Tie one on

Photo: Sarina Finkelstein

SHORT ORDER COOKS Kids learn how to make their fave dishes at Miette Culinary Studio.

Photo: Sarina Finkelstein

Cooking parties aren’t for everyone. But if you’ve got a tyke who prefers the Food Network to Nickelodeon, then a culinary-themed birthday party might be right up there with a trip to Six Flags. And who knows? Maybe Mom and Dad will learn a thing or two as well.

Miette Culinary Studio (109 MacDougal St between Bleecker and W 3rd Sts, 212-460-9322, mietteculinarystudio.com) hosts classes and parties in a Greenwich Village brownstone for a minimum of eight kids and up to three hours. Aspiring young chefs ages 5 to 16 are taught how to prepare such organic dishes as chicken matzo-ball soup and individual potpies, and desserts like chocolate mousse and honey-almond cake. Parties cost $75 per head, with a $150 setup fee.

Home Cooking (718-282-8866, homecookingny.com) can run parties in your apartment or in an off-site culinary studio. Preset menus range from Sushi Party (with green-tea ice cream!) to Mexican Fiesta. But chef-owner Jennifer Clair prefers to tailor menus to your kid’s taste. “They have an Aha! moment when they make what they love,” she says. Parties run $800 for up to 12 guests (not including groceries).

“If they cook it, they’ll eat it” is the motto of the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan (334 Amsterdam Ave between 75th and 76th Sts, 646-505-5713, jcckitchen.org), which teaches cooking in a strictly kosher meat-and-dairy kitchen. Still, according to culinary-arts director Julie Negrin, most young chefs save their homemade challah for their parents. “They’re proud to make something for someone else.” Ninety-minute parties cost $800 for up to 12 guests and include balloons, invitations, ingredients and labor.

Classes at the Mixing Bowl (243 E 82nd St between Second and Third Aves, 212-585-2433, themixingbowlusa.com), on the Upper East Side, are based on “learning through cooking”—for example, kids learn about math through measuring flour and sugar. Birthday parties are offered for kids ages 3 to 10, with themes like Sports Stadium and Wizard Mania, which features edible magic wands. Parties cost $625–$725 for the first ten guests and include food, materials and take-home aprons.

If the Institute of Culinary Education (50 W 23rd St between Fifth and Sixth Aves, 212-847-0770, iceculinary.com) can churn out chefs for Eleven Madison Park and Babbo, imagine what it can do for your tot. Chef-instructors lead children ages 6 to 15 in classes ranging from French Pastry Making to Wrap and Roll. But it’ll cost you: These parties are priced at $2,700 for up to 20 guests, which covers food, balloons and cute paper chef hats.—Alysia Abbott