• 

  Robin L.

  Reviewed on 04/04/22

  Great class, great experience. I'm ready to dabble again!

  Great class, great experience. I'm ready to dabble again!
• 

  David C.

  Reviewed on 04/04/22

  My wife and I attended the class together and it was a terrific couples experience. I enjoyed the class very much. It was fun to learn something new and cook in my own home using the tools I have on hand. It was such a positive experience and I would definitely take another class myself. I see this as an ideal gift for that person who has everything and I can't figure out what to do for them.

  My wife and I attended the class together and it was a terrific couples experience. I enjoyed the class very much. It was fun to learn something new and cook in my own home using the tools I have on hand. It was such a positive experience and I would definitely take another class myself. I see this as an ideal gift for that person who has everything and I can't figure out what to do for them.
• 

  John W.

  Reviewed on 04/02/22

  Goes beyond the recipes with strategic and tactical methods. I enjoyed the session very much.

  Goes beyond the recipes with strategic and tactical methods. I enjoyed the session very much.
• 

  Tamara B.

  Reviewed on 02/25/22

  I thought I might be lost and not be able to keep up but Chef was great with keep the pace of all the attendees. Sometimes we were at different stages but he provided helpful tips and answered everyone's questions. This class gave me the tips and tricks on how to make great sauces.

  I thought I might be lost and not be able to keep up but Chef was great with keep the pace of all the attendees. Sometimes we were at different stages but he provided helpful tips and answered everyone's questions. This class gave me the tips and tricks on how to make great sauces.
• 

  Tim F.

  Reviewed on 03/02/22

  What an interesting idea for date night -- a cooking class we can do without having to be in a specific city. As a frequent traveler, this format appeals to me because I can do the class from wherever I find myself. And indeed, for this class, we were traveling in a small town in rural Maryland.

  To get ready for class (and date night), I booked a hotel room with a kitchenette in the room and placed an order at Walmart for the exact supplies the class and recipes called for. So off we went equipped with our brand new 1 quart sauce pans, whisks, spatulas, measuring cups and food.

  The class got started with a technical snafu -- the presenter clearly hadn't rehearsed to know that two separate cameras would be a problem. Thankfully, some technical students were able to suggest a fix that worked for everyone. It was also fortunate the presenter had a helper to manually hold the camera when it twice became a problem later. Finally, the camera showing the cooking area was constantly locking as the computer it was connected to had not been prepared properly by disabling the screen saver / lock screen. -1 star

  Our first sauce was a veloute. Following the presenter and the recipe in hand, we started by making a roux in our 1 quart sauce pan. Questions abound from students once the presenter explains we should be about done and all of us are confused because our sauces haven't even begun to simmer yet, let alone thicken. It turns out, the presenter was using a large frying pan rather than the sauce pan we were all instructed to use. With a much wider surface in contact with heat, his sauce readied much more quickly. So he patiently waited for all of us to catch up since we were apparently using the wrong equipment.

  Still on the veloute, it became apparent the required 1 quart sauce pans were going to be too small to hold the quantity of ingredients we were adding. Fortunately, the 1 quart sauce pans I purchased came as a set including a 2 quart sauce pan. I left the hotel and ran out to the car to grab the larger sauce pans I hadn't expected to need or use. Some students adapted easily, at home in their own well equipped kitchens with plenty of pots and pans, while others had to improvise and dump half their sauce and half the remaining recipe. I was disappointed with this second oversight of the presenter who had once again failed to rehearse the class with someone unfamiliar following along with the instructions and shopping list. -1 star

  The next sauce was a bechemel. It tasted marvelous and was our favorite. But once again, the equipment list calling for a 1 quart sauce pan was clearly wrong, given that the recipe calls for adding 1 quart of milk alone, in addition to all other ingredients. Again, we were left to improvise.

  And finally, the hollandaise sauce was difficult to make. We made a mistake and overseasoned with salt by adding the full amount the recipe called for rather than adding it slowly, a pinch at a time, a distinction that me as an amateur cook would have appreciated learning in this class. This made our sauce inedible though we now are more confident about making it again next time.

  We didn't wind up using or needing half the things we were told to get - like spatulas - and needed things the recipes and parts list didn't call for. This was frustrating, added unnecessary costs and took away from our overall experience. -.5 star

  Overall, I rate this experience 2.5 out of 5. It was still fun and we enjoyed our experience learning to cook together. I recommend the presenter spend more time preparing for the class by rehearsing with someone. He'd work out the bugs such as wrong equipment, technical problems. Until then I would not recommend this class.

  What an interesting idea for date night -- a cooking class we can do without having to be in a specific city. As a frequent traveler, this format appeals to me because I can do the class from wherever I find myself. And indeed, for this class, we were traveling in a small town in rural Maryland.

  To get ready for class (and date night), I booked a hotel room with a kitchenette in the room and placed an order at Walmart for the exact supplies the class and recipes called for. So off we went equipped with our brand new 1 quart sauce pans, whisks, spatulas, measuring cups and food.

  The class got started with a technical snafu -- the presenter clearly hadn't rehearsed to know that two separate cameras would be a problem. Thankfully, some technical students were able to suggest a fix that worked for everyone. It was also fortunate the presenter had a helper to manually hold the camera when it twice became a problem later. Finally, the camera showing the cooking area was constantly locking as the computer it was connected to had not been prepared properly by disabling the screen saver / lock screen. -1 star

  Our first sauce was a veloute. Following the presenter and the recipe in hand, we started by making a roux in our 1 quart sauce pan. Questions abound from students once the presenter explains we should be about done and all of us are confused because our sauces haven't even begun to simmer yet, let alone thicken. It turns out, the presenter was using a large frying pan rather than the sauce pan we were all instructed to use. With a much wider surface in contact with heat, his sauce readied much more quickly. So he patiently waited for all of us to catch up since we were apparently using the wrong equipment.

  Still on the veloute, it became apparent the required 1 quart sauce pans were going to be too small to hold the quantity of ingredients we were adding. Fortunately, the 1 quart sauce pans I purchased came as a set including a 2 quart sauce pan. I left the hotel and ran out to the car to grab the larger sauce pans I hadn't expected to need or use. Some students adapted easily, at home in their own well equipped kitchens with plenty of pots and pans, while others had to improvise and dump half their sauce and half the remaining recipe. I was disappointed with this second oversight of the presenter who had once again failed to rehearse the class with someone unfamiliar following along with the instructions and shopping list. -1 star

  The next sauce was a bechemel. It tasted marvelous and was our favorite. But once again, the equipment list calling for a 1 quart sauce pan was clearly wrong, given that the recipe calls for adding 1 quart of milk alone, in addition to all other ingredients. Again, we were left to improvise.

  And finally, the hollandaise sauce was difficult to make. We made a mistake and overseasoned with salt by adding the full amount the recipe called for rather than adding it slowly, a pinch at a time, a distinction that me as an amateur cook would have appreciated learning in this class. This made our sauce inedible though we now are more confident about making it again next time.

  We didn't wind up using or needing half the things we were told to get - like spatulas - and needed things the recipes and parts list didn't call for. This was frustrating, added unnecessary costs and took away from our overall experience. -.5 star

  Overall, I rate this experience 2.5 out of 5. It was still fun and we enjoyed our experience learning to cook together. I recommend the presenter spend more time preparing for the class by rehearsing with someone. He'd work out the bugs such as wrong equipment, technical problems. Until then I would not recommend this class.
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