I don't like cooking and I have no desire to learn to cook. Sooo you know if I'm giving this cooking class 5 stars it must be something special. Those who like cooking will be thrilled with a night at Susi's home, but others who are happier socializing and eating (like myself) will be just as satisfied. As soon as we arrived Susi handed each of us a personalized apron (probably the only thing that I'll ever see Chef Andrea on), told us to tie our hair back (I appreciate a hairless kitchen) and directed us towards delish apps and wine. But the night got even better... We were split into groups and I was placed into the capable hands of Chef Charmaine. My group was in charge of the upside down strawberry cake. Yum- I hope there'd be batter testing involved!! Charmaine gave each of us a job (mine was to crack eggs). We chatted and drank wine while we baked so it was actually fun. I may have given her a slight heart attack when I dumped the vinegar into the batter way earlier than necessary, but for the most part Charmaine made sure the others would be able to enjoy our cake. By the time I was over cracking eggs, stirring batter (and yes, even taste testing) it was time to sit down for a 5 star meal of gazpacho, flatbread, salmon, quinoa and the cake. I wasn't a huge fan of the salmon, but it was probably just me because it quickly disappeared from everyone else's plates. Everything else was absolutely incredible. I love that Susi hosts these dinner parties right out of her cozy home and if I had a kitchen that gorgeous I may even consider cooking. Maybe. read more

Cooking by the Book - Gazpacho made by my group! - Cooking Schools Near Me - New York, New York

My office had a team building exercise for our company here and I have to say it was loads of fun!! We were split into two groups as it seemed the anymore than 20 people in the kitchen would have been chaos. While one group was cooking in the kitchen along side professional chefs the other group was being entertained in the dining area with some kitchen/cooking trivia which was loads of fun. The dining area is relatively small so I'm not certain what the capacity limit is for an event hosted by this company but my guess would be a cooking event by this company is probably limited to a group of about 50 at a time. Larger companies probably would have to break into two separate time slots (but of course only they can answer that question). The kitchen was very clean and we used quality pots, bowls and culinary products and it was apparent when you held the stuff. It truly was an amazing experience and the staff was patient and absolutely great. Heck we were even a tough crowd getting carried away during the entertainment portion. The staff probably wanted to hit us over the head with a couple frying pans but they were great sports! My only complaint from the event was that my company was cheap and didn't order beef, they opted instead for veggie options (Yuk!) but the food quality was great. read more

See all

So very much fun. What a fabulous experience personally and with my team. When I was told we were going here for some good old team building, I started looking at the pictures and reading the reviews. I couldn't grasp that the photos showed were matching up with the comments in the reviews that this, in fact, was at someone's home. How it works: - Arrive and put items in the mud room and get ready to have FUN! - Begin in the "living room" where the walls are lined with cook books or all sorts, a fireplace is going, and there are some appetizers and drinks all ready for you to get comfortable for the evening. The appetizers were so fresh and delicious. A great way to make sure we weren't snacking the entire time we were cooking. - Welcome from Suzi and an introduction to her story and why she began Cooking by the Book - Introduction to the team of 4 chefs who will be assisting in the kitchen - Choose a number to see which chef/course you will be paired up with - General kitchen and behavior rules - Head into the kitchen for an hour to make the meal we will all be dining on after - OH MY LAWD! It's huge, gorgeous, organized and so very clean. - Each group gets a chef/course station upon entering the kitchen. My team got the fresh veggie and Quinoa salad. Prepped and cooked all of the veggies (cilantro, garlic, onions, asparagus, etc_ and made the avocado, tequila and EVVO salad dressing. Yum! - While you are cooking, the living room is being transformed into the dining room. - Once you complete your experience in the kitchen, you are then seated back in the living room, now dining area, and enjoy the meal everyone just had a part in preparing. Our Menu: - Gazpacho with fresh pita bread - 2 side salads for the plate, Corn based and Quinoa based with various fresh veggies - Salmon Veracruz with Tomatoes, Capers, Olives and Herbs - Strawberry upside down cake - Absolutely full of flavor and so very fresh. Overall such a fantastic experience with a fun and professional crew. I adore the energy and love Suzi brings to her business and interacting with everyone through food. Props! read more

