I took the French Pastry intensive this past Sunday and based on my experience would highly recommend this class. I recently moved to Plano and have been researching fun activities to participate in. Running in 90+ degree temps with humidity will tire a girl out! Something needs to be indoors. Enter, an incredible pastry class. I'm no rookie when it comes to culinary classes. I love them! I love cooking and baking and always learn something new from a class. It's something I throughly enjoy. This experience was 5 STARS! Everyone was so warm, friendly, inclusive and kind. We really had the absolute best time. I've been trying to feel a sense of community after relocating and the other students, as one told me are "my people". My week days have been spent in an altogether different environment that regardless of if it's cultural has brought me down in a real way. I was looking for an afternoon of joie. The class was so inviting, hands on and fun! We made a bunch of items, shared snacks and our creations together. On break another student in class gave me a tour of Central Market since I'd never been to one. Grabbing coffee, exchanging business cards with others, bookmarking a ton of new spots to try and learning about other fun activities was truly worth every dollar spent to join this 4hr class. It felt exactly like what I had imagined moving to Texas with Texans would feel like. It attracted the finest residents. I can't wait to return. They have an all star line up of classes and August is hatch chili month. I will surely be signing up for at least one class a month. The florals are also totally worth mentioning, the store and class is adorned in the most incredible arrangements. It really was such a lovely class. Now if I can find someone to teach me Mahjong! The store is also gorgeous! I'm definitely at the age where I couldn't care less about local bars, show me a stunning grocery store! Coming from Los Angeles, dare I say it... Central Market might be better than Erewhon. read more

Wonderful class and chef instructors. Filled pasta. Started with a delicious plate of mozzarella caprese and a glass of wine. We made pasta from scratch, 3 fillings, and 3 sauces. Rolled, cut, and filled our pasta. Then enjoyed a feast of our own making. Perfection (maybe not perfect but definitely beautiful and incredibly tasty). Recipes were provided and easy to follow. I will do these at home. And a surprise: Italian creme cupcake for my birthday celebration. Truly a great night. Totally worth it for a family celebration. read more

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I thought I booked a thai cooking class but the chefs that worked there and the lead chef for that day cooks in front of you while you sit and just eat the food that was prepared. $100 per person just to watch them cook for you lol. Would've loved it to be more obvious that it wasn't a cooking class but definitely partially my fault for not being more thorough. Staff was friendly but it just wasn't what was advertised. Don't advertise it as a cooking class if that's not what it is. $200 for two people just to not be able to actually cook is insane !! You can do the exact same meal for less than $100 for two people and that's being generous. read more

My lovely mother in law surprised me with tickets to the Julia Child cooking event for my bday. We decided to dress up in our dresses and pearls for the occasion. For this event we got to watch two chefs cook and prepare the meals. The steak Diane was delicious. Our chefs, Suzy and Tom were knowledgable, professional and fun. We really enjoyed ourselves. My mother in law is already planning the au gratin potatoes for dinner tomorrow night that we both enjoyed. We are waiting to go to a bake and take event for kolsches they were talking about. Yum!! read more

We had a small class which made it where we all got a hands-on experience. The food was excellent and so were the instructors.

We did the Thai cooking class and it was spectacular. The super friendly Chefs and staff were very patient and great at giving instructions and tips. The Chai tea was honestly to die for. The pairing of the wine was perfect. Everyone starts by washing their hands and the stations are kept very clean. The fun of cooking your own food is a must experience. This is a team approach, everyone gets to do something like cut, season, peel, stir, broil, etc. Celest was our team Chef and super sweet. The 3 hours went by quickly and the price is reasonable when you add, that you are getting a class, all the wine you want, salad, entree, coffee and desert. We will do this again with other classes. They book quickly, so plan ahead with time. read more

Thanks CM cooking school manager Angie for ruining this experience before we could even try it.

