urbanCHEF

Disclaimer: I came here for a team building event for work, so I didn’t pay for this… You could partially enhance my satisfaction and overall rating but all in all it was a great experience!
We did the Surf&Turf and Crème Brule menu and it was just an overwhelming amount of food. We basically made 6 dishes in two hours. Those cooks in iron chef or chopped who have like 30 minutes while using made up ingredients… Seriously crazy.
The cooking experience was very fun and interactive. Our host gave us all these tips for preparing and cooking our food that he uses everyday. To reiterate how good this experience was, I’ll bought a blowtorch on my way home from the event to make dessert tonight. It’s a must try!!!

Went here with two other couples for a total of 6 of us and we had the best time!
We did a beef wellington, salad, roasted veggies, potato casserole and chocolate lava cake.
We brought our own wine and beer to drink while we cooked and with dinner. I loved the long table seating for all of the «students.»
The class/​instructor allowed us to have enough guidance to not ruin our dished but also allowed us time to have fun with our groups chatting, chopping and all that.
The facility and cooking prep spaces were really nice. A first look it a little expensive I think about $ 140 a couple, but for such a nice dinner and the class itself is really is a good deal and an awesome gift!

We had our office team building event and it was a tremendous success. The whole team loved it and said it was the best one yet. Chef Jon was awesome and super helpful. He was knowledgeable and super patient with all our questions. He guided us but left us enough room to learn and add our own styles. The staff was so considerate to our dietary restrictions and even traveled a significant distance to buy us halal meet to prepare for our dinners. We will definitely be back and we highly recommend this place for any corporate event!

I took my wife here for date night and had a blast. We cooked Vietnamese food under the watchful eye of Chef Tran. She kept 12 people in line. Kept us all busy chopping and preparing ingredients like fresh lemon grass and yuca. We all learned a lot of inside secrets of real Vietnamese food of what they do back in the home country and what they don’t do here at the restaurants.
We came in as a group of couples who didn’t know each other but left as friends because after working together in the kitchen, we all sat down and ate together.
We cooked and ate egg rolls, spring rolls, vermicelli pork bowl, and this cool Vietnamese dessert made of yuca, lady finger bananas, tapioca pearls, and coconut milk.

My husband and I have done 2 date night classes at Urban Chef.
The thing I like most is that at the end of the meal you have a real sit down dinner with the other people in your class to enjoy your food. The dishes are served family style which encourages chatting with your fellow classmates.
The thing that I found frustrating as many others have mentioned is that you are separated into groups to work on an individual component of the meal. So if you are responsible for scalloped potatoes, that is all you will see the entire class. The instructor goes around to each group so even though I could overhear bits and pieces of wisdom about the consistency of the chocolate frosting, I couldn’t see anything that was being done over there. Also, at the very beginning of class the instructor wrote out the steps of the meal and put them in order. So if I was going to make this meal at home, I would know how to maximize my time. Unfortunately, we did not have paper to write on since they didn’t give us the recipes and this was not included in the packet we received at the end :-(
Luckily I am lazy