AZCook – Azeitão Cooking Studio

Who they are

AZCook – Azeitão Cooking Studio is a cooking studio in Azeitão, the village of cheeses and moscatels between Setúbal and the Arrábida hills. It opened in February 2022, began as the project of a couple who love cooking and is now run by Susana Pimentel. The classes are not given by a single cook: AZCook works with guest professional cooks, and its website already counts more than fifty chefs, more than 600 sessions and almost 6,000 students.

The studio is at Rua da Padaria, 76, ground floor, and has ten cooking stations with induction hobs and all the equipment, for a maximum of 20 people. Every session ends the same way: with everyone at the table eating what has been cooked.

What they offer

The basic format is the three-hour workshop: you prepare three dishes with the cook of the day and then eat them together. Each workshop announces its dishes and theme in the diary, from Portuguese cooking to other cuisines or specific techniques. There are also courses by level, such as the cooking basics one and the intermediate one, which repeat roughly every quarter, while the most successful workshops return every month. They also do showcooking, in which the cook cooks for the group, and private experiences for celebrations or companies, with the theme and difficulty to choose, at lunchtime or dinnertime and with the studio to yourselves; they ask for a minimum of eight people.

As well as the final tasting, the price includes a snack to nibble during the class, lemonade, regional wine and water, coffee at the end and containers to take away what is left over. Other wines can be bought at the studio's shop. As they say themselves, all you need to bring is a good mood.

Bookings, cancellation and vouchers

You book and pay on its website, with an email notice at each step; payments are made with Multibanco reference, MB Way or Payshop, Portuguese systems. If you have none of them, write to [email protected] or call +351 938 406 444. The cancellation terms are shown on each workshop and in its general terms. The studio may cancel or postpone a session if 40% of the places have not been filled 48 hours beforehand. There is no waiting list. They sell gift vouchers from €10, valid for a year for any workshop or course.

Ages and languages

The website sets no minimum age; the reviews it publishes include families who have cooked with children, so if you go with children, ask which workshop suits them. Nor does it say whether there are classes in English or Spanish: the website and the diary are in Portuguese, so if you do not speak it, ask before booking, especially for a private experience, in which the theme is agreed with the studio.

How to combine it

The regional wine served in class can be supplemented with others from the studio's shop. Azeitão lies next to the Arrábida hills, so a midday workshop combines well with an afternoon stroll through the hills or Setúbal.