From Pasta to Pastries: Interactive Cooking Experiences Worldwide
Airbnb is rolling out a collection of hands-on culinary experiences in cities including London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Paris, and Seoul. These experiences let travelers personally cook local dishes, navigate kitchen settings, and deeply engage with the region’s culinary heritage. By cooking themselves, participants acquire practical skills while learning about the unique culinary customs of each city, guided directly by professional chefs.
The programs are guided by renowned chefs such as Jamie Oliver, Chris Bianco, Elena Reygadas, Atsushi Tanaka, and Justin Lee, ensuring an authentic learning experience. Participants join workshops, get an insider view of kitchen operations, and participate in interactive tasting experiences. Each session blends practical local cooking, reveals the background and narratives of the dishes, and fully draws participants into the region’s food traditions. The interactive nature of the program, which costs around $200 per participant, reflects a practical approach rather than commercial advertising.
The new culinary experiences offer participants several specific activities:
- Pasta Making in London: Food lovers will be able to shape different kinds of pasta, make fresh pesto, discover fun facts about pasta’s history, and visit the chef’s kitchen.
- Pizza Exploration in Los Angeles: Curious visitors will get to go behind the scenes of a restaurant, try several themed dishes, and explore the history and evolution of pizza in a hands-on session.
- Dessert in Mexico City: Dessert lovers can attend a hands-on class to craft Mexican dessert . The class ends with a tasting of your own creations accompanied by authentic local drinks.
- Culinary Artistry in Paris: Take part in live plating demonstrations, engage in hands-on cooking, and polish presentation skills to boost creativity and culinary expertise.
- Dessert Techniques in Seoul: In Seoul, dessert enthusiasts can join hands-on sessions to make desserts and explore new flavor combinations.
These programs allow participants to work closely with chefs, ask questions openly, and watch cooking techniques in action, presented in a clear and engaging way. These experiences blend hands-on cooking practice with cultural immersion, allowing participants to learn about local ingredients, cooking methods, and culinary traditions authentically, without any commercial or promotional emphasis.
“It’s not just the best way to learn about a place’s cultural heritage through food but also to experience it with some of the most famous chefs shaping it."
These programs demonstrate the increasing attraction of travel experiences that involve active participation and deep immersion in the local culture. When visitors personally prepare local dishes, they experience and connect with regional customs, historical background, and culinary techniques in a genuine, immersive way. This structured, hands-on approach allows visitors to develop real cooking skills while deepening their understanding of local cuisine and culinary traditions.