Inspiring people to connect through food
Since 2009, Cookology has touched the lives of thousands of people at our locations at Dulles Town Center and Ballston Quarter. The goal is simply to inspire people to connect with friends and family over a great meal. We teach folks to do this everyday by offering professionally taught, hands-on cooking classes in our safe commercial kitchens.
At Cookology, we believe that with practice and patience you can begin to change your life and the lives of your children by learning how to cook and changing what you eat. We hope to encourage every adult and child we meet to make cooking a lifelong passion.
We’re located in Dulles Town Center mall next door to Macy’s on the lower level and Ballston Quarter next door to Macy’s on the third level. Sign up for one of our classes or stop by and pick up a bottle of wine to enjoy around your table at home. If you’re craving more Cookology you can also read about the latest happenings on our Blog, Facebook, and Instagram.
For parents and caregivers, please visit our Kids section to learn more about our commitment to safety and learning.
Please visit our FAQs page for more general information.
Tell us how you feel
Your feedback is needed to help us improve our classes, the way we teach, customer service and how we run operations.
If you enjoyed your experience at Cookology and think the community should know more about us, please feel free to share your experience online on Facebook, Google, Trip Advisor, or Yelp If you’d prefer to share your experience with us personally, please feel free to email the owner, Maria.
Our Terms
• Class cancellations must be received via phone or e-mail at least 48 hours in advance in order to be issued a class credit. No credit or refund will be given for cancellations within 48 hours of class for any reason.
• All class credits must be used within 30 days of issuance.
• Closed toed shoes required for all classes!
Please Read Our Privacy and Security Policies from our Merchant Services Company, Heartland
Privacy Policy:
“We respect and are committed to protecting your privacy. We may collect personally identifiable information when you visit our site. We also automatically receive and record information on our server logs from your browser including your IP address, cookie information and the page(s) you visited. We will not sell your personally identifiable information to anyone.”
Security Policy:
“Your payment and personal information is always safe. Our Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) software is the industry standard and among the best software available today for secure commerce transactions. It encrypts all of your personal information, including credit card number, name, and address, so that it cannot be read over the internet.”
Continue reading for full details
Meet Our Founder
Maria Kopsidas
Maria Kopsidas is the creator and owner of Cookology. Prior to opening the gate to Cookology, Maria spent fifteen years leading marketing and communications campaigns for Fortune 500 companies, trade associations, restaurants, and charities including Discovery Channel International as publicist for India and Australia; Grocery Manufacturers Association, the largest and oldest food manufacturer association in the country, as manager of online communications; director of communications for an Electronic Data Discovery firm, and prior to opening Cookology, she was a sought-after marketing consultant with McKinley Marketing Partners.
Growing up in a Mediterranean family with philanthropists, cooks, cookbook authors, health experts and professional chefs on both sides, including a pastry chef in the White House, the idea of a super accessible, affordable cooking school was her dream. Starting in 2003, Maria took her marketing experience and love of cooking, food, health, and people and created Cookology. Finally, after six years of chasing her dream, working on her marketing career while raising a child, she secured an SBA loan, negotiated a lease, oversaw construction buildout, hired her staff, and opened the doors in February 2009.
Feel free to email Maria!
What our students have to say
We were really just blown away right from the start.
We had so much fun, and then we got home the very first night we realized we had picked up all these tidbits. How to heat up the pan, when to put the food in, how to properly season with salt and pepper…stuff that is really pretty basic, but makes a world of difference when you learn to do it right.
– Mel M.
Everything about it is just right on the mark.
The classes are fun and entertaining, you meet new people, get a great meal and walk away with a lot of useful skills.
– Marty M.
My kids loved the pumpkin muffins I brought back home. They were asking for more!
– Silvana M.
We took the basic Sushi class at Dulles and loved it.
Kids took a camp class and loved it. Can’t wait to get back in there.
– Dee M.
Cookology was great fun! Cannot wait to do it again!
– Scott Z.
I’ve been so impressed with the facility and staff.
It’s a professional-grade kitchen, and one that’s kept very clean. I love the fact that you use natural ingredients and don’t take shortcuts, so that my son is being trained to create dishes from scratch. Equally important to me has been the staff; all very friendly. The chefs are excellent, creative, and know how to instruct the kids. They even email the recipes so the kids can recreate the dishes at home! We’ve been so pleased…I highly recommend them to anyone interested in improving their cooking skills!
– Jill P.
We had an incredible party at Cookology!
My daughter and her friends had a great time! Thank you for helping make yummy food and a fun party, but mostly for making lasting and special memories of her turning 6!
– Shannon B.
I was truly impressed with the meals that came home, and my daughter has never been so excited to cook!
You all did a fabulous job with the kids! Thank you! And we cannot wait until she uses the recipes and her newly learned skills to recreate the food!
– Jenny H.
I want to start by saying – Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
From my first phone call to you my experience with Cookology has been tremendous. As you know, our book club read Julie and Julia and we wanted to have a private Julia Child inspired cooking class. You were accommodating and wonderful to deal with. I bombarded you with phone calls, questions and special requests, but you were always patient and kind. Our group of 12 met this past Tuesday for a wonderful night of learning, fun and amazing food. Everyone enjoyed every minute. Chef Ian was entertaining, knowledgeable, skilled and patient with us. We learned many new techniques and had fun doing it! What could be better than cooking, eating, laughing with friends and not having to clean the kitchen? Thank you again and we are looking forward to our next class!
– Jeri H. & Book Club Friends
Cookology in the Community
Cookology is a proud participant of the Northern Virginia community at large. We provide donations, meals, and event support to a multitude of causes. Below is a list of just a handful of the schools and organizations Cookology has supported in the previous months.
- Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic
- Arlington Traditional School
- Fauquier Alternative School
- PRS
- Loudoun Free Clinic
- Rolling Ridge Elementary
- Tauxemont Cooperative Preschool
- Ronald Wilson Reagan Middle School
- The Primary Day School
- March of Dimes
- Dominion Trail Elementary
- Algonkian Elementary School
- Sunset Hills Montessori
- St. Theresa School
- Evergreen Mill Elementary
- Sully Elementary
- United Way (on behalf for Unysis)
- Frances Hazel Reid Elementary School
- Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington, Fairfax Region
- The 25th Project
- Claude Moore Preschool
- Capitol Area Food Bank
- Gravely Elementary
- Union Mill Elementary
- Laurel Hill Elementary
- Reston Children’s Center
- Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
- St. David’s Episcopal Preschool
- Greenbriar West Elementary
- Forest Edge Elementary
- IFDA-DC
- Mautner Project (National Lesbian Health)
- Greek Orthodox Parish of Loudoun County
- YMCA of Loudoun County
- Long Branch Elementary
- Algonkian Elementary