We have been teaching people in Chicago how to cook for over 24 years. The Chopping Block is a recreational cooking school that combines education and entertainment, as our staff provides each guest “The Chopping Block Experience.” From the greeting you receive when you walk in our stores, to the music you hear, to the tools and equipment you use, to the menu you create, to the plate you eat on, to the products you shop for, we strive to provide the ultimate experience for our customers.

Our Story

The Chopping Block opened in a small cottage in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood in 1997. Owner Shelley Young came up with the idea for a recreational cooking school and antique store while on a cross-country journey. Shelley taught each class herself at first, but began to grow her staff and the retail store as she found that many customers needed assistance in selecting kitchen equipment. The idea of a cooking school with a personal touch worked and in order to accommodate the growing demand for hands-on classes, The Chopping Block opened its second location in Lincoln Square in 2003. The original location moved to the Merchandise Mart in 2005, where an expansive 8000-square-foot space allowed The Chopping Block to accommodate Chicago’s growing interest in private cooking parties. Today, The Chopping Block is one of the busiest cooking schools in the country, hosting hundreds of cooking classes and private events each month. Our mission is to get the country to cook.

What We Do

Our mission at The Chopping Block is to get you to cook. To do that, we must understand why people don’t cook. Obstacles to cooking typically range from time, budget, energy level or even a hatred of doing dishes. We know life can get in the way, but cooking at home is more healthful and less expensive than eating out, and it brings people together. It’s our goal to help you overcome obstacles to enjoy cooking at home. We do that through our cooking classes, private events and retail products.

Join Our Team

If you have a love for cooking, a passion for building community through food and a desire to be a team member of Chicago’s largest recreational cooking school, discover the opportunity of a partnership with The Chopping Block. We are looking for enthusiastic team members who can help us drive our mission to get people to cook. Some of the key positions that support this mission include Chef Instructors, Class Assistants and Retail Concierges.