Need some suggestions for a cooking class. This is for a surprise on our honeymoon--need recommendations for a class for a fairly seasoned cook...something too basic might not be that interesting for us.

We're staying at Baan Rai Lanna which is in Mae Tang, which, I believe is about an hour north of Chiang Mai.

I know, Bob, you have highly recommended Anantara in the past. The Four Seasons seemes great as well...but I wonder how far away those places are from us? Would it take a few hours to get there? If so, it might make more sense for us to look into a class closer to us (maybe even in the city...)?

There are cooking classes in CM, notably The Chaing Mai Cookery School and A Lot of Thai. Both are in CM, which is an hour away from you. The Anantara at the Golden Triangle has wonderful cooking classes, but I'll bey they are at least three hours away from you. Ask your hotel whether it has cooking classes.

The Anantara is quite far from you...maybe around 3 hours or more from Ban Rai Lanna. The Four Seasons will be closer.

But, for a seasoned cook, I can highly recommend Yui from www.alotofthai.com. We custom designed a course with her for myself, my husband and my daughter. My husband was a sous chef in the states before we came to Japan, and here in Japan he teaches cooking classes as part of his job. I am also experienced in the kitchen, and our daugther wanted to make vegetarian food.

I corresponded with the other schools in Chiang Mai, and none except Yui's were able to offer us anything beyond the set classes they already offered. Yui, however, was able to accommodate all of our requests, added some dishes of her own, and had a great price as a bonus.

We loved her, her husband and her son...they were all just lovely. Yui's English is near native, so no trouble with communication, ever. The class is held at their home, and there are cooking stations for 8 people. Our class was just us, though, as it was custom.

She gave us her cookbook that the students in the regular course get...very nice book, too. But, as all of our dishes were not in the book, we also got pages of recipes and notes for the dishes we made. It was a full day, including shopping at the market for our ingredients (cost included in the price of the class though).

We totally enjoyed our day with them, and can recommend it without any reservations whatsoever.

I also recommend A Lot of Thai. Very small and intimate as opposed to some of the larger operations that pack as many people in as possible.

Yui and her husband will come pick you up in their VW bus along with their adorable son.

Yui loves to talk and tell stories.

When we went in Feb. we were the only people in her class.

Cheers!

Dag nabbit...I just spoke with Kwan and Yui (boy, they are quick to respond!) and they'll be having their new baby in November, so the school will be closed all that month.

Any suggestions for a different school?

For them, it's terrific news. For you, not so terrific news. I honestly didn't find another place that was willing to work with us for a custom menu.

The Chiang Mai Cookery School offers a set of advanced menus that you might want to look at...they weren't suitable for our needs, but maybe for yours, and they get good reviews.

You might also inquire to the folks at Baan Rai Lanna...they might be able to point you in the right direction or even set you up with something local to them.

I agree with Kim - I'm so happy for Yui and Kwan, but, unfortunately, you can't partake in their great service... We arranged a private course as well, and it was fantastic!

(I'm going to tag on your post, filmwill)

Well, thanks for the information. I was going to email them today about a cooking class for November. Their classes sounded great.

Has anyone used with the Chaing Mai Cookery School?

Kim Japan,

How much did you pay for that course? It sounds wonderful. It was just a day, right?

Casual Cairo

The charge was 4000 baht total for the 3 of us. We went to the market together, then cooked and ate for the rest of the day until after dinner. We made 7 things, only one simple one (pad thai for my daugther). The rest of the dishes were all very complicated and required lots of ingredients and complicated assembly. We cooked and ate and talked all day. We were picked up at 8:30 and back at the hotel around 7:00. Very good.

Has anyone taken the May Kaidee cooking class? I am vegetarian and looking for a cooking class in Bangkok (or Phuket) which can accomodate.