Three main formats share one address, and the booking calendar doesn’t make the difference between them obvious. Hands-on puts you at a cooktop for three hours and sends you home able to cook the dinner again, while a demonstration seats you in front of a working chef and brings you three or four finished dishes. Lab is one dish, roughly two hours, kids included. Prices run $40 to $149, all of it at 524 St. Louis Street, taught here since 1980. There’s a brunch class and a courtyard cocktail class too.
French Quarter Cooking Classes & Specialty Workshops
Mardi Gras Kids Camp
At a Glance
- Three formats, one address: Hands-on, demonstration and lab classes all run out of 524 St. Louis Street.
- Hands-on: $149, three hours, ages 18 and up, capped at 10 guests across five cooktops.
- Demonstration: $45 for the two-and-a-half-hour morning class, $40 for the two-hour afternoon class — you sit, watch and eat.
- Lab: From $75, two to two and a half hours, one dish, all ages welcome.
- Before you book: Arrive 10–15 minutes early, check in at the retail store, and cancel 48 hours out for a full refund.
Everything Runs Out of an 1800s Molasses Warehouse on St. Louis Street
Every class meets at 524 St. Louis Street, inside a warehouse built in the early 1800s to hold molasses. You come in through the retail store and check in with an associate 10 to 15 minutes ahead of your start time, ticket in hand. There’s no lot attached to the building. The closest paid one is Premium Parking P401 at Decatur and St. Louis, beside the H&M, and meters ring the surrounding blocks. New Orleans drew 19.08 million visitors in 2024, and a city with that much traffic has no shortage of people offering to teach you a roux. A cooking school still running since 1980 is the rarer find.
How Hands-On, Demonstration and Lab Classes Compare
What separates the three is duration, price, and how much of the cooking you do yourself. Hands-on is the longest and the priciest — three hours at a cooktop, $149 a head, and a full dinner you plated yourself at the end of it. Demonstration is the cheapest way in, and lab fits one dish into two to two and a half hours.
| Hands-On | Demonstration | Lab | |
| Duration | 3 hours | 2.5 hrs (morning) or 2 hrs (afternoon) | 2–2.5 hours |
| Price | $149 per person | $45 morning · $40 afternoon | Starting at $75 |
| Dishes | Two savory courses plus dessert | 4 items (morning) · 3 items (afternoon) | One dish |
| Group size | Max 10 guests, 5 cooktops | Ask when you book | Ask when you book |
| Age minimum | 18 and older | All ages | All ages |
| Best for | Cooks who want a pan in their hand and a full dinner they built | Anyone happier eating than chopping, with recipe copies to take home | One dish learned properly, in half an afternoon, with kids in the group |
Hands-on and demonstration classes run daily, hands-on in a morning and an evening slot and demonstrations in a morning and an afternoon slot, so a class fits most itineraries without eating the day. Lab times sit on the booking calendar.
Time, Budget and Your Group Decide Which Class You Book
Answer three questions and the decision resolves itself: how long you have, who’s with you, and whether you want to cook or be cooked for.
Traveling with a nine-year-old? Hands-on is for ages 18 and up, so it’s the lab or the demonstration. Two hours free between a walk down Royal Street and a dinner reservation? The afternoon demonstration runs two hours and costs $40. Want flour on your hands, a cooktop of your own and a full dinner you actually built? Book the $149 hands-on, and if you’re coming alone, you may be paired with another guest at a cooktop.
Booking for a bigger group? Large parties are booked through the private events page.
→ Group cooking demonstrations
The Booking Rules Are the Same Whichever Class You Pick
Cancel at least 48 hours before your date and time and you get a full refund. Inside that window, you don’t. Gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan and vegetarian substitutions are available with 48 hours’ notice — the soup becomes Gumbo Z’Herbes and the entrée becomes Creole Z’Herbes. Give the kitchen the full two days, because a vegan swap on a Creole menu means cooking a different recipe.
A city pass covers the afternoon demonstration but not the hands-on class, and moving up to the morning demonstration costs $15.
Frequently Asked Questions
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At 524 St. Louis Street the range is $40 to $149. Demonstrations cost $40 in the afternoon, $45 in the morning. Lab classes start at $75. The three-hour hands-on class, where you cook at your own station, is $149 per person.
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In our hands-on cooking classes you cook. You get a cooktop, three hours, and you plate two savory courses plus a dessert. In a demonstration you sit, watch a cook work through three or four items, then eat the results and leave with the recipes.
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There’s no parking at the building. Your closest paid lot is Premium Parking P401 at the corner of Decatur Street and St. Louis Street, near the H&M, and metered street parking surrounds the block. Check in 10 to 15 minutes early.
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Lab classes and demonstrations are both open to all ages, so families have two options. Hands-on classes are strictly 18 and older. Kids’ culinary camps run separately from the regular class calendar.
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Ten to fifteen minutes early, with your ticket. Check in with an associate in the retail store at 524 St. Louis Street — there’s no separate class entrance. If you’re running late, you can still join your class.