Bought this as a gift to my partner. After coming from an ICE - Institute of Culinary Education class, this experience was subpar. The website advertises "learning" how to cook and "hands-on" experience, but this was not the actually the case at all.
First off, the store owner/chef shows up 10-15 minutes late. The class was supposed to start at 10am, and at 10 the restaurant was completely closed and doors locked. As we were walking away to forget about the whole thing and try and get our money back, the owner shows up and asks us if we were there for the class.
First hour was spent explaining the ingredients as well as small talk. We did not start doing anything until around 11:30ish. Our group was 5 in total (one person was there just because she wanted to use a gift certificate before it expired).
Bottom line, the only thing you will do in this class is chop ingredients. The owner/chef does everything in the very tiny kitchen in the back herself. You DO NOT cook. You DO NOT have your own space of any kind. You stand there while she adds the ingredients and does not really explain the portions used or what she is doing.
This was very surprising because during the hour lecture beforehand, she stressed that the success of the dish we were making depended heavily on measuring the right amounts of sauces/spices to add into the mixture. While we stood there and watched her cook the food, she added everything by "eye-balling."
Save your money, pay a bit more and find a better cooking class experience like ICE or I'm sure others in the city where you can cook yourself and actually learn to do it in your own home.
more