Services & Pricing - Living Shore

We're not fans of the phrase "cooking classes"—it implies rows of stations and someone lecturing from the front. What we do is more collaborative than that. You're not passively watching, you're actively learning through doing.

Everything below includes hands-on work, direct feedback, and practical knowledge you'll use long after the session ends.

How pricing works

All prices are in Australian dollars. They include ingredients, equipment use, and any materials you'll take home. No hidden fees, no surprise charges.

We keep groups small deliberately—maximum six people for group sessions, one person for private sessions. This isn't about maximizing attendance, it's about making sure everyone actually learns something.

Hands-On Cooking Sessions

$185 AUD per person

Three to four hours, small group, market-driven menu. We start at a local market or with fresh-caught seafood, then spend the rest of the time cooking and eating what we've selected.

What you'll learn: Knife skills, heat management, flavor balancing, improvisation techniques. The specific dishes change based on what's seasonal, but the principles stay consistent.

Format: Maximum six participants. Everyone cooks, everyone eats. We work in a professional kitchen but the atmosphere is relaxed.

Best for: Home cooks who want to move past recipe-following and start understanding the underlying logic of cooking.

Frequency: We run these twice a week, Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings. Book at least two weeks ahead.

Book This Service

Private Recipe Development

$420 AUD per project

For restaurants, food businesses, or ambitious home cooks with a specific vision. You bring the concept, we handle the testing, refinement, and documentation.

What's included: Initial consultation, recipe testing, scaling calculations, plating guidance, and a finalized recipe packet with variations.

Timeline: Most projects take two to three weeks from brief to delivery. Rush projects possible with advance notice.

Best for: Anyone launching a menu, creating a signature dish, or needing professional recipe documentation.

Recent work: We've developed brunch menus for coastal cafes, signature cocktails incorporating native ingredients, and scalable catering recipes for corporate clients.

Start Your Project

Culinary Consulting

$275 AUD per hour

Kitchen troubleshooting, menu optimization, staff training, or general "we need someone who knows what they're doing to tell us what's wrong." Minimum two-hour booking.

Common requests: Menu audits for profitability and seasonality, kitchen workflow improvements, supplier sourcing, staff skill assessments.

Format: We visit your location, assess the situation, provide written recommendations, then follow up two weeks later to check implementation.

Best for: Established food businesses facing specific operational challenges or quality inconsistencies.

What we don't do: Full restaurant buildouts, health inspector compliance issues, financial restructuring. We focus on culinary operations and quality control.

Request Consultation

Seasonal Ingredient Workshops

$165 AUD per person

Three-hour focused sessions on single ingredients. Past topics: oysters, seaweed, Murray cod, bush tomatoes, native pepperberries, stone fruit, winter greens.

Structure: History and sourcing context, hands-on preparation techniques, five dishes showcasing versatility, tasting and discussion.

Schedule: One workshop per month, topics announced six weeks in advance. Limited to eight participants.

Best for: Curious eaters who want deep knowledge about specific ingredients rather than surface-level exposure to many.

Take-home: Detailed handout with sourcing information, preparation notes, and recipe variations.

Join Workshop

Event Catering & Direction

$95 AUD per person

Custom menu design and preparation for private events. We handle everything from concept to cleanup. Two weeks minimum notice, preferably more.

What's included: Menu consultation, ingredient sourcing, on-site preparation, service coordination, kitchen cleanup.

Scale: We work best with 12-50 guests. Smaller than twelve, you're better off with our private cooking sessions. Larger than fifty, we need more lead time.

Style: We don't do standard catering menus. Every event gets a custom approach based on your preferences, the season, and what makes sense for your setting.

Best for: Milestone celebrations, corporate gatherings, or anyone who wants memorable food without dealing with venue restrictions.

Plan Your Event

One-on-One Skill Sessions

$235 AUD per session

Private, focused coaching on whatever skill gap you're trying to fill. Knife techniques, bread fundamentals, sauce making, fish butchery, fermentation basics—you choose the focus.

Duration: Two hours, just you and the instructor. Can be at our kitchen or yours if you have adequate equipment.

Format: We assess your current level, identify specific areas to improve, then work through techniques with immediate feedback and correction.

Best for: Experienced home cooks or professionals who need targeted skill development without the group learning format.

Follow-up: Written notes after each session documenting what we covered and what to practice before the next one.

Book Private Session

Custom requests

If what you need doesn't fit the options above, tell us anyway. We've done everything from helping someone recreate their late mother's signature dish to training kitchen staff for a pop-up restaurant to teaching knife skills to a group of teenagers as a school holiday program.

Not everything is possible, but we're open to creative briefs if they align with what we're good at.

Booking and cancellation

All services require advance booking. Group sessions need two weeks minimum, private sessions one week, consulting and catering two weeks (longer during summer).

Payment is due when you book. We accept bank transfer or credit card. Cancellations more than one week before the scheduled date get full refunds. Less than one week, we refund 50%. Less than 48 hours, no refund—we've already bought ingredients specifically for your session.

If we cancel for any reason, full refund or rescheduling, your choice.

"I've worked with three different consultants trying to fix our lunch service issues. Living Shore identified the problem in the first hour and had a workable solution implemented within two weeks. Should have called them first."
— Marcus P., Cafe Owner

Questions about what fits your needs?

Don't guess. Send us a message describing what you're trying to accomplish, and we'll tell you honestly which service makes sense—or if something else would work better.

We'd rather have that conversation up front than have you book something that doesn't meet your expectations.