Publican Quality Bread in Chicago runs occasional small-group baking workshops on West Grand Avenue, with hands-on sourdough, focaccia and laminated-dough classes.
Tip: Sign up for the bakery's monthly newsletter; the workshop tickets drop online and sell out in about an hour.
Address: 1759 W Grand Ave, Chicago, IL 60622
The Chopping Block in Chicago is the Lincoln Square cooking school on Lincoln Avenue since 1997, with hands-on technique, knife-skills and visiting-chef intensives.
Tip: The four-hour knife-skills intensive is the value pick; book the chef-led pasta class as the weekend group activity.
Eataly Chicago in Chicago is the River North Italian market on East Ohio Street with a fourth-floor pasta school, hands-on Italian regional pasta and sauce classes weekly.
Tip: Book the regional Roman pasta course rather than the general intro class; the four-pasta deep-dive is twice the technique.