See all

The best team building event I've ever done. You have an opportunity to mingle and work together with all your colleagues in a new manner resulting in a delicious meal that you all prepared, including ice cream from scratch! Our group just did a standard get to know you event, but Suzi mentioned she can cater the kitchen experience to work through difficult issues. Be prepared to work hard for your dinner, it's worth it! read more

What a treat it was to come here for a team dinner. Normally the thought of "team building exercises" has me thinking about rope courses, human pyramids and other awful things we endured as spotty faced teenagers. Don't even let your brain go there when thinking about Cooking by the book. This is entirely different. Warm, friendly, funny and welcoming, the team here are really focussed on offering you and your friends and/or colleagues a great night out. The fact that you have to work together chopping, stirring and whisking is incidental but really makes for a fun and educational night. Who knew you could make a cake loaded with vinegar and have it taste nice? The evening started with nibbles, drinks and chit-chat before we moved in to the kitchen (aprons on, hands washed!) to work in teams to create a dish that would then be served to the entire group once we moved back to the dining room. Everything was delicious (even the vinegar cake!) and made with fresh and seasonal produce and, of course, lots of love. Nawww... read more

Cooking by the Book - Cooking Schools Near Me - New York, New York

See all

What a fantastic experience! I went to Cooking By the Book during the holiday season for a company celebration, and the entire experience from beginning to end was amazing. The staff is extremely friendly, patient, and accommodating - a feat that can be difficult when working with 40 unruly adults. Our group was divided into three groups - appetizers, entree, and dessert. Surprisingly, there were plenty of tasks for everyone to be involved, The cooking environment was huge and clean with professional grade equipment. There is no doubt that we all had fun, and the food was simply delicious. Some light beverages were served, and we were able to BYOB. Another shocker - this establishment is actually the owner's home. Her dining room is converted into a lovely casual dining room with large round tables. Another nice touch are the walls covered by bookshelves and hundreds of cooking books. I would definitely recommend Cooking By the Book for a function, but it is probably better suited for larger groups. read more

We purchased a $115 deal from Gilt City for a 3-hour class here. The class wasn't very much a "cooking" class but a class on organic meat provided by Fleisher's and as a man who's eaten the "generic" stuff all my life, I am certainly a changed man. We compared ground beef, rib eye, and chicken breast and it was pretty clear on the difference. The organic ground beef tasted a little more earthy and sweet, the rib eye was pan fried brown (as opposed to the generic's off-grey), and the chicken breast simply... healthier. Afterwhich we (6 per station) proceeded to french a rack of lamb and took apart a whole chicken (legs/ thighs/ wings/ breasts/ back). It was just ok since there wasn't really anything challenging about it, but it was fun nonetheless prepping with my buddy and other strangers. Basically, we learned about why certain parts of meat is more expensive than others (ie, hangar from a cow/ lamb chops), some basic butchering technique, and the all around tastiness (and benefits) of organic meat. The actual cooking was done by two chefs who were awesome. There was also another guy who was going around serving drinks to people, so it all felt really high class/ comfortable. Afterwards, we had a really delicious meal from all of our labor plus some pork cutlets. I've never had so much organic meat on my plate before, but I honestly wished there was another lamb chop (while we prepped enough and more, the chefs do sneakily portion out just one for each of us it seemed). Wine. Bacon ice cream. Excellent coffee. I'll be back checking out what Cooking By the Book will offer next as well as visiting Fleisher's for damn good chicken sausage. *The things I want to do still is to make boneless chicken wings, shuck clams better, and properly fillet a fish. read more

Love this place! Excellent for team building and giving back to the community. The staff is incredibly knowledgeable and you will always walk away with new skills, a full belly and a warm heart read more

Cooking by the Book - Cooking for the children - Cooking Schools Near Me - New York, New York

