# Simmer: free WordPress theme

URL: https://symelo.com/tools/wordpress-themes/simmer

Free WordPress theme. A warm kitchen menu-card theme for cooking schools, chefs and food studios: classes listed like a menu, chef profiles, private events and gift vouchers.

A warm kitchen menu-card theme for cooking schools, chefs and food studios: classes listed like a menu, chef profiles, private events and gift vouchers.

- Price: free (GPLv2 or later)
- Category: Education
- Version 1.0.0, 2026-10-22. WordPress 7.0+, PHP 7.4+. GNU General Public License v2 or later.
- Style variations: Market, Pâtisserie, Wine bar
- Fonts: DM Serif Display, Work Sans
- Works with: [Secure Custom Fields](https://wordpress.org/plugins/secure-custom-fields/), a free plugin by WordPress.org, optional

## Description

Simmer dresses a cooking school like the menu card on a trattoria table: cream paper, tomato red and olive, DM Serif Display headlines with italic accents, scalloped cards and dotted leaders between each class and its price.

* **Classes as a menu.** The class menu lists every class with dotted leaders, the price on the right and the next date underneath, with a chalk "2 seats left" tag when places run low.
* **Recipe cards.** "What you'll cook" sits on a ruled index card with a tomato rule; dietary notes show as chips (List block style "Dietary chips").
* **Class pages** with the trailer or photo in a scalloped frame, the method step by step, the chef, dates and seats, the venue map, reviews, questions, a menu-card booking box and a request or waitlist form.
* **Chefs** on plates: monograms (or photos) with a plate rim, roles, specialities, quotes and their classes.
* **Catalog** with filters for cuisine, level, format, price and order, and archives for every cuisine and level.
* **Private events and gift vouchers** with their own request forms (date, guests and occasion; voucher, recipient and delivery).
* **Five openers:** the menu-card hero with a class search, "Bake it yourself" full-bleed hero, a background video of a pasta morning, a chef spotlight and the private events split hero.
* About 30 patterns: class menu, order tickets of upcoming classes, cuisines on plates, reviews on pinned notes, numbers, questions, galleries (masonry and carousel with a lightbox), video, newsletter, pantry marquee and full pages (Home, About, Contact, Private events, Gift vouchers, Gallery, Landing).
* Light and dark schemes (Wine bar) with a switch in the header, and style variations: Trattoria, Wine bar, Pâtisserie and Market.
* Forms, galleries, lightbox, video, maps and animations are built in: no plugins needed. Course fields use the free Secure Custom Fields plugin (the theme offers to install it).
* Demo content: Appearance → Import demo creates eight classes, four chefs, cuisines, levels, the pages and a menu.

## Frequently Asked Questions

#### Where do form messages go?

Every form (class requests, private events, gift vouchers, contact, newsletter) is stored under Messages in wp-admin and emailed to the site administrator. Change the recipients under Messages → Settings, or per form in the block settings. Class request forms use the address set under Courses → Settings.

#### How do I add a class?

Courses → Add New. Fill in the price, dates and seats, what you'll cook, the method and the chef in the fields below the editor. Dates with five seats or fewer show a chalk "seats left" tag.

#### How do I show dietary notes as chips?

Add a List block and choose the "Dietary chips" style.

#### Can I add a featured video to a class?

Yes. The Featured video panel in the document sidebar takes a YouTube or Vimeo link or a video file; it plays in the scalloped frame at the top of the class page.

#### How do I turn off the animations?

Visitors who ask their system to reduce motion see no animations. To remove one, select the block and clear its Motion setting.

#### How does dark mode work?

The moon button in the header switches between light and dark and remembers the choice; until then the site follows the visitor's system setting. Each style variation brings its own dark palette.

## Downloads

- [Simmer 1.0.0](https://symelo.com/wordpress-themes/simmer/1.0.0/simmer-1.0.0.zip) (2026-10-22, 2.8 MB, SHA-256 cafb30ce3b87f29ce67ccdff3fd88dab38729e82a4231626f7fe6dab8148746d)

## Screenshots

- https://symelo.com/wordpress-themes/simmer/shots/home-da52e3117c.webp
- https://symelo.com/wordpress-themes/simmer/shots/courses-d060a19ec9.webp
- https://symelo.com/wordpress-themes/simmer/shots/courses-fresh-pasta-by-hand-d7b09c90b0.webp
- https://symelo.com/wordpress-themes/simmer/shots/instructors-d02a436322.webp
- https://symelo.com/wordpress-themes/simmer/shots/private-events-8b8f95b70f.webp
- https://symelo.com/wordpress-themes/simmer/shots/admin-fields-15ec479abd.webp

- [All WordPress themes](https://symelo.com/tools/wordpress-themes)

## Related pages

- [All tools](https://symelo.com/tools)
- [Agent documentation](https://symelo.com/llms.txt)