Classes Archives - Discover the Burgh

The Pittsburgh Glass Center is a Hub for All Things Glass

November 26, 2024

The Pittsburgh Glass Center has been a hub for all things glass art and glassmaking in Friendship for several decades now, and in 2024 the facility recently upgraded its facilities in a beautiful expansion.

While you may be familiar with this one for its numerous glassmaking classes on offer, this one has come together to be a facility that is three spaces in one. One part museum, one part artist space, and, of course, one part for glass classes for the public!

So be sure to plan an afternoon visiting this one to check out their museum-caliber exhibits, tour the facility, and take a class!

Chef Alekka Offers a Pittsburgh Chef Experience at Home

November 22, 2024June 27, 2023

We have to admit that cooking at home is one of our favorite activities. When we're not out exploring the city or eating at local restaurants, odds are good you can find us in the kitchen whipping up an involved meal that takes all day to prepare, baking, or setting up an unusual fermentation project.

But as we are always excited to learn more cooking techniques, we were really excited to have Chef Alekka, a in-home chef in Pittsburgh, come over to our house for a cooking demonstration with some delicious summer appetizers.

All the best things about cooking with a chef but in the comfort of our kitchen? Sign us up.

Cooking International Food at Sweetwater Center for the Arts

October 8, 2025February 7, 2023

Sweetwater Center for the Arts is a rather impressive facility in Sewickley providing community classes ranging from creative writing to ceramics, oil painting to metalsmithing, classes for children to seniors, and everything in between. Throw on incredibly passionate instructors and you have an all-around destination not to be missed.

On our first visit, we were guests of Sweetwater for a media night to take in one of their new cooking classes which run a spectrum of themes (particularly with a strong international element that we are quite the fans of). Although our particular class had a curated menu for this special event which likely won't show up for a public experience (we made food from a mix of countries), the experience makes us want to book many more classes for future Pittsburgh date nights.

Palate Partners Classes Offer a Dive into the World of Wine

October 8, 2025December 14, 2021

If you've read other articles on our site, you'd likely know by now that we are a bit wine crazy. Not only are we visiting all of the best Pittsburgh wine bars and local wineries, but we also have taken many wine certification classes through the global program WSET (Jeremy is working on Level 4, Angie has completed WSET Level 2) and even run our own wine blog as a side project.

We trace this love affair with wine back to one particular source, the wine school Palate Partners in Lawrenceville where we've visited for many of their informal First and Third Friday tastings over the years (it is also where we took our WSET Level 2 class as they are authorized instructors for some levels of the program).

The informal tastings are great for those who want to get into wine because they are relaxed and take a somewhat high-level discussion into the wines you are sampling. You don't have to know anything at all about wine to have a great time at these. But for those who want to go a bit deeper, but perhaps not into certification level, Palate Partners offers a number of other themed classes to try out each month as well.

We recently were guests of Palate Partners for a Super Tuscan class, and thought it'd be fun to share a bit more about what the focused lessons are like!

Learning to Curl at the Pittsburgh Curling Club

March 27, 2025March 16, 2021

Curling is one of those sports we've always wanted to try, but never really had the chance. We've tried toned-down variants of the sport in the past at places like Sliders Curling (a seasonal rink outside of Lumberjaxes in Millvale), but when it came to playing via proper rules, well, we never had the opportunity.

Shortly after trying the variant out at Sliders, we heard that the Pittsburgh Curling Club was opening up a new, dedicated curling facility in McKees Rocks and would offer classes for non-members who want to get into the sport.

The facility opened up in early 2020 and we obviously all know what happened just a few weeks later. As such, it wasn't until early 2021 that we got to make it into the facility to try out the sport with their Level 1 Intro to Curling Class.

Although we are not the most athletic of people, we have to say, curling is a blast.

WSET Level 2 Wine Class Review with Palate Partners

November 22, 2024November 18, 2020

If you've spent any amount of time on this site, you're likely well aware that we like wine. Not only do we have a quest to check out the best Pittsburgh wineries, but we're also visiting all the best wine bars in Pittsburgh too.

But perhaps one of our favorite experiences in Pittsburgh comes from the wine education company Palate Partners with their informal First and Third Friday feature which includes several wine samples, education about the grape and region, all at a fairly attractive price point.

We knew that Palate Partners offered many wine classes beyond these, and their offering of the multi-week Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) courses caught our eye. This is an international, standardized wine program (with four levels) and the folks at Palate Partners are certified to teach the first two levels (plus bringing in a guest instructor for Level 3).

Our favorite wine instructors teaching an international wine course that is highly regarded the world over? Sign us up.

But in being ones who always like to go big, we skipped Level 1 and jumped straight into the eight-week Level 2 course. While challenging, we also had a rather great time in this one.

Learning Gardening Online With Phipps Conservatory Classes

October 8, 2025April 21, 2020

Phipps Conservatory has recently launched online classes where you can learn about a wide variety of gardening and horticulture topics all from the comfort of your own home. We recently attended a seed starting class where we learned tons of helpful tips specific to starting seeds in Pittsburgh, left with a great slide deck of information, and benefited from a helpful Q&A session at the end of class.

CRAFT Chatham Offers Specialized Cooking Classes in Pittsburgh

November 22, 2024November 26, 2019

CRAFT (The Center for Regional Agriculture, Food, and Transformation) at Chatham University is affiliated with the school's Food Studies program and aims to transform our food systems in Western Pennsylvania through education and outreach. Some of those education opportunities include fantastic food-related workshops and classes hosted at the Eden Hall campus in Gibsonia.

The CRAFT Chatham classes have long been our list to attend, but spaces are limited and they often sell out very quickly. Classes really span the gamut of topics from whole hog butchering, to sourdough bread baking, to Indian food, to fermentation. Instructors are all extremely knowledgeable and talented experts in their field.

We were lucky enough to snag a spot in the recent Kraut, Kimchi, and Lacto-Fermented Pickles class taught by Trevor Ring. Trevor graduated from the Chatham food studies program and also studied with the famous fermentation expert Sandor Katz. Basically, he's very into fermentation and knows what he's talking about!

Learning to Cook in Pittsburgh at Market District Robinson

November 22, 2024March 27, 2018

Did you know that the Giant Eagle Market District Robinson Township offers cooking classes? Before we were invited out to try a recent pie making class there, we didn't know the cooking classes existed either.

That's why we're here to give you a scoop on all of the cool things you can do at their cooking school, including lunch demos, themed classes, private classes, and events. If you are wanting to learn to cook in Pittsburgh, this really is the place to do it at!

Pittsburgh Cooking Classes – Chop, Wok, and Talk

November 22, 2024December 17, 2016

Chop, Wok, and Talk is one of the only cooking schools in Pittsburgh that offers classes where you can learn how to cook many different kinds of international cuisines.

With small classes, a hands-on approach, and an instructor who has actually traveled to different countries to learn how to cook many types of cuisines, classes here are fun and informative. And most importantly, the food is delicious.