See all

I absolutely feel compelled to leave a review, after my recent booking with the venue. The event itself was a lovely 4 stars, but the service from the account manager brought it down to 2 stars. The Good: I always believe in giving to Caesar what's due to Caesar. My initial interaction in the exploratory phase was with Suzy, and let me tell you, she was very nice and very responsive. I have absolutely no qualms with my interactions with her specifically. They were (for the most part) very accommodating and somewhat flexible given some various changes (outside of my control) that resulted in us having to move the date a few times, etc. They were also patient in waiting for us to finalize the date, as our event included a lot of senior leaders in the Fortune 100 company I work for, and being that they are extremely busy and have high importance meetings that may come up unexpectedly, we needed to ensure we had some flexibility and for the most part, we found that with this venue. Although my specific business unit has never booked a pizza challenge event with them, one of the newer joiners recommended them after attending one of their other events and she loved it. Though I organized the event, I had a conflict and couldn't attend but my team had a very nice time overall and the judges/chefs were fun and interactive. The Bad - Service: In the beginning, my conversations with Ellen (account manager) were fine and I thought everything was ok for the most part. As someone on the event planning committee and who's been the vendor relationship manager for multi-million dollar contracts and budgets, negotiation is a core function of a lot of what I do. I don't think there's anything wrong with saying "no" to a specific proposal or request, but it must be done with tact and in a professional manner, which is unfortunately where it fell short towards the tail end of our correspondence. Because we invited a lot of senior leaders whose schedule can and did change very quickly, we had confirmed a certain amount of attendees a week before the event, and literally the week of the event, a few of them cancelled. This was completely unforeseen but understandable given the nature and importance of their work in such a large company. That said, I simply asked since we were unable to reduce the number of attendees, if we could take a rain check for the few spots we could not fill on our ultimate event date. I had no idea that there was no wiggle room there as I later came to understand the staff had already been hired and food ordered accordingly. Additionally, because my specific business unit hadn't had this event with this particular company yet (though many other teams within my company have), I simply said this would be a great opportunity to foster new relationships and some of the other teams within my department wanted feedback on the event to see if they'd explore a similar event since it sounded good. I also said we generally like to keep a list of recommended vendors/venues in our back pockets. This is all 100% factual and completely normal. Somehow, this apparently was deemed offensive by Ellen, and when my event team got on the phone to confirm the details and ensure we gave her everything she needed, right off the bat she had major chip on her shoulder, proceeded to be very rude and snarky, continuously cutting me off and honestly I have never ever been spoken to or treated that way by any vendor or venue. Ever. It is unacceptable and completely unprofessional. I'd like to give the benefit of the doubt and say maybe she was having a bad day or maybe a larger corporation was rude or pushy towards her in the past, but either way, I cannot fathom how talking to clients in such a way can be deemed ok. It was so bad that the other members of my team called me after we got off the phone with her to ask me if I was ok and how was I feeling. My team and I tried to defuse the situation (since she was clearly mad) by telling her we're just looking to have positive vibes and a good time with our colleagues after a year of hard work. We tried numerous times to reinforce we're not looking to have any conflict or contention (although it shouldn't even have come to that). We're all human, so I proceeded to forward the email I sent to several people detached from planning the event to see if perhaps I had gone wrong, because honestly, I would have apologized - but no one thought anything said was rude or unreasonable. I am the type of person to treat the janitors with the same respect and politeness as the CEO. I have also always been deemed very collaborative, respectful and easy to work with. I'm guessing based on the length of the relationship my company collectively has had with them that this is an anomaly, but I hope no one else ever gets spoken to that way, and I hope respect and transparency is of the essence towards ALL clients in the future. read more

I honestly wish I could leave negative stars! Terrible people who rely on their cooking equipment but then screw you out of your payment. Fixed their very expensive appliances which nobody else could (probably because they didn't pay them either) spent a lot of money on parts and time. They approved the repair and we even were willing to bill them which usually it's COD. We have called sent letters and still they will not pay us what we are owed. If you do service do not work for these people they are no good. The real name of this place should be............ COOKING BY THE CROOK! read more

I love this place! I attended two events here in the past month and both were excellent. First, I did a corporate event with my team of 10 and it was perfect. Great bonding in a relaxed atmosphere...everyone left feeling full and fulfilled. Second, I threw a birthday event for my wife and 12 other family members. Everyone had such a great time. Suzi and staff are incredibly welcoming and they were totally flexible on the dietary requirements of my family. I recommend this for both corporate and personal events that are truly memorable! read more

