Cooking workshop with an exceptional chef in Avignon

We had a great cooking class with John yesterday. We had a congenial group of 6 ladies and all picked up many cooking tips to take home and use as well as pointers on knife skills. I highly recommend the class and the best part was eating the food at the end and visiting with the other participants.

Wonderful experience! Friendly and excellent chef! The food we prepared was amazing! Would highly recommend!

Johnathan is not only an exceptional chef, he is an excellent teacher! We are both quite proficient amateur cooks and he taught us techniques to make our cooking experience at home easier and more efficient, as well as introducing us to some new items to cook. The market visit was fun and engaging, and the preparation of our lunch added to the experience of eating and enjoying it. Truly a wonderful way to spend the day, thanks, Johnathan!

John was absolutely superb as a chef and a teacher. I was the only person in the class that morning, so it was even more intimate. His restaurant is located in Les Halles, so the class was in the morning while he prepared his lunch menu. It only has about 6 small tables, so it’s a small space. John is so funny and caring. He knows everyone around les halles, and he makes you feel comfortable and a part of the experience of running the kitchen. We made a bunch of things I had never made before including a risotto, duck breast, almond cake and tapenades. I’m making these a staple in my cooking rotation, and I can show off that I learned in Avignon.

My partner and I agreed that John's cooking class was a highlight of our vacation. Our teacher/chef is a native of California who left the US to train in Germany and France before opening his lunch restaurant in the wonderful market at Les Halles in Avignon. John taught our course in English, but he is also fluent in French and obviously has cultivated great collegial relationships with shop owners throughout the market. Thus, we began with the freshest ingredients, all of excellent quality, and John proved to be an excellent teacher. He interspersed gems of technique with information about the ingredients and history of dishes that are most popular in the Provence region of southern France. We began with a cup of coffee, brief conversation in which the five of us students got acquainted, and a sampling of three goat cheeses. We then moved on to cooking our lunch, which consisted of roasted vegetables (carrots, a blend of mushrooms, onions), polenta, roasted pork loin (marinated in a mustard-based marinade and surrounded by a red wine and balsamic vinegar reduction), and chocolate lava cupcakes. We sipped on a rose from Provence and had a lovely Cote-du-Rhone red with lunch. The class lasted a little over three hours and was great fun. I highly recommend this cooking class for anyone with beginner to intermediate+ cooking skills. I would return for another class with John.

First, John is a master chef who walked us through the creation of splendid meal that was a delight to enjoy at the end of class. We were taught so much along with way: a short course on farro, le poulet, le canard, l'aubergine et ratatouille. The class was bursting with great energy, great tastes, gorgeous colors and a wonderful camaraderie with fellow travelers. A beautiful experience all together. Merci beaucoup, Chef John!

I enjoyed the flexibility of the programme, a mix of watching and doing. All questions were answered! Jon is a great chef with a wide range of experience in culinary affairs. I enjoyed learning and chatting with him. I was alone, but joined another couple and we all had a really good experience.

A great cooking and dining experience! John is a great teacher and everything was perfectly planned. My 15yo daughter and I both enjoyed every minute of our time in the kitchen. After eating, you can walk around the market and shop for spices and other products. Highly recommend!

Great experience! Would highly recommend. Good balance of learning and doing. Chef John himself is lovely- originally from America but has been in avignon for 20 years and everyone seemed to know him (a la stopping by and saying hi), which made the experience all the more comfortable. We ultimately had a private class which was a pleasant surprise and we were very happy with the menu choices- all were delicious! He also knew my dad was interested in certain things and made sure to work that into our time together. And once we sat down to eat they paired the meal with wine :). We also started the class with some amazing cheese tastings and then learned about olive oil! We had a lot of trouble finding this tour and found it difficult to contact anyone. The cooking class is at a stall IN the market, which wasn’t mentioned in the directions but they said they would update that. Other than the 30 min delayed start and slight panic that we had missed it, it was a wonderful way to spend the day!

This cooking workshop exceeded our expectations! The workshop began with a tour of the market in Avignon, with a very interesting background on a variety of products including fish, cheese, olives and other goods, along with samples. We then prepped and cooked a lovely meal including tapenade, mushroom risotto, duck breast, cake with plum sauce and plenty of delicious French wines. Our instructor, Jon, was very engaging and informative, and a lot of fun in addition! I would highly recommend as a good way to sample local products from the Avignon area.