This was my first and last cooking class for Sur La Table. This experience was a gift from a friend so I felt obligated to stay. Overall, this had weird and unpleasant vibes. TERRIBLE INSTRUCTOR * Even after addressing that a majority of the class were new, the instructor kept speed-reading through steps. * When students asked her to repeat steps, she sounded inconvenienced. * When a student was slower than others, she would laugh or sigh loudly then talk about it with her assistants. * When the instructor asked students about the flavor and some didn't like it, she got offended. * At one point, the instructor was rushing steps and leaving some students behind, eyeing people down and being overtly impatient by going to other students that were fine on their own. * When talking about allergens in food, she kept dismissing people and insisting the dish needed it, which felt insensitive. * When people mentioned the room was too noisy and we couldn't hear instructions, she visibly looked annoyed. I'd recommend a headset and sound system for the room so everyone can hear instructions. FOOD TASTED MEDIOCRE * When a student mentioned that there wasn't a lot of flavor in the dish, she misunderstood this as "you didn't put enough (spiciness)". No, this is lacking other spices. It's bland. It's the same blandness as just salt on chicken. This is a dish I've made before and have had multiple times at authentic restaurants. Even without the (spiciness) element at said restaurants, this iteration was gross and bland. It felt modified for consumers that don't like Thai flavors. TERRIBLE SETUP * Near the end of the class, four pans on high heat were right next to each other on the burner. This meant that a group of people were cheek-to-cheek and elbow-to-elbow while cooking on high. It would have made more sense to have a heat plate at each station, or have the groups cut in half (or two stations' ingredients combined) to prevent crowding. * When cooking in the kitchen with a crowd of people, we were asked to put metal dishes next to machines that were taking up more than half of the counter, which made it more crowded. It felt disorganized. * The class was estimated to take 2-3 hours and it only took 1 hour since they kept rushing us. It was already a big red flag when the instructor said that Trader Joe's food is so flavorful... but her pretentious and condescending attitude made the class very unpleasant. I wouldn't recommend this if you're new to cooking and or trying to learn a new recipe. There are more friendly chefs and instructors out there. read more

Great food and ambience! Fantastic service . Always tries to accommodate locals when they can .

I took the Fundamentals of Cast Iron Cooking with Chef Jenny. The class was great and the food turned out great. Chef Jenny was so welcoming and put everyone at ease. Will definitely take another class with her. read more

Sadly, our surf and turf along with potatoes dinner contained olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon and blood orange zest/juice. That's it. There were no condiments offered with the potatoes, the dessert was pre-made. Overall, a very highly priced bland meal with very little "cooking" involved. read more

This was a great cooking class with Chef BB and two of her helpers (wish I wrote down their names, sorry). My dad had just purchased some new pots and pans and was given a free cooking class card so I chose this class because I love Thai food and want to get better at preparing it. We made Simply Thai with Pad Thai, Pangang Coconut Curry with Shrimp, and Mango Sticky Rice. The class was split into two groups of four and we took turns with chopping and stirring, etc. My group was friendly and we worked well together. We received very nice sized portions after we finished cooking. We even had plenty for seconds and I left stuffed. Granted they told us not to expect this much every time since two people cancelled last minute so they had enough food for three groups. They also gave us discount cards to book a class and get 10% off. I recently bought a pasta making book so I signed up for a class at the end of January to learn how to make homemade pasta. Overall this was a great class. A little pricey to do this regularly for me but since you get to eat the food, it's semi-worth it. It's a fun way to spend a few hours and you also get a discount on new kitchen items so I bought a few things before leaving. read more

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Absolutely horrible way to conduct business... We get a date night once a month and my wife booked this class as our Valentine's Day date night on the Saturday of Super Bowl weekend. She called the morning of to ask if we could bring our own wine (since no one likes to cook on a date night without wine) which the lady on the phone was snippy and rude cutting her off saying NO alcohol allowed but didn't mention anything else. Then we get a call 4 hours before our class (4pm on Saturday) saying that the class is cancelled due to a staffing issue. No mention of this prior. Ruining the night and leaving us in a bad position scrambling trying to find reservations elsewhere on probably one of the busiest weekends in Phoenix this year. BEWARE, STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY AS THEY DONT KNOW HOW TO RUN A BUSINESS OR GIVE GOOD CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES! read more

I took the Holiday Baking Class which started with a quiche they baked. It was really good. I learned a lot but wish the instructor would have given us our recipes ahead of time so we could have taken notes. It was a good time however they become very pushy about purchasing items. While some of our breads finished baking the instructor takes you into the store and shows you some of the tools you used and lets you know about the promotions on purchases you have available to you that day. This would have been fine if it ended here. I was with my group and the instructor came over and pulled me from everyone to show me cookware. I wasn't in the cookware section, hadn't said I was in the market but was showing me cookware. It just ended up being uncomfortable instead of learning. read more

Sur La Table Cooking Class - Cooking Classes Near Me - Scottsdale, Arizona

Our family took the Beef Wellington class with Chef Vaughn over the holiday, just for a fun family activity. I think the class went fairly well, Chef Vaughn did a good job of explaining things and all the ingredients were nicely prepped and organized for us and there was a good mix of hands-on stuff for us to do. And all three dishes were delicious, the beef wellington and broccoli a little more than the mashed potatoes. I will say the puff pastry crust on the beef wellington didn't rise very much probably because we were allowed to handle the puff pastry too much, but the dish still looked great and was very tasty. Overall, it was a lot of fun, and unlike comments below, although there was time during the class to browse the store and take advantage of their after-Christmas sale, there was zero pressure to buy anything specific. Also, we were allowed to take home the generous leftovers of Beef Wellington (yum). A couple of improvement opportunities: some other people brought wine and wanted to enjoy it with their meal, but were not allowed to. Would be good to let class participants know ahead of time about this, also cooking classes at Sweet Basil do allow for wine (they may even provide it) so that might be something to consider....Also, there was water to drink but it was warm and kept running out. Overall though, we have no complaints! read more

