A friend and I signed up for a private empanada class. Julia was wonderful to work with as far as scheduling and accommodating dietary needs, & her sister Maru hosted us in her lovely Palermo apartment for the class. Right when we walked in Maru had set out a lovely dip & challah crisps, & offered to pour us wine as we started the class. She taught us all about making empanadas (history, dough, three + fillings, three shaping methods, two cooking methods) & was very encouraging as we got the hang of it. We also made pastelitos--dessert pastries with the same dough. Everything was delicious -- especially accompanied by Maru's homemade chimichurri -- and Maru was so wonderful to talk to about Buenos Aires and Argentina generally! Our only regret is not doing this right at the start of our trip, because we didn't have time to go to all of the great spots she recommended. I cannot recommend this highly enough! read more