La Macarena: where the pot simmers over low heat
Between Carrera Séptima and the eastern hills, La Macarena keeps a secret that isn't announced with neon billboards or featured in international restaurant rankings. It's the aroma drifting from the windows of its colonial homes around five in the afternoon: sautéed onion, cumin, Cundiboyacense stew. For years, this neighborhood was known for its art galleries and rock bars, but recently, a handful of home kitchens have opened their doors to teach what many Bogotá grandmothers did their whole lives: cooking with memory.
This trail isn't one of those food tours where you just taste bites. It's an invitation to roll up your sleeves, chop onions until you cry, and understand why ajiaco isn't just any soup. Each workshop operates in a traditional home, the kind with an inner courtyard, creaking wooden floors, and walls that have seen generations pass. By August 2026, the offering has solidified, and these are the five spaces no foodie should miss.
📌 Transparency
This article contains sponsored/affiliate links. We may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Spanish Bootcamp Online
Why La Macarena for learning local cooking?
La Macarena has something other neighborhoods don't: the density of history per square meter. Artists, poets, and politicians lived here; the Universidad Nacional is just a few blocks away, and the bohemian vibe remains intact despite gentrification. The homes that now host cooking workshops weren't built for that. They are early 20th-century mansions with adobe walls and clay tile roofs that retain a particular energy.
Cooking in these homes isn't the same as cooking in a modern studio with granite countertops. Here, they use traditional gas stoves, thick aluminum pots, and, in some cases, wood-fired stoves for certain preparations. The instructors aren't haute cuisine chefs; they are traditional cooks, many born in Boyacá or Cundinamarca, who learned the craft from their mothers and grandmothers. This gives the experience an authenticity rarely found in a formal cooking school.
Plus, the neighborhood is walkable. You can do a workshop in the morning, have lunch with what you prepared, tour the art galleries in the afternoon, and wrap up with another workshop or a beer at one of the traditional bars. The trail can be done in a single day if you're intense, though it's best to spread it over two or three days to enjoy each experience without rushing.
Workshop 1: The clay pot at Casa Macarena
The atmosphere
Casa Macarena occupies a two-story mansion on Calle 21 with Carrera 4, painted ochre yellow with green baseboards. Upon entering, a courtyard with indoor plants and a small fountain welcomes you. The walls are decorated with old photographs of the neighborhood and kitchen utensils hung as if they were works of art. The workshop takes place in the main kitchen, which is spacious and has a long wooden table where all participants sit to eat at the end.
The house has belonged to the Rodríguez family since 1952. Doña Lucía, the matriarch, leads the ajiaco workshop. She is 74 years old and has infinite patience to explain why the criolla potato breaks down and the pastusa doesn't, or why the guasca should be added at the end. Her daughter, Carolina, helps with logistics and with explanations in English when there are foreigners in the group.
The menu and experience
Casa Macarena's signature workshop is the ajiaco santafereño with sides: white rice, avocado, capers, cream, and corn on the cob. The session lasts approximately three and a half hours. It starts with a historical introduction to the dish's origin, which some attribute to the pre-Columbian era and others to the colonial period, but everyone agrees it's the most representative dish of Bogotá.
Participants divide into stations: some peel and shell the corn, others wash and cut the potatoes (three different types), and others prepare the base stew with onion, garlic, and tomato. Doña Lucía supervises each step and corrects with affection: "No, my dear, the onion is chopped finely, like this # Look, like this". At the end, everyone serves their own plate and pairs it with blackberry or lulo juice.
The cost is 90,000 COP per person and includes all ingredients, the drink, and the meal. Prices are reference as of August 2026 and may vary by season. It's recommended to book at least two days in advance, especially on weekends.
How to book
Reservations are made via WhatsApp or through Casa Macarena's Instagram profile. They don't have a website, but they respond quickly. If you go alone, they can integrate you into an existing group; if you go with more than six people, they can arrange a private session with a customized menu. It's recommended to arrive ten minutes early to have coffee while the group assembles.
Workshop 2: The wood-fired stove at La Casona del Fogón
The atmosphere
On Carrera 5 with Calle 22, a house with a white facade and blue door hides one of the few wood-fired stoves left in Bogotá inside an urban dwelling. La Casona del Fogón is a family project run by the Moreno brothers, who restored their grandparents' house and decided to share the space with curious travelers.
