Cooking school · Washington
Tiny DC classes of four or five that teach home cooks technique, not just recipes
Beginners
No experience needed
Serious cooks
Multi-week courses and boot camps
Team events
Team building with a chef running the room
Kids & families
Classes and camps for young cooks
FoodFirst Culinary School is a small Washington, DC school run by Elena Walls. She is a former federal worker and a professional educator with over 30 years of home cooking behind her. She opened the school in 2025. Everything is built for home kitchens and real budgets, not restaurant cooking. Classes stay small, usually four people and never more than five, and they run in what one student called a homey kitchen.
The core offering is Cooking with Confidence, a four-class beginner course covering pasta, chicken and rice, sheet pan dinners, and soups and stews. Level II goes on to eggs, roasting a whole chicken, fish, and stuffed dishes. A 1 hour 45 minute Knife Skills class fits alongside both. Experienced cooks can book 2.5-hour Master Chef classes like Turkish, Moroccan, French comfort food and Asian dumplings, or baking classes in sourdough, tarts and cakes.
Ingredients and equipment are included, and allergies can be accommodated. The school holds 5 stars from 42 Google reviews.
Written from FoodFirst Culinary School’s own site and class listings, October 2026. How we write these
Read from their own listings and checked weekly. Prices are per person.
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No. Cooking with Confidence is a four-class course for complete beginners. Level II and the stand-alone Master Chef classes are for cooks who already have the basics.
All classes are in person in small groups of no more than 5 people, and usually 4.
Yes. The cost of all ingredients and equipment is included.
Yes. Most food restrictions and preferences can be accommodated. List yours on the intake form when you sign up.
Yes. FoodFirst offers cooking classes for two, birthday parties, bridal showers, kids' classes and team building events. You can also turn a scheduled class into a private event.
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