I was thoroughly impressed by AJ's Kitchen Drawer. Everything was exceptional--the instruction,…read morefood, people, and ambiance. I attended a work event where we were fortunate to have Chef Keith Simpkins. It's evident that Chef Keith is passionate about his work, and his enthusiasm is contagious. Chef Keith taught us how to make tiramisu, pasta, and pesto, which are all among my favorite dishes. I'm pleased to say that I left the dinner with improved cooking skills.

The absolute best experience ever. Third time here and it just keeps getting better! Came for the…read moreValentine Date Night and it was incredible. Chef is a great teacher, helpful and funny. Food is delicious and plentiful!! Perfect night out. Will be back again soon!

Yesterday I had the opportunity to volunteer at The Kitchen House & my experience was such a…read moredelight. At first I felt excited and nervous, just because it's a new experience for me.However, Nicole, Blake, Megan & even Ms. Ivann made me feel so welcome! I joined in on a culinary class based on sauces, stocks and soups and the guests did an amazing job. The concept of the volunteer is to guide the guests & just be a kind person in their culinary journey This venue is breathtaking, the kitchen is awesome and the knowledge you gain is so worth the experience. I will definitely be back to volunteer again! The guests made: mac and cheese, green bean casserole, kale soup & an awesome salad with the veggies sourced from their own garden Please take a class! I know i definitely want to!

Recently participated in the Culinary Foundations: Baking Basics class and had a blast. It was a…read moregroup about 15 and we each selected our baking stations that were pre set with different ingredients, recipes and tools. The instructors and volunteers were there to help us each step of the way. The recipes were unique and very tasty. Everything turned out so good. This is a great place for team building, a date night or even a solo adventure. I will definitely be back to take other classes as well as to volunteer!

This experience with Chef Ricky surpassed any expectation I could have had! His set up and…read moreattention to detail is impeccable. I loved that the class included the history of the ingredients and sushi we were making. I learned new techniques and am more confident in not only finding and buying the ingredients but also in making this at home for my family. I can't wait to take another class and share this experience with more people. Thank you, Chef Ricky!

I couldn't have asked for a better first cooking class experience. The class was intimate,…read moreinformative but laid back, beginner friendly and extremely rewarding. The menu the chef created was out of this world--shrimp scampi, ratatouille, lasagna, and cannolis. The space was clean and very well curated for everyone to have a hands on experience during the class. I also happened to take the class with some really funny people from different walks of life so it was a nice social experience too! I will definitely be taking one of chef Ricky's courses again in the future and hope you all have a chance to check one out as well.

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.

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!

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

A small, family owned business, The Young Chef's Academy is a hidden gem nestled between Land o…read moreLakes and Wesley Chapel. The friendly, organized and professional husband and wife team, have created a unique environment for families to bond with each other. My 12 year old daughter and I, attended a pasta making event today. The class was full, but everyone still received the right amount of individualized attention. We left the two hour workshop knowing we could recreate the meals at home. The session is perfectly timed, and at the end, we were able to test out our hard work. I wish they had more adult classes and more couples' events because I would love to do this again without children. Overall, this is a fun experience. The classes are taught at a level children can easily understand.

Adorable! The kids have had a few classes here. They are so friendly and fun. They hand out…read morerecipes pages at the end of each lesson so you can keep and use them later. Highly impressed!

This was an outstanding experience. I booked Chef Kathy to come to Jon's home on a Saturday night…read more The idea behind CozyMeal is that you all cook together, and then you eat everything you prepared. The price is by the person, and you can do it with as few as two people or as many as six. She showed up on time, with six full bags of cooking gear, so she had every pot, pan, utensil, and food item that could possibly be needed. After breaking out the champagne we provided, we got right to work making the lemon almond cake for dessert. I love that paper copies of all recipes were provided first thing, so we could go step by step together. You can participate as much, or as little, as you would like. We also got to borrow cute aprons, which turned out to be a huge necessity for me. Cake was super easy, and after some fine lemon zesting on my part, was in the oven in no time. Next came pasta making. I think of this as such a hard thing to do, but under Chef Kathy's tutelage it came out perfect. We added cuttlefish ink to the flour/egg mixture to turn the pasta black. Next we rolled it out in the machine she brought, and finally ground it into pasta noodles. In between pasta making, I was hard at work on the mandoline, slicing zucchini for the Carpaccio Di Zucchini salad. I also utilized the mandoline to make the sliced potatoes that were to be pickled and then used with the charred octopus appetizer. Not to boast, but I'm pretty much a slicing expert now. Then I switched over to make the scorched tomatoes that were going to be part of the sauce for our dinner entree of black pasta with seafood. Everything came together perfectly, and Chef Kathy did the final cooking and food plating while Jon and I sat down to eat. Our entire meal was so delicious, with the pièce de résistance easily being the amazing seafood pasta. Chef Kathy trained in Italy under local chefs, and it was very apparent in the amazing flavors of everything we ate. While this definitely cost more than a seafood dinner for two at a restaurant, keep in mind that this is really a one-on-one cooking class, where you are going to learn numerous cooking skills and tricks that you will be able to use in the future. I highly recommend CozyMeal and especially Chef Kathy to have a fun, memorable, and incredibly delicious evening.

This was my first time using CozyMeal. What a great idea for date night or even team building…read more The idea of having a certified chef guiding you through cooking a fancy meal is great. Chef Kathy was a delight, she was a pleasure to work with. The event can be at the chef's home or you can invite them to your home. When we arrived she had everything ready to begin. Starting off with a glass of Prosseco, I got to work on the ricotta cheese. This is were collaborating with the chef kicks in. I messed up the recipe and she was super friendly and helped me out. We worked on making black pasta which was super fun since she had legit pasta machines. I scorched some tomatoes and put some grapes in the oven. Then we worked on the shrimp and getting them nice and clean. While all of this was happening she had music and and guided us every step of the way. After we cooked everything she offered to walk over to the beach and watch the sunset. We all looked at each other after cooking this amazing meal like "we are ready to eat!!" We first started with the bruschetta, ricotta, grapes topped with an italian balsamic. These were to die for, i would have just there and eaten these all night. Next was the salad Shaved Fennel with Orange and Candied Almonds. This was a unique surprise since I had never had fennel. It was super tasty and I am definitely adding it to my salads from now on. On to the main dish! The pasta with seafood turned out amazing! Pasta was made to look black with cuttlefish, this did not affect the taste at all. Topping the pasta was a mollusk ragu which was very tasty. To finish off was the Chocolate Panna Cotta, this was a delight since it was just the right amount of sweet. The full package is definitely worth the price and I recommend for anyone looking for a unique experience.