For more than two decades, Way Cool Cooking School has built a following in the Twin Cities by turning cooking classes into something more than a lesson in the kitchen. Now, the longtime Eden Prairie business is bringing that approach to Grand Avenue with a newly opened second location aimed at serving families, businesses and budding cooks across the east metro.
Co-owners Rob Williams and Rocky Shilhanek said the expansion was driven by growing demand from customers traveling from across the region for classes, camps and parties.
“We were having people call up looking for birthday parties for cooking classes,” Williams said. “We’re filling up. We’re having wait lists. I said, ‘I think that we can support this in a second location.’”
The business traces its roots to 2004, when the original school opened in Eden Prairie. Williams and Shilhanek, who both previously worked in corporate settings, later purchased the company from founder Linda Elliot after searching for a small business opportunity outside corporate life.
“We both love food. We both love entertaining,” Williams said. “We kept going back to it. It’s like, this is kind of intriguing.”
The new St. Paul location officially began taking bookings in April and has already hosted birthday parties, team-building events and family cooking classes. The response from neighbors has been immediate, the owners said, including an open house that drew more than 300 people after they had prepared for roughly 100.
“There’s a lot of support, a lot of excitement from the neighborhood,” Williams said.
That community focus was a major reason the owners chose Grand Avenue over a more conventional suburban expansion. Shilhanek said neighborhood curiosity has been constant since construction began.
“Anytime we’re here, it never fails, somebody stops and they want to see, they want to know what’s going on,” he said.
The school offers a broad mix of programming, from adult date-night classes and international cuisine workshops to children’s birthday parties, field trips and summer camps. Adult cooking classes typically run two hours and cost about $99, while birthday parties start around $400 for 10 children. Summer camps run several days and serve dozens of children each day during the busy season.
Classes range from pasta-making and sushi rolling to themed experiences focused on cuisines from places like Thailand, India and Morocco. Team-building events often center on collaborative cooking challenges inspired by television competitions.
“It’s very much a social thing,” Williams said. “They always leave having a good time.”
That sense of connection is central to the school’s philosophy, according to chef instructor Mary Matthews, who has worked with the business for more than 16 years.
“Everything we do builds off of each other,” Matthews said, adding that many children who attend camps or birthday parties later return for more classes, and some eventually come back to work at the school themselves.
“I’m humbled every single day by the ripple effect we have on the community,” she said. “They remember how you made them feel.”
The expansion did not come without challenges. The owners said permitting and development delays stretched the St. Paul project to nearly two years and added significant financial pressure.
“An average person couldn’t do it,” Shilhanek said.
But the pair remained committed to opening in St. Paul because they believed they offered an experience the neighborhood would appreciate.
“What we offer is something that will resonate especially with this neighborhood and with St. Paul in this area,” Williams said. “We have a fun experience to offer.”
If you go:
Way Cool Cooking School
1824 Grand Ave.
Find their classes and offerings at waycoolcookingschool.com.
Leave a Reply