Great experience! Good memories made. Worth it!!! Great location and atmosphere,nice peopleread more

My husband and I had the most incredible date night at the Epicurean Theatre! We attended the…read more"Dinner with a Master Chef" class on Friday, July 18th 2014. Our instructor was celebrity chef, Whitney Miller, winner of Master Chef (season 1). The Epicurean Theatre is a gorgeous and very modern culinary classroom in the Epicurean Hotel in South Tampa. The culinary classroom has a kitchen in the front of the theatre for the instructor/ chef and stadium-style seating for the students. (If you want a seat near the front of the class arrive early!) Flat screen televisions are located in the front corners of the classroom to display close-ups of the food as it is being prepared. The layout of the classroom allows participants to eat and drink while watching a cooking presentation. After the chef completes each course of the meal the Epicurean's wait staff serves the dish. Whitney Miller was so charming and entertaining throughout our class. I loved her stories about growing up in Mississippi and being a contestant on the Master Chef. Her menu in our class included some of her favorite Southern dishes: First Course: Arugula Salad with Grilled Figs, Homemade Buttermilk Ricotta Cheese, Crispy Prosciutto and a Citrus Vinaigrette (Wine Pairing: Schiopetto Pinot Grigio) Second Course: BBQ Shrimp and Cheese Grits (Wine Pairing: Black Bird Rose) Third Course: White Chocolate Bread Pudding (Wine Pairing: Rosa Regale) Everything was so delicious and I cannot wait to make these dishes at my home! Confession: I probably won't make my own ricotta cheese for the arugula salad because who has time for that?! We received so many great cooking tips from the class and I plan on purchasing Whitney's cookbook so I can introduce my husband to more Southern cooking. If you are interested in taking a class at the Epicurean Theatre I highly recommend it! They offer a variety of classes from cupcakes to cooking to wine or even speaking a foreign language. They even offer brew bus tours! The classes range from $45-$125. Our Master Chef class cost $65 per person which wasn't a bad deal in my opinion considering we received a two hour demonstration from a celebrity chef, a three course meal, and three wine tastings. Can't wait to take my next class at the Epicurean Theatre!

MAKE A RESERVATION....You will need it…read more Piccola is a very small place. A few tables. And you need the reservation to get in as people do go all the time. The chef is the owner and even takes the order. The assistant cleans, and serves and handles the rest. Like stepping into an Italian family kitchen to see what is on the table for the night. And with the special menu of the evening, it is like you are stepping into the kitchen. With a reservation for 6 we were lucky to have the table. It is a BYOB so bring what you might want to go with the meals. A red wine is a good idea. As for the specials, it was varied. There are many options to have that are not on the menu. Even that is small. The chef does tell you what was the specials. He answers the questions and does describe what he is thinking. For 6 of us this gave us good options. Several were ordered, and some traditional was selected. We started with appetizers. Tomatoes and mozzarella was always a way to start. Classic. Mixed with a green salad and some extra cheese it is a good way to go. Garlic bread was a complement. We also had the rice balls stuffed with a small meatball combo. This is typical in certain regions of Italy, and each are different. It had a special sauce to top it and more bread. The sauce was good enough as a dipping sauce for the bread without the rice ball. As we ate the apps we drank the wines. Truly typical for an Italian meal. When the entrees came out it was time to shift things around. These entrees were a good size and freshly cooked. You can see the chef in the kitchen cooking each meal. This is a home kitchen. We had a few specials. One was the duck on the couscous. With the frech sauce and herbs it was amazing. It is not how you expect to have duck. It was definitely not Chinese. This was a fresh duck cooked and aged so that the flavor was ideal. The portion was large and the aroma amazing. Also had to have a very traditional pasta carbonara - pasta mixed in a garlic cream sauce with onions and pieces of bacon. A bit of peper and grated cheese helps. It is an old simple idea what what is always made in a family. There was also pasta bolognese, and even a pasta with sliced rib steak in a mushroom cream sauce. Very different. Once the meal was finished had to have espresso and dessert. The espresso was made the old way in a pot I still have on a the shelf and use. As for the dessert, we did have a lemon cake and a cake made with pistachio that was ground and had flavor that was not expected as a cream in a cake. It was exceptional. As the waitress mentioned, these cakes come from a bakery in Italy and are delivered. The taste and sweetness are typical of Italy and not of the US. Very Italian. The food is great. It is fresh, tasty, has a flavor and style that is unique to the chef. He can make a great meal that you will enjoy. It is typical but with a twist. The portions are a good size. The price is perfect. Bring your own wine and step inside. It is like being in someone;s kitchen. And make that reservation!

