Moonacres Cooking School Program

Celebrate the art of cooking with Moonacres Cooking School. Understand, prepare and enjoy fresh, seasonal and hand-made food – experience the simple act of eating seasonally.

Learn specialist skills and crafts from artisans, farmers, local and renowned chefs and, take pleasure in the simple act of a shared table. The school is a living repository not only of food knowledge, but more importantly of food practice. The focus is on the doing, on learning by doing, on being taught by working practitioners.

Enquire with our Concierge Team about a customised group or corporate classes.

Vietnamese with Gill Dinh – Masterchef Top 10
Sunday 10 July
Duration: 4 hours
$175 per person

Gill became a top 10 Masterchef contestant in 2024, Season 16. She then worked as a part-time chef at Wollongong contemporary European restaurant K.malu Kitchen and Bar and doing live cooking demonstrations, food expos and workshops

Gill loves to inspire people to cook and to bring them together through food. Growing up in a home influenced by Italian flavours on her Mum’s side and the taste of Vietnam on her Dad’s, meal times in the Dinh household were anything but dull.

As one of four girls, Gillian (Gill) Dinh’s memories of the family dinner table hold much nostalgia and sentiment, as it meant sharing conversations, laughter, and stories over the best meals. Gill recalls often being able to smell what was for dinner from the bus stop, walking home from school.

For Gill, food is love. She has been influenced deeply by both her Mum Doreen and her beloved late Nonna Lina, who gifted her the use of food as a love language; as well as by her late Dad Tommy who taught her intuition in the kitchen, to trust her palette, and to balance flavours and textures when preparing food with care.

With Gill’s cooking, you can bank on big flavours and aesthetically pleasing plates.

Outside of family, Gill is inspired in the kitchen by Luke Nguyen, Josh Niland, Dan Hong, Kylie Kwong, and Marco Pierre White and she prefers savoury over sweet.

It begins at 10am with an intimate conversation and then we will join her in cooking around the bench with lunch at 1pm.

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Winter Pies with Anna Phillips
Saturday 16 August
Duration: 4 hours
$175 per person

Join us at Moonacres School this August for some comfort cooking and learn the art of pie making with Anna Phillips.

Anna is a Southern Highlands’ local – a cook, author and food stylist with 30 years of experience teaching people the joy of cooking from scratch. We will source local ingredients for this class from Moonacres Farm and other local producers to create the highest quality and best tasting pies.

You will learn the art of making pastry and there’s something magic about Maggie Beer’s sour cream pastry. Tender, flaky, and impossibly good. It’s the golden thread that ties this winter pie menu together, a humble pastry that transforms into the most comforting base for rich, seasonal fillings.

There’s something deeply comforting about a pie—maybe it’s the way it holds warmth, love, and memory all in one golden, flaky shell.

As the cold sets in, a pie feels like a hug from the inside out. It’s slow food, shared food, food that invites hands to help in the making and hearts to gather in the eating. Whether you’re rolling pastry with little ones or serving slices around the table with friends, pies remind us of what matters: simple ingredients, made with care, eaten together.

In this class with Anna we are creating the Moroccan lamb pie. Its a warm embrace of spice and soul with cumin, cinnamon, fresh herbs, and a slow-simmered richness, it’s a showstopper wrapped in pastry. Then there’s the rustic roast vegetable and feta galette—earthy, caramelised, and bursting with colour and texture. A pie for the purists and the plant-lovers.

And just when you think you’re full, along comes the apple and lemon galette—sharp citrus, buttery apples, a sweet almond crunch, all nestled in that glorious sour cream pastry. Served warm with a dollop of cream, it’s pure winter joy on a plate.

Enjoy a conversation with Anna on arrival and here about her food with some locally made teas and handmade treats sitting around the fire.

The class runs from 11.00am to 3.00pm and Anna and the team at Moonacres looks forward to seeing you soon. At the end of the class you will take with you all the recipes from the day and some pie!

Greek with Helena & Vikki Moursellas
Saturday 29 November
Duration: 4 hours
$185

Helena and Vikki Moursellas are identical twin sisters from Adelaide, South Australia, who have built a vibrant career as chefs, authors, and content creators, celebrating their Greek heritage through food.

Their culinary journey began in their grandmother Koula’s kitchen, where they learned traditional Greek recipes that continue to inspire their work today. The sisters gained national recognition as finalists on the 2014 season of My Kitchen Rules, captivating audiences with their modern takes on classic Greek dishes. This success led to the publication of their debut cookbook, Taking You Home, in 2015, and their bestselling follow-up, Peináo: A Greek Feast For All, in 2023.

Helena is currently based in London, sharing Greek culinary traditions through her popular Instagram series “Eat Like a Greek,” while Vikki resides in Sydney, working as a freelance photo chef and recipe developer for major brands. Together, they continue to share their passion for Greek cuisine, blending creativity with a deep appreciation for their cultural roots.

Their cookbook OPA1 Recipes inspired by Greek tavernas is out September 30 and they will be sharing some of their beautiful food.

Enquire with our Concierge Team about a customised group or corporate classes.