I'm pretty much a terrible cook. (Pretty much meaning absolutely). What's worse? I don't even care to get better. I am totally fine eating assortments of food items, usually cold, without much fanfare. My toddler eats far better than I do. I see the idea of cooking and get what you people are talking about, but it's just not for me. I'd rather find something else to do or go out to eat. It's really why I love Yelp, honestly. Anyway...so when my dear colleague suggested we head to Cooking by the Book while on a team trip to NYC, I groaned on the inside and grinned on the outside and agreed. Because that's what team members do. They suck it up and go cooking together, even if they don't really care about cooking and have been banned from making eggs by their husband. (true story). I resigned myself to a labor intensive food making session where I am gently chastised repeatedly by a chef for slightly screwing up each of my cooking tasks and paying a lot of money for the pleasure. I had nothing to fear! Cooking by the Book is so well organized, fun, light, interesting, and delicious! Time flew by. Owner Susi is a true star. A hostess with more than the mostest. The assistant chefs to Susi were a delight. The meal was phenomenal fully designed by Susi & Co and executed by the group. Gazpacho, salmon, fresh salads, strawberry upside down cake -- wonderful, and without all the hassle of booking a reservation for 25 people to eat together in NYC. The team cheered. The wine was drunk, the custom aprons adored and each of us toddled off into the Tribeca night happy, full and perhaps with a few more cooking skills (not me, I actually was put in charge of blending gazpacho, they must sense something about me right from the start)...all in all, an absolutely fabulous activity to do with a group. Nothing felt forced or trite -- just like the recipe, it was just right. Thanks Susi! read more

If you don't choose well, sometimes team-building activities can seem a bit contrived. After all, you're forcing a group of coworkers to bond and have fun when they're probably tired and just want to eat and drink. Perfect solution: go to Cooking by the Book, where bonding will happen at the same time as a bunch of eating and drinking! The class is in Susi's Tribeca loft. Fitting over 20 people in a NY loft might seem a bit cramped, but it didn't feel that way at all. The living room area is all cleared out for pre-meal mingling (paired with some wine and snacks) and then tables are brought in when it's time to share our meal. The kitchen is designed with plenty of counter space and room for all of the teams to fit and participate comfortably. I loved that each of the chefs introduced themselves and got their mini 'teams' excited to prepare their part of the meal: apps, mains, desserts. Despite working with a high number of non-chefs (including myself), the meal ended up great thanks to the expert help of our chef buddies. We had gazpacho, homemade flatbread, salmon with quinoa, and a strawberry balsamic upside down cake. It was pretty amazing how well the meal turned out considering how many cooks were in the kitchen (ha). And in a group that's received countless little swag items over the years, we were all impressed by our gift to take home: personalized aprons. I still use mine! Overall, it was a wonderfully intimate, cozy, and most of all delicious experience! read more

5 very well-deserved stars for Cooking By The Book! From the fine company, to the incredible kitchen, to the excellent staff, to the awesome food, this was one of my favorite "team building" activities I've done in some time. The environment is just lovely - Suzi's home sets up shop for your cooking class. The front room hosts both the wine hour/apps before cooking and dining space when you're finished preparing the meal. The staff is incredible, both personable and knowledgable. I brought home some real working kitchen know-how! Our food was deeeeeelicious, if I do say so myself. Our small group learned how to make a delightful gazpacho and griddle up some awesome pita bread. Cooking By The Book is a fantastic way to build team camaraderie and a great meal to boot! read more

Suzi, Amber, and Corrine really got our party of 23 moving! We came in as a company event for an end-of-summer outing. Suzi greeted us by tightly securing our aprons around our necks, and Frank was kind enough to keep the beer and wine flowing for the first hour. We broke into teams and were ushered into the back room, where a gorgeous stainless steel kitchen was. We were talked through knife skills, cleanliness, and prep work. Knives and wine were discouraged, so a few of us took to chopping and a few others stuck to sipping. The teams were very organized - the leaders took their jobs seriously and did a great job of coaching not only first-time and novice "chefs" but also providing more advanced tips for those that had obviously held a knife in the kitchen before! Suzi was really adaptable to a small request for something competitive (our company gets a little... ferocious when pitted against one another).. we played a quick round of cooking jepoardy (not to brag, but my team won). Suzi kept things on track, Frank kept score, and we all yelled our brains out for no particular reason (because yelling means its the right answer, right??) We then began our three-course meal: prepped by us and plated gorgeously by the kind staff. We had voted on our menu and went with something asian-inspired - starting with shrimp spring rolls, five-spice duck breast, and banana-mango rolls in a coconut sauce to finish. The entire event lasted about 3 hours, and even though we ran over by about 10 minutes, Suzi was generous enough to let people filter out as they finished their wine, which we all appreciated greatly. I work in HR (and was given the responsibility to coordinate the event), and highly enjoyed working with the entire team so closely before the event, and was pleasantly surprised by a prompt email from the team the next morning with a receipt from the event, and a promise that recipes and photos were on their way via email in the next few days. I would highly recommend using Cooking by the Book for company activities, bachelorette parties, an outing in NYC with friends - whatever the occasion or however diverse your group, Cooking by the Book is a winner on every account. read more