We've been coming here for a long time under william's ownership and we always loved his style of…read morecooking. Today we learned that he is taking a break. A whole new menu but didn't include any of william's classics. No duck salad, no clam linguini or spicy seafood pasta or any other williams items on the menu. The pastas we ordered (seafood with sundried tomatoes and gnocci with lamb) werent bad but not even close to what we had before. Disappointing. Sadly I dont think we'll be back until william come back. Also, the pastas we ordered (under specials menu--did not have a price, but each pasta was $50 each which I think its very high for pasta we had)

Cooking class review! My friends got this for a team…read morebuilding event- then bought for me for a birthday date night. BYOD and cook and learn plus 10% off ANYTHING in the store. They offer cappuccino espresso too mid class. We cooked Japanese night- miso salmon, fried rice, salad with ginger dressing, tempura veggies, sesame ice cream. Wow, so good and so much food- sad I couldn't take home my leftovers- such a waste. This should change Check it out, but save me a spot too!!!

Went here on a whim to take shelter from the rain and got treated wonderfully by the staff with…read morefree coffee, tea, and ice cream. The staff was very accommodating and helpful and even asked if we wanted to keep our items at the front:) A phenomenal team works here!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the sushi making class with Chef Stephen. He made the class very…read moreinteractive and fun to learn. I appreciated that this class was small and intimate. You can tell Chef has a passion for this because he made sure we all knew what we were doing, we could ask as many questions as we liked and he even provided me some short cuts on how to prepare certain things. He has a Gnocchi class coming up and I'm looking into signing up for that. I would highly recommend him.

I recommend the class I booked because of the chefs their interaction and the great experience I…read morehad. I find the website challenging and the knowledge of the people on the phone very minimal.

Cooking classes, group fun, team building lots of options here . What a cool concept located right…read moreinside Armature works. Unfortunately we didn't have time but you can make reservations online at their website. I'd like to do it next time I'm in Tampa Website and phone number located on their front door is in my pictures

Three friends and I took a macaron baking class with Muriel at her gorgeous Bellevue home and it…read moretotally changed my idea of macarons. I am not a fancy baker (I do uncomplicated cookies, pies, simple breads, etc.) and have never understood the macaron craze that's still going strong. In this class, I learned that they are quite challenging to make and are mouthwateringly delicious when correctly and precisely made--I think I just never tried ones so good as these! The fun in baking them is how challenging they are and imagining all the possible color and flavor combinations. It was a great experience for me and my girlfriends and Muriel was an excellent teacher. First, she made a batch of strawberry macarons and explained very clearly what she was doing every step of the way, including how to gauge if you've done it correctly. Next, we paired up and made a different flavor on our own (coffee and black olive in this case). Muriel helped us every step of the way and sent recipes and videos afterwards. I can't wait to try to make them again without Muriel's help! (Fingers crossed). Word to the wise: if you go on a weeknight, eat dinner first! There's a small snack of crackers, cheese, and prosciutto provided.

Had a fun day making macarons from this beautiful home. Teacher was helpful and kind. Very…read moreknowledgeable. End product was delicious and I hope to take another class soon

