Mara Norris was the director of Salud!, the cooking school at Whole Foods, South Park. When the pandemic created major changes for shared spaces, Whole Foods deci

ded to close down the cooking schools, and Mara lost her dream job. She had quite a following at Salud! and a healthy roster of volunteers. She started looking for a shared kitchen where she could set up a similar concept and teach socially distanced classes.

Through her network at Piedmont Culinary Guild, she found True Crafted Pizza & Catering, which has a production kitchen in Fort Mill. It had all the equipment Mara needed, and was usually unoccupied after 2 p.m. — timing that fit with her class schedule. Mara put her vision together with the help of various volunteers – one helped build a website, another with social media — and a few chefs who worked with her at Salud! signed up to teach classes. 

The classes have a maximum of 14 attendees, and guests are encouraged to attend in groups of at least two. Classes run 2.5 hours, which includes time for attendees to eat what they’ve made. Beer and wine can be brought in.

According to Norris, The Foodie School concept is meant to be accessible to people who love food. 

“You do not have to be a good cook to join our classes, as we walk you through the entire process and answer questions as we go along,” Norris says. “You just need to be curious about food and want to have a hands on experience.” Upcoming  classes, which start at $69 per person, include pasta making (sold out), sushi, various baking styles, and Indian, Thai and other culturally diverse cuisines. Most classes can accommodate vegan and vegetarian diets. See the full schedule here. 

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