Places where the staff don't know they are supposed to provide service really bug me. I walked into this store at fashion square because I wanted to get informed about a mandolin slicer. Asked the salesperson what the differences where in the mandolins. She could barely be bothered to answer me because she was busy preparing some signs of some sort. Her answer was "they are all the same, just personal preference". I highly doubt the company's that make them would agree. No attempt by her to show them to me or assist in any way. She doesn't understand that those signs are worthless if you can sell to any customers. The items here are overpriced by at least 50% of most other places and I am sure the rent isn't cheap in the fashion square mall. I wandered around a bit and then left never to return. I vote with my billfold and won't encourage shoddy service. read more

The class was just OK. It was hard to follow the chef on what to do next. She used terms that we had no idea what they meant. Do not try to reschedule the class at the last minute, because even if you're on your death bed they won't let you. I just wanted to r/s but no way. And I was a frequent customer and live across the street. "Was" is the key word there. I can find what I need at Crate and Barrel or Williams and Sonoma. Not happy with my negative customer service event when I tried to r/s because my boyfriend had last minute dermatology surgery that day. The food was delish but you cannot take the left overs home. Not allowed! read more

Yesterday my daughter and took a class at the Sur la Table at Kierland in Scottsdale. The chef who ran the class was funny and a good teacher. We did have a good time, and I would sign up again except for two things: the price of the class ($75 per person for two hours, the class ended up being just an hour and a half), and the fact that we weren't allowed to take what we made home to eat! We made pizza and had to eat it there. I had an entire pizza left over that I wasn't allowed to take. At $75 a pop that just not acceptable. Too bad. read more

Took a pasta class with Chef Vaughn. She was fun and knowledgeable. We really enjoyed her tips and tricks and the pasta was delicious. I know people have complained about not being able to take the meal home, but Chef Vaughn politely explained that it is due to the fact that they are not licensed as a restaurant. They simply can't have perishables leave the facility. I learned quite a bit and would definitely go back. read more

Since my last review I've been in two more times for cooking classes with D.A. and I had a wonderful time! The menus are awesome, everything is well prepared, and the staff makes sure that you have a good time. I'll definitely be back! read more

This was not worth the time or money...overbooked, TOO crowded at work stations, the instructor- Dani was not very friendly or patient...kept checking her watch as if she wanted out of there! Too much of a sales pitch on how everything used was " for sale" in the store. It was Xmas Eve Day & suppose to be sugar decorating! No helpful hints or ideas to help those of us artistically challenged! Will never take another class here. VERY DISAPPOINTING! read more

Entirely too expensive and not enough hands on work. Prepare to spend most of the time watching other people do things. Everyone got a taste but there was a lot of food left over so why weren't the people that took the class able to take some home? I spent $70 for a printed recipe that I could have followed at home and got to chop garlic and put rice in a rice cooker. read more

I took a class to make french macarons at the scottsdale fashion center location this morning with my mom. I'd like to say that for a 70.00 class, to be told that the product we just made would be set out as samples for other customers and store employees was ludicrous. I had to insist that chef Renee allow the guests to take some of them home. She was very concerned that her "boss" wouldn't know what she had done that day if we didn't leave them behind. That was my major concern. So.. basically, for 70 dollars a piece, my mom and I were sent home with printer paper that had circles drawn on it (templates for your cookies.. as if no one could figure out how to make a circle blob of dough on a cookie sheet without circles drawn on paper).. and a recipe that we could have found online for free and some cookies we had to kind of fight for. Furthermore, the information provided at the class was generic at best. When the chef was asked what temp to set the ovens to, we were told "it depends on your oven". When asked how long to bake the cookies for, we were told "it depends on the thickness of the batter". The printed recipe does have the information, though.. but it was not discussed in this 2 hour class. The class seemed geared toward ten year olds with zero kitchen experience, though everyone in that class was 30 or older. This was reminiscent of the cooking classes I taught children at the park when I was younger. I will not pay sur la table for a class again. I hoped this would be a fun thing to do with my mom on the weekends. But it was certainly not worth the money. For the two of us, it cost me 138 dollars.. and if i had not said anything, we wouldn't even have anything to say for it. awful. read more

Took a class last night, saying it was a disappointment would be a generous compliment. Started badly when I discovered only one knife and cutting board per couple (one gets the experience and the other watches). Too large of a group (16) to have around the instructor close enough to hear her, especially when the cleanup crew was clanking mixing bowls and dishes, running the dishwasher, and even the refrigerator made too much noise. They should use a mic, and speakers in the overhead. Buy a book and watch a video on YouTube - don't waste your time and money on these classes. read more

My husband and I received a gift card for Sur la Table and we used it to sign up for a cooking class. We reviewed the calendar, and signed up for a course on a Thursday night at Scottsdale Fashion Square. A couple of days before the course, I double checked the Sur la Table site to make sure everything was set to go. In the class' place, there was a private event listed at Scottsdale. I then checked the courses for Kierland Commons and they had the same class. I assumed that I had just been incorrect, and we went to Kierland Commons that night. Long story short, somehow we were able to register at Scottsdale, but they weren't offering the course, we couldn't go to the private event, and the course was full at Kierland Commons. The woman at Kierland Commons was helpful and apologetic, and called over to Scottsdale for us. She let us know that someone named Chef Ethan would get in contact with us, and apologized again. It's been two weeks, and we haven't heard anything from Chef Ethan or the store regarding attending another class, or getting our money back. We are pretty disappointed, and not sure if we will be scheduling another class. read more