We had a nice afternoon class learning the basics of Indian cooking from Chef Parsati. She is…read moreextremely knowledgeable and was able to guide us through making a delicious meal. Chef Parsati made us feel welcome and tailored the experience to our preference. Would recommend to anyone interested in a fun cooking and learning experience.

I booked The Art of Homemade Tamales with Chef Karen for my daughter's birthday. She accepted and…read morethen just before the event she sent a message that she had "overlooked our booking" and that she wasn't available. Without consulting us, she switched the confirmed reservation to another date. We had invited guests and it was impossible to find anyone else at that point. I will never use their service again.

This place is full of goodies, coffees and great food. I…read morebought sourdough bread and done pastries. Very nice staff

Yes originally began for sourdough bread but now a variety of styles (all with sourdough starters),…read morepastries, coffee, breakfast and lunch. The line can get long on weekends but unlike neighboring coffee shops, it seems to move quickly and food comes out faster. Order pastries and bread at the glass case and coffee and breakfast at the registers. Coffee comes out by exit door while food comes out from the kitchen in the middle. The coffee is well balanced. Not sure whose they use but syrups are made in house. Breakfast sandwich looks small but is quite hearty and filling. You can add avocado, bacon, and aioli. This is a go to. West side avocado toast: adds garlic aioli, avocado, and poached egg to the Aptos version. Defn better Pesto goat cheese baguette: three letter review -- OMG Kouign Amann: this one is square, rather than classic round, and a little denser but still layered and not overly sweet. GF brownie: quite good for gluten free but sweeter than I like. Bacon egg galette: the puff pastry is nicely flaky with onions and crispy bacon. Messy but good. The premade sandwiches are all tasty and much better than you get in a grocery store. Customer service is a little hit and miss, based on personalities. There's plenty of seating inside and out.

Highly recommend Taking Pure Joy for anyone who wants delicious, no-hassle meals delivered to their…read morehome. Teddy was very accommodating to all of our dietary restrictions and other requests, and communication throughout was impeccable.

I took a cooking class here focused on Spanish paella, and it was such a fun experience! The…read moreinstructor and assistants were clearly knowledgeable, attentive, and made the evening really enjoyable. I went with friends and we had a great time cooking together. The portion sizes were super generous; we made tons of baked chorizo croquetas, devoured our entire paella, and still had plenty of lemon ricotta cheesecake left over to take home. Just a heads-up: the class ran from 7:30 to 9:30, so dinner ends up being on the later side. That said, it's totally in line with Spanish dining culture, so no complaints there, just something to keep in mind if you're coming hungry!

love this place! Belinda the manager is super professional kind and so good with the kids! my son…read morehas been attending a few camps and enjoys it immensely. camps are around 9-12pm and everything is so well organized and they know how to keep kids engaged!

We had the opportunity to cook with Valerie as a fun Fathers Day gift. It was a intimate setting as…read moreour own private session. She was fabulous including Dad who wanted to learn to cook fish better and involving the kids. It was a gourmet experience with a custom meal and two types of fish, marinated grilled artichokes and a delicious puff pastry appetizer. We now have new cooking and knife skills that will last us all a lifetime! She was very flexible, patient and thorough. Her time is worth every penny.

We had a very fun and productive evening with Valarie. She managed six adults and two children with…read moreease and grace. We learned new recipes, including four sauces. Thank you Valerie for making it a memorable evening for our family.

Great experience for people watching/interacting, and cooking without having to prep or clean!…read more Booked a shared table for 2 (4 people at a table) for an adult cooking class on a Saturday night. Pros: The shared table experience was great for meeting new people and having extra sets of brains for multitasking. Cons: Seating is random and the experience is shared; ie: one burner for 4, and the end products are shared. Our dish ended up being over-salted, and our experience was halved in interactive-ness due to the luck of the draw of seating. Never have I had a spoon or spatula taken away from my hands so fast before. And most certainly never have I had someone critique the knives and actively give the duller knife to us. This shared table experience was essentially a fight for all (for us). BUT this is just dependent on the attendees and who you're seated with. The other shared tables didn't seem to have such issues. For a more interactive learning experience, I recommend the private table to avoid the risk of randomization. On the bright side, we got to see how other couples interact, whether it was actively taking items from their partner's hands because they were doing the task wrong (ie: mixing eggs wrong??) or the couple next to us taking cute photos of each other and sharing drinks while enjoying their time together. The structure of the class was decent, organized, and well-paced. All ingredients were measured and prepared. Baking, cleaning, and chilling items were taken care of by staff. Prepping the dish (ie: battering items, mixing ingredients) and active cooking were the only things needed to be done. The instructor would explain the ingredients provided and the instructions during the instruction period for the dish at hand. Following the instructions, prep/cooking occurs while the instructor supervises and provides aid or guidance as needed. All in all, I had a great experience. The staff was nice, especially the instructor, and I felt taken care of during my cooking class experience. Would return for pasta night-- most definitely for the private table experience.

