Seafood Paella cooking class, tapas and visit market

This class and tour was amazing! It started off with a meet and greet, a quick walk to the market de Russafa, then made the trek down to the actual cooking school. Maria was an excellent tour guide, hostess as well as instructor. The class was separated into three groups each led by a different instructor: Maria, Jose, and Jordi. Each of the instructors were fluent in English and were very fun and patient with each of the groups. The overall experience was wonderful! We had Tapas, Sangria, the Paella we made in each of the groups, wine, as well as desert and coffee. We HIGHLY recommend this class. It was an overall excellent experience that taught us the history of the Spanish Paella & Sangia. Most especially, we had a FUN time with our instructors and fellow classmates!

Loved it. Great hosts. Even with the rain Mary made it fun. The class was interesting and got to learn a lot about cooking Paella with a hands on approach. Would reccomend to anyone. The drinks were great and the tapas provided before the Paella were great.

Ramon (our Chef) and Mary (our Hostess) were absolutely amazing and I would take this class once a month if I lived in Valencia! We have been traveling and touring Europe extensively over the past two years and have experienced numerous tours and excursions, this was the one of the top events my wife and I have participated in. Mary met our group and escorted us to the market to pick a a few of the ingredients for the paella. Mary was a joy to meet and immediately made everyone feel welcomed and comfortable. The market was interesting but not really necessary as only a few of the ingredients needed were purchased. We then walked to the cooking school where outstanding Sangria and tapas were waiting. Ramon was our chef and he too was super open and welcoming. His knowledge and skills were impressive and he gladly shared this as our group prepared both seafood and traditional Valencia paella simultaneously. Chef Ramon ensured everyone became involved and each person in our mixed group of about 10 people (from four different countries) participated in the class. Everyone had the chance to get his or her hands dirty and take on one or two tasks while preparing the meal. The seafood paella was amazing and the sit down dinner was a fantastic experience. Our group melded wonderfully together and we actually had to be asked to leave so Ramon and Mary could clean up. I have no doubt that if given the opportunity our group would have remained at the dinner table another two hours drinking and socializing. The only recommendation I could make, and this is more my own fault than anything else, but if both paellas are prepared in the class I would offer the guests to sample their non-primary dish. I regret that I did not request simply to "taste" the traditional paella. The ingredients and preparation techniques are so different and I now wish I would have at least tasted the traditional dish. This event is a 100% do again and we even continued on with a few people from our group at a neighborhood tavern after the event! Obviously not all groups of strangers will get on like our group did but I believe from meeting Mary at the very start of our tour and Ramon once we arrived at the school were the key components that made this an experience I will always remember. I also guarantee every family in our group will attempt to recreate the paellas we prepared!

Thank you to Jose and Ramon for making our cooking experience so enjoyable and informative. From the visit to Ruzafa market to buy the ingredients, to making the paella and salad, your enthusiasm was infectious. Loved how you got everyone involved and working together, creating such a fun and relaxed atmosphere. It's was a seriously delicious way to spend half a day - the tapas and sangria on arrive and the paella lunch all tasted divine!