This is from the perspective of someone who was forced to go. My wife made me go to two classes with her, it was OK. They give you wine to drink while you're waiting for class to start, you're not really expected to drink during class. After class you sit down to eat what you cooked and more wine is available. For sure the food was good, it was cooked with pounds of butter, cream and egg yolks. I did learn a lot but I found it awkward that you share in the cooking: one person chops, one persons mixes, one person stirs, while most watch. I expected to have my own cooking station and get to do everything myself. read more

Central Market Cooking School - Plano - All hands on deck - Cooking Schools Near Me - Plano, Texas

My husband and I took the Knife Skills class and learned the proper techniques to slicing and dicing. The class size was small, about 12 people, and there were two instructors to teach us in small groups. After the hands-on session, we enjoyed dinner and wine while we learned additional info such as the proper care and storage of knives. We enjoyed learning the new techniques and look forward to taking more classes! If you'd like additional detail about the knife skills class, I wrote a blog about it in further detail: DatesByDesign dot com - One Sharp Date Idea Chop Slice Dice Date Classes fill up quickly so a little advance planning is helpful! read more

Central Market Cooking School - Plano - Knife Skills Cooking Class - Cooking Schools Near Me - Plano, Texas

My wife and I took our first class in November (2016) as a gift. We were hooked. We have since attended four classes and have two in the next month. Enter this Central Market from the northwest entrance and go upstairs (elevator available). After you sign-in, you can have a glass of wine and an appetizer before the cooking begins. Class size is limited and varies. Participants will help prepare and cook the dishes. Detailed recipes are provided and taught by experienced, fun instructors. After the food is cooked, you will serve yourself and sit down to enjoy the meal. Up to three glasses of wine is served during the evening along with tea and water. The next month of classes is posted online the first of every month. A wide variety of classes are available. Any classes purchased during the first seven days of the month are discounted 10%. (When you pay, you will be charged the discounted rate. The first time I ordered classes, I expected to see the discount listed as a separate line, so I was a bit confused by the amount charged. The statement does say "discounted rate", but I did not notice this since I was using a tablet.) My wife loves to cook and I love to eat (and help). If you have an interest in cooking (at any level of experience), I highly recommend these classes. read more

Signed up for a class and it actually wasn't a cooking class but a demonstration. I have been to cooking class before at Central Market and enjoyed it. This just wasn't what I thought it was going to be. Will be back next time when there's cooking involved. read more

I took the knife skills class with the Wustof chef. You paid a little extra for the class to come with a nice Wustof 8" Classic Cook's Knife. The knife alone was worth the price that you paid for the class, so it really was a great deal. I really enjoyed the class. It was basic knife skills, but something that I had never learned before. They had wine when we got there, but I never was offered any. Maybe I got there a little too late. Class involved the chef teaching you how to use a knife and then everyone practicing un a bunch of vegetables with the same knife that you got to take home. He answered questions and talked about knife maintenance. Overall he was very informative. He gave you a recipe for minestrone soup using the vegetables that you chopped up. As you chopped the vegetables, they boxed and bagged them up for you to take home to make the soup for yourself. Dinner was after the class and included minestrone soup that had been made beforehand, salad that had some of the peppers and things we had cup up that didn't go in the soup, and pound cake that had orange toppings using oranges that we had cut up. They were supposed to offer more wine with dinner, but, again, I wasn't offered any. In the end, a local Wustof rep was there to sell knives at a discount. They were well priced, lower than Amazon, so I bought a few things. He was also giving away as many oven mitts as you wanted. All in all, I enjoyed it and would recommend it. I would get there 10-15 minutes early. It lasted about 2.25 hours. read more

It was a great experience trying something new for my boyfriend and me. Evelyn was a blast to learn from and the take-home packet of recipes is very convenient. I really liked that Evelyn also included other cooking tips as she was walking us through each recipe. I now know how to dice an onion without crying AND hold a knife properly! Looking forward to coming back in the future :) read more

I have attended six different classes since moving to the Plano area. All were excellent and well worth the fee. Various celebrity chefs present from time to time. Local Dallas chef/restaurant owner Stephan Pyles with cheese marker/expert Paula Lambert were especially entertaining. The gourmet demonstration meal with paired Texas wines was a delicious bargain. read more

I have taken several cooking classes at the Plano and Dallas Central Market locations including pizza, rissotto, and Texas brunch. I have never been disappointed and believe that Central Market is one of the best cooking schools in the country. I like Central Market because unlike other schools, you get to see each and every menu item that is being created. While you might have to share steps in making a dish, you still get to observe how the dish is being created. In some schools they divide the classes into small groups or pairs so you only end up making one dish. While Central Market divides the class into small groups, the small groups are all making the same dishes. Additionally, I like Central Market because their food is always delicious. The Texas style brunch is my favorite class and I am considering flying (I live in the Midwest now) back down to Texas so I can attend that class a second time as I was unable to recreate that meal when I tried making it at my apartment. read more