their signature po’boys like the “Ferdi” (ham, roast beef, debris, and gravy) or the “Debris”.
Afternoon: This afternoon you have a choice of joining fellow guests for a ferry ride to the Old Algiers historic district, famous for its jazz and arts history, or returning to the French Quarter to visit antique shops and a hand-made cigar factory.
Evening: The capstone cooking class at the New Orleans School of Cooking will be hands-on.
TODAY’S DINNER MENU FEATURES New Orleans BBQ Shrimp, Corn & Crab Bisque, Shrimp Creole, Sweet Pecan Pie, and local beer and wine. This is the time to party New Orleans style!
Continental breakfast and departure.