The workshop takes place around the central stove, a brick and clay structure with three openings where the pots sit. The fire is lit with eucalyptus wood, which gives a particular smoky flavor to the preparations. The space is rustic: there's no exhaust hood, so the smoke escapes through the high windows. In winter, this is a luxury; in summer, it can be a bit intense, but no one complains because the result in the food is spectacular.
The menu and experience
Here, the main dish is cocido boyacense, a stew of meats, vegetables, and broad beans that cooks for hours. They also teach how to make arepas de chócolo with cheese and, if the group requests it, a curuba dessert with condensed milk. The session lasts four hours because the stew requires slow cooking time, and participants must understand that patience is part of the recipe.
The Moreno brothers tell stories while cooking. Don Álvaro, the eldest, recalls that his grandmother prepared this stew during Holy Week and that the recipe has changed little since then. He points to the dried broad beans and explains how they're soaked the night before. Participants rotate between feeding the fire, peeling vegetables, and stirring the pots. This isn't a passive workshop; here, you work.
The cost is 110,000 COP per person. It includes the workshop, the full meal, and a bottle of nationally produced red wine to share. Sessions are on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, with a maximum capacity of eight people. It's the most intimate workshop on the trail and the hardest to book, so it's best to write a week in advance.
How to book
La Casona del Fogón takes reservations by email and phone. They don't have an online booking system, but they respond within 24 hours. If it rains, the workshop still happens, but with the windows closed, the smoke can be more intense. Wear clothes you don't mind smelling like wood smoke.
Workshop 3: The sweet table at Casa de las Flores
The atmosphere
On Calle 20 with Carrera 3, a house surrounded by a garden and with a facade full of bougainvillea houses Casa de las Flores, a space dedicated to traditional Colombian pastry. The house is smaller than the previous ones, but it has a particular charm: the worktables are located under a glass greenhouse that lets in natural light all day long.
The founder, pastry chef María Fernanda Duarte, studied in Europe but returned to Bogotá to revalue the sweets of her childhood. Her workshop isn't a cooking class in the strict sense; it's a journey through the country's sweet memory. Here, desserts like dulce de brevas with arequipe, cocadas, manjar blanco, natillas, and buñuelos are prepared (although the latter are more for December, she teaches the recipe all year round).
The menu and experience
The session lasts three hours and focuses on two or three preparations depending on the season. In August 2026, the specialty is brevas with arequipe and coconut cocadas with panela. María Fernanda explains the caramel point technique, the importance of panela as a traditional sweetener, and how to make homemade arequipe without preservatives.
Participants work in pairs or trios, and at the end, there's a tasting with regional coffee. The workshop is more relaxed than the savory ones, and there's time to chat while the preparations cool or cook over low heat. María Fernanda also gives each participant a small jar with one of the preparations to take home.
The cost is 75,000 COP per person, making it the most economical option on the trail. Sessions run Tuesday through Sunday, with two schedules: 10am and 3pm. The maximum capacity is ten people per session.
How to book
Reservations are made through Casa de las Flores's website, which has an online payment system with credit or debit card. They also accept reservations via WhatsApp. If you have any dietary restrictions (like gluten or dairy allergies), let them know when booking; María Fernanda usually has alternatives.
Workshop 4: Street food at El Rincón del Tinto
The atmosphere
This workshop isn't held in a traditional house, but in a local spot on the first floor of a mansion on Carrera 4 with Calle 21. El Rincón del Tinto started as a coffee and empanada shop, but two years ago, its owners, the Páez brothers, decided to open a space to teach how to make the street food they themselves sell.
The place is small, with a high counter and stools. The walls are lined with newspaper clippings about the history of the empanada in Colombia and photographs of Bogotá's market squares. There are no large tables or a courtyard; here, the idea is to learn standing up, as it's done on the street, and then go out to eat what was prepared in a nearby small square.
The menu and experience
The workshop focuses on three preparations: beef empanadas (with the filling of shredded beef, potato, and seasonings), arepas de huevo (although they're more from the coast, they've adapted