I have been wanting to take my kiddo to a caregiver and me cooking class for a while now. She is…read morefinally old enough and I felt like she was ready. I booked a Tuesday evening class during winter break. You get a confirmation email and that's it. I was worried about prep but they prepare everything for you and thought up everything as well. Small parking lot. They had us wash our hands when we arrived and then each kiddo had a color sheet with crayons. Nice touch but defeats the purpose of washing our hands first. The two of us shared a table with another mom with their toddler. Each toddler had their own set up to make 6 cookies. Everything was pre measured and it wasn't too messy. We were able to bake 6 cookies and use whatever toppings - she got to choose between chocolate chips, m&ms, white chocolate chips and these dried fruits. They read a book to the kids and then made milk shakes as a group. Each kid got a small cup and to place chocolate chips/m&Ms in. The cookies were really delicious and my child loved the milk shake. One thing is that you can't stop other kiddos from touching your items/food. Would return.

This past Sunday, we attended a cooking class with Mangiare Monterey. Sarah and Reggie, our hosts…read morefor the evening, were inspired by a class they attended on a recent trip to Spain. They were looking for something similar in the Monterey area and because it did not seem to exist, decided to create their own based on Sarah's Italian family recipes. The classes are done in the Comanche Cellars tasting room at 412 Alvarado St in Monterey. As we arrived, we were offered a glass of Comanche's Pet Gnat, a sparkling rose of Pinot Noir. For this class, the focus was on sauces. The cooking stations were set up with each couple preparing a different sauce; a meat sauce, spicy sauce and vegetable sauce (each tomato based). We had a small charcuterie to snack on as we cooked as well. I loved that all the prep had been done - no chopping vegetables. Everything was ready to go so after introductions we jumped right in with Sarah guiding the group through the process. Nicole, Comanche's resident sommelier, was on hand to offer pours of different wines which would pair with our foods. After we had prepared the sauces, we were treated to a family style meal which featured a homemade focaccia with a delicious ricotta, a fresh salad and of course pasta with the opportunity to try each of the three sauces. Which sauce was the best, I can't say. Although if I had to choose, I was somewhat partial to the vegetable. We were offered more splashes of wine while we ate. We finished it all off with some key lime cookies and a bit of Sarah's family's homemade Limoncello. It was such an enjoyable evening and something really different we had not had an opportunity to experience before. I think this would be so much fun for a special date night or just an opportunity to get together with a friend for a fun evening out. The next class will be held on February 23. For tickets and more info: https://www.mangiaremonterey.com/ Check them out on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/mangiare_monterey?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

I attended their cooking experience and it was such a great time. Loved the sauces that were made…read moreand the homemade pasta was delicious. The wine pairings were also a hit! Perfect pairings! The recipes were accessible and didn't take a lot of time so I look forward to making it home. I highly recommend attending!

My husband and I really enjoyed our Thai is Fun experience. Goi is a great teacher and the two…read moredishes she made for us were absolutely delicious. We also learned a lot about Thai cuisine. Give this a try.. you won't be disappointed

we just had a wonderful class on Thai cooking with Thai Is Fun chef extraordinaire Goi Yujaroen…read more The class was very informative and enjoyable, and we were able to successfully recreate the two dishes she demonstrated for us (Tom Yum soup and Stir Fry chicken and basil). I recommend her classes 110%!!!

My 9 year old son attended their cooking camp and it was all praises from him. His exact words…read morewere, "it was so fun and the food was so good!" He was the one who wanted me to write them a 5 star review because he enjoyed it so much. The teachers were all friendly and helpful and my son learned a lot from the cooking class. We chose the Trip Around Asia and they had lots of other options. We're definitely signing up again next year!

Loved my experience here. Came here for a work event and it has been one of my favorite ones so…read morefar! Everyone that works here is happy to be there and are so kind. During the class you are taught how to make 3 different dishes: an appetizer, a main, and a dessert. Each dish had its own station. You could choose station to begin with and move around as you wish. We were a pretty large group and I'll admit it was a teeny bit cramped sometimes and I wish there were more tools to use, but for the most part it worked very well. It was very fun and I got to learn few tips and tricks and I highly recommend it!

Totally stumbled on to this place. Really well curated collection of toys and teacher supplies. The…read moreselection and service was fantastic. Super friendly. Great for kids and curious adults. Really good puzzle supply!

Very cute store with a wide variety of items. Learning materials as well. Would visit again.read more