An amazing experience.... from the start to the end , the event was well organized and executed.... it brings out the chef in you :)

My team booked a holiday dinner here. We had a group size of 25 and it was fantastic! The staff was so polite and fun to work with. The cooking was extremely informational and fun recipes. Everyone in the group had an amazing time! The staff was even super helpful with last minute additions and requests. I highly recommend Cooking by the Book for corporate team building events! read more

Had a great team building event with a peer group. The staff was fun and funny. The recipes were fantastic. Suzy was even concerned about feeding our chauffeur. She was also hilarious, but professional and got the job done. The kitchen was immaculate and the ingredients were fresh and delicious. Will bring more groups back in the future. read more

An incredible team-building experience. I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate with a group from work and the team at Cooking by the Book was incredibly professional, friendly, and helpful. I never cook, especially like this, but I definitely want to go back! read more

What an amazing experience! We celebrated a group of 12 for a bachelorette party. All of the staff were wonderful. Kind, welcoming, and super helpful. Cooking all of our food was awesome. We learned so many new techniques and really did everything ourselves. AND IT ALL TASTED AMAZING. One of the best meals I've ever eaten. They gave us plenty of time to eat and enjoy the night. For a small private party it's a little pricey but includes a lot and is worth it for the food and for the experience. Would absolutely come back again! read more

This exceeded my expectations. Much more than a cooking class. Suzi's passion for love of food and people blend perfectly to make a great team building event. Everyone on her team is first rate and it makes for an unforgettable evening. Thanks. read more

See all

I came here for a corporate event and unfortunately missed the cooking part which I heard was a great time! The food overall was very good, and the space accommodated about 30 people at 3 round tables of ten. This place seems to be located in the owner's house, and as soon as our end time approached, we were promptly kicked out (couldn't even finish our wine). If the owner was a bit more flexible on end time, or ensured that the timeline of wine/dessert/etc. would allow everyone to finish on time, it would have made the experience much better. Instead, we all left feeling awkward. read more

DO NOT GO HERE!!! We made a booking for a Christmas party and had two days to commit. We verbally committed and told them to give us until noon to sign and fax the contract. They called at 10 a.m. and said "we were too late -- we already committed your event to someone else." We would advise never to do business with someone like this! Not only are we scrambling to find a new site for a Christmas party, they never apologized! read more

5-star experience at Cooking by the Book. The event was well organized and the entire staff was amazing.

Incredible doesn't even begin to describe our experience at Cooking by the Book! We had a private birthday dinner here... the food was amazing and the wine was divine. I learned some great knife skills that I now use every time I cook. Suzi is one of the coolest people I have ever met (and I know a lot of cool people). She is bubbly, funny, real, and extremely knowledgeable. I love it!!! read more

I had such a good time yesterday at Sydnie's birthday party, as did everyone else. Forgive the pun, but everything was really "cookin.'" Food turned out great, despite the number of novices in the kitchen. And I, for one, am now ready to take on duck breast with black cherry and port reduction for my own company. A little wine helped it all along. I am going to recommend your company to many friends and suggest you send information to Daily Candy (the online website) as I am certain there is a world of clients waiting to know about you. Thanks for the fun, Susan Leder read more

I had an amazing time at Cooking by the Book. The recipes were simple and delicious. Food was great, the instruction better! Highly reccomend! read more

Such an amazing experience! About 40 of us attended a cooking class this past week and it far exceeded our expectations. Suzi is so welcoming and and helped create a perfect team building event for our large team. I would definitely recommend it for any team building events/parties! read more

Really fun cooking experience, definitely recommend to anyone as a fun team activity with colleagues or friends.

