During my time in Athens, I had a chance to experience a gastronomic cooking class at The Culinary Center and Cookery Club. When reading online, I didn’t realize how impressive an experience this would be. This isn’t just your run-of-the-mill cooking class from a hobbyist, this is a cooking class taught by a true professional. My teacher was chef Nikos Macrymichalos. He has studied in France and cooked all around the world with some of the best in the business.

The Culinary Center and Cookery Club is located not far from the Agios Dimitrios metro station. The main floor is sectioned off into a few rooms to provide multiple cooking classrooms. As a photographer, I immediately noticed the great lighting. All in all, the club offered a great setting. Before the class, I was informed that the menu for the lesson would be spinach pie, Beef Giouvetsi and Galaktoboureko for dessert. I didn’t realize how much work goes into creating these dishes until we began!

I learned from chef Nikos about how important creating stocks are for the recipes. The stocks are where the real labor comes in, and also where you get tons of flavor. Throughout the lesson, I learned many important cooking techniques. From how to hold the knife properly to producing the best results while baking, the expertise of chef Nikos truly shined bright!

It was very impressive and interesting to see all of the steps behind these three dishes. Honestly, it made me want to keep learning, but unfortunately, my time in Athens was limited.

Throughout the lesson, it definitely seemed as though chef Nikos knew what he was talking about, but I wouldn’t know until I had the first bite of food. Dear God! The results spoke louder than anything anyone could’ve said. This food rivaled all of the fine dining that I recently ate in the top restaurants in Athens. Incredible results. This is when I knew chef Nikos was truly the real deal.

This short lesson at The Culinary Center and Cookery Club was incredible! I feel as though I gained so much more insight than I would have received in a normal cooking class. This was definitely above and beyond what I would have expected. Therefore, I would highly recommend you to do the same and experience The Culinary Center and Cookery Club when you are in Athens, Greece!

The Culinary Center

Cooking Class

Vouliagmenis ave, 299 (opposite to ”Panagitsa” church, 300 m. from the metro station), 17343, Agios Dimitrios 1st Floor

Phone: +30 2109882378