Classes & Workshops · Santa Teresa
Private Cooking Classes
in Santa Teresa
A few hours in the kitchen, then everyone sits down and eats what they made.
Plan a Private Class
The Experience
Cook. Learn. Eat. Enjoy.
Spend a few hours in the kitchen with Chef James and the SOMA team for a hands-on culinary experience built around good ingredients, good stories and food worth sharing.
Guests learn about the dishes they are preparing, how ingredients are selected and the techniques that bring everything together before sitting down to enjoy what they have created.
Private classes generally last approximately 2.5 to 3 hours and can be customized for couples, families, groups and private events. Optional wine pairings and beverage service can be incorporated into the experience.
Formats
Built for Who Turns Up.
Two people or twenty; a kitchen-table lesson or the centrepiece of a group trip.
- 01
Couples
Relaxed, conversational and paced for two — usually one or two techniques worth taking home, and a long dinner afterwards.
- 02
Families
Tasks for every age and enough going on that children stay interested through to the eating part.
- 03
Groups & Friends
Several stations working in parallel, with wine and beverage service alongside, then a family-style meal at one table.
- 04
Retreats & Corporate Groups
A workshop that works as an activity: structured, genuinely instructive and easy to schedule around the rest of a programme.
What You Can Expect
The Shape of an Afternoon.
We agree on a direction beforehand — often fresh seafood, ceviche and crudo, fire cooking, or a menu built around the market that week.
Everything arrives with us: ingredients, equipment and the prep that is more tedious than instructive. Classes can take place at your villa or at a kitchen we arrange.
You cook, James explains why each step matters, and then the table is set and the class becomes dinner.
Class Questions
Cooking Classes, Answered
What guests ask before booking a private cooking class in Santa Teresa.
- Where does the cooking class take place?
- Usually in your own villa kitchen in Santa Teresa or Mal País, which means you cook in the space you are already staying in. Classes at a partner property can be arranged when a rental kitchen is too small.
- How long is a private cooking class?
- Roughly two and a half to three hours, including the meal at the end. Guests learn the dishes, the sourcing behind them and the techniques that hold everything together, then sit down and eat what they made.
- What will we cook?
- The menu is built around what is good that week — local produce, seafood landed at Mal País — and around what you want to learn. Ceviche and crudo, fire cooking, fresh pasta and Costa Rican staples are all common requests.
- Are classes suitable for children or complete beginners?
- Yes to both. Classes are customized for couples, families and groups, and no prior skill is assumed. Children usually end up the most useful people in the kitchen.
- Can a class be added to a private chef booking?
- Often the best combination: a class one afternoon, dinner cooked for you on another night of the same stay. Private chef service
Inquire
Plan a Private Class.
Let us know how many of you there are, your dates and whether you have a kitchen in mind.
