If you’ve made your way through Sydney’s best restaurants and are inspired to level up your cooking game, Vive Cooking School is here to help. The independent cooking school – run by talented, enthusiastic French-born cook Jean-Luc Tan – runs a diverse program of rotating classes pitched at cooks with differing levels of ambition and interest.
Learn how to whip up flavour-packed street food or fine French dining, or visit for a one-off class with a special guest (they’ve even hosted Black Star Pastry’s Chris Thé, teaching the secrets of his famous strawberry watermelon cake).
In the paella class you’ll learn to cook (and eat) a perfect Spanish paella – crowned with juicy prawns and fresh Sydney mussels.
You won't be run through a recipe that you couldn’t successfully replicate at home, and you’ll go home with a recipe booklet mapping out simple instructions on how to whip up your masterpiece a second (and third, and fourth) time around. It’s also a good mix of hands-on-action and demonstrations – on our visit we get the uniquely visceral pleasure of peeling prawns (an essential skill for any Sydney-based cook).
The school has a super slick setup – with Koi knives and Smeg appliances at every workstation on the long marble bench that runs through the centre. Glass windows look out into the Cannery, where shoppers will look on with envy as you cook up a storm.
Time Out tip: The venue is licenced, so you can enjoy a glass of wine (or two) while you cook. (We’d advise against hitting the booze too hard – the super-sharp knives are excellent for cooking, but should be wielded with caution).