Seriously great time. I've never cooked anything in my life. I thought I could hang out and enjoy the all you can drink wine...not the case. The gentlemen at my station had me doing something every step of the way. The end result was an amazing meal. Would definitely do it again. read more

Our team had a great time in this fun team building activity. The chefs were great, the environment was very friendly and warm. And the food turned out also quite ok, despite our limited skills! I would love to have another experience with this school. read more

We had a small team building event here this week (10 ),,,we have a fair amount of new people in our group and Suzi and her team did a spectacular job with everything...we had a great experience at CBTB and highly recommend it ; it is a small, intimate setting and with wine add allowed folks to really let their hair down a bit..but in a good way...and cooking is an art and we learned how it all fits together, when we all do our port and how we all rely on each other....great experience....do it read more

I organized a corporate team building event. Suzi and the team did a fantastic job of balancing teaching, fun, and delicious food. Kevon was constantly floating around making sure that everything was flowing smoothly. We felt like we were treated like guests and trainees all at the same time. I highly recommend anyone interested an entertaining evening of team building, learning, and great food contact Cooking by the Book and prepare for a great time. read more

Went here with work. So much fun. Suzi is an act! I'm a pescatarian and suzi accommodated me by having a salmon prepared and it was delicious. Minus one star because one of the chefs/coaches (not David David was the man) was really rude while everyone was just trying to be talkative and have a good time. definitely book for your next team building event. read more

I came here for a summer event with the law firm I work at and it was a fantastic experience. We were broken into teams to help prepare each part of a three course meal that we later enjoyed together. I was on the pastry station making profiteroles, and while the chef and my colleagues made fun of my uncouth egg separating technique, it was a blast. The food turned out very tasty, and the wine flowed all evening. There was much fun had by all. read more

Great experience! Went today with my team from work for a team building event and learned so much! It was fun and worth it! Loved it. Would definitely do it again! Staff was nice and helpful! Owner's home is where the business is at, impressive! read more

I adore Suzi, Al and the rest of the team at Cooking by the Book! I threw a baby shower for a friend here this past weekend and it was just a super fun experience. Its a great place to have a relaxed, but interesting afternoon with friends topped off with a delicious meal. We considered a bunch of other cooking schools and similar venues, but after already attending an event at CBTB prior, I knew it would perfect for what we wanted. I've taken classes at ICE, which is great if you want to perfect knife skills, but if you're after a nice afternoon cooking in a beautiful kitchen with a glass of wine, chatting with friends, then this is definitely your best bet. Suzi and her crew are there to guide you, but aren't going to nitpick if you're garlic isn't minced finely enough. The menu fresh and easy to work through, and never complicated. The point is for you to have fun and pick up a few new tricks that you can take home for an easy weeknight meal. All in all, CBTB is lovely little place, perfect for any kind of event when the usual cocktails and small bites won't do. THANK YOU SUZI! read more

Cooking by the Book is Fun Group and great experience! They have had numerous corporate events at Studio 450 and the nights are always fun! The clients are typically geared around team building, Cooking by the Book team is teaching the groups to prepare the utmost delicious food and then eat it . YUM!. Food and drink and the Studio 450 views are a perfect recipe for success everyone leaves happy! read more

I recently went to a pizza challenge event at Cooking by the Book and it really was a great experience. Each team had a chef who taught us a variety of skills while also giving us the autonomy to create a pizza of our choice. We were provided with many different ingredients which were fresh and delicious. The best part was the chef taught me a better way to chop which even as someone who loves to cook- I am terrible at chopping. Aside from cooking I was on a team with people I'd never met before, but was able to really bond with and get to know because we had to work together as a team to make the best pizza. Food brings people together and sparks great conversation. It has always been a topic I can discuss for hours with people. After the pizza and all the sides were done and the winner was chosen we all got to eat and enjoy each others creations at beautifully set up tables. Susie and her staff really offer wonderful hospitality. It really was a fun night- full bellies and happy hearts for sure! read more

I've done about 5 different CBTB events both with my company and with clients as well. I can't recommend Suzi & her team highly enough - they are both professional, educational and also extremely friendly. It's truly as if you are dining in your friend's apartment when you take a cooking class with Suzi. My clients had a great time and already asked to come back for another event! And, of course, the food is delish! read more