How many good things can I condense into one review about Chef Alisa and her husband, Alex? I…read morereached out to Alisa by simply searching for a 'private/personal chef' on Google. She was one of the first few chefs in the Houston area that popped up on my screen and I decided to do some more "research;" and by "research," I mean I searched for her on social media platforms to see pictures of her dishes before contacting her...Come on, we're all guilty of it. lol To my pleasant surprise, Chef Alisa was one of the winners on The Food Network's "Supermarket Stakeout" which I thought was a pretty cool thing to have on her resume. :) So of course, naturally, I contacted her to check out her prices and menu. Now, by no means am I accustomed to having a personal chef in our home, but to celebrate a special occasion, I thought it would be a fun experience and a great "date night" for my husband and I. My review is strictly based off of my first experience having a chef come to my home to cook for me and the communication between Chef Alisa and I throughout the whole process. From the very beginning of getting into contact with Chef Alisa, she was extremely prompt in her e-mail responses and very transparent about her rate and any additional costs. After reviewing other chefs in Houston, I decided that I wanted Chef Alisa as our private chef to celebrate a special occasion with my husband, and after that, she sent me a menu with several delicious selections for each course (i.e., appetizer, salad, main dishes, desserts). I think choosing just one option from each course was the hardest part about this whole process, I wanted to try them all. During the selection process, I e-mailed Alisa back and forth a few times asking if I could make small changes here and there (e.g., sub an appetizer, or add a protein), and each time I heard back from her, she was timely in her responses and tactfully offered her professional recommendations. What I liked about Chef Alisa was that she was helpful and respected any accommodations or changes I wanted to make to the final menu. To give you an idea of some of the changes, I asked for, Chef Alisa recommended an appetizer, a salad, main dish and dessert; whereas, my husband doesn't like salad, so I asked if we could have two hot appetizers instead. Chef Alisa was accommodating and made two hot appetizers for us to replace the salad and added a protein to one of the dishes she normally serves as a main entree. While at the store, she even accommodated when I wanted her to change one of the proteins (last minute). Her ability to be flexible and accommodate her clients made her really pleasant to work with. After making my selections, I had to pay 50% of the total cost to Alisa to secure the date and then on the day of, I would pay the rest as well as any additional costs (e.g., groceries). Additionally, Alisa asked for a picture of my kitchen so that she could work her way around the kitchen with ease on the day of her arrival. On the day of, Alisa and her husband Alex (her "sous chef") came over about 3 hours before I wanted our meal served (appetizers by 6:15pm), and she started to cook up a storm as if my kitchen was her kitchen all along. I got to know them as a couple while she was cooking and Alex was prepping and it really felt like I was just chatting with friends. They're a really sociable couple and Alisa's food turned out amazing. The entire meal was served perfectly well-timed, and they were attentive to our needs. The icing on the cake was that there were no dishes for me to do at the end of the night! They left our kitchen cleaner than it was before they came over. :) If you're looking for a fun date night or even a get-together with friends, hiring Chef Alisa for a special occasion will be a treat.

Alisa G. and her team helped me host a wonderful 12-person birthday dinner celebration for my wife…read more She made my first private chef experience fantastic and, because of that, it will not be my last. She presented, at our request, a Mediterranean-themed dinner with appetizer, entree with side, and desert. Every dish she served was delicious and her team took exceptional care of us and our guests. It was all very much appreciated. I highly recommend Alisa G and look forward to using her services the next time an opportunity arises.

Cannoli making class was fun…read more So the 3 stars is based on their customer service & how we were treated. 7 of us signed up for a week night class. We arrived late because we thought the class was 30 mins later than it was but we text them we were on our way. They were visible annoyed when we walked in & we did not get a warm welcome. I have to say there was only 2 people, a couple, in the class so it wasn't like we interrupted a big class. We were bringing the big class. And they had only poured milk into a pot & letting it warm up when we arrived so we had not missed anything. The whole class the women that worked there were not giving warm fuzzy vibes. It lacked fun & enjoyment honestly. We felt like we were treated like a nuisance & like we couldn't even laugh. The cannolis were good & we learned a lot.

We rented out the space on a Saturday afternoon to celebrate a friend's birthday. The space was…read moreclean and everything was setup when we arrived. They also have a nice selection of wine. We made the Sweet Ricotta Brule. They was a total of four people on staff to assist our class of 12. Everyone had a great time. I am looking forward to taking the pizza making class this summer with my son.

My first time at The Candle Pour and wow, such a fun experience. Perfect for friends, family, or a…read morecute date activity. We booked a 45-minute slot online and everything ran smoothly. The staff was incredibly friendly and patient, making it very hands-on while still relaxed. They guided me through the whole process and helped me create a scent that matched exactly what I wanted. The scent selection is endless in the best way. Start to finish took about 30 minutes, but the candle needs a few hours to set, so plan ahead if you don't want to come back later to pick it up. It may feel a bit pricey, but the experience and custom candle make it worth it. I went on a Monday afternoon and it felt cozy and almost private. The vibe is aesthetic and perfect for dates or bonding. I went with my partner for my birthday and it made it extra special. Definitely coming back.

This was such a wonderful experience. The ambiance was cozy and stylish and the staff members were…read moreprofessional, helpful, and very friendly. The price for the candle making is fair, and the cost of admission turns into a credit towards paying for the candle you make. Highly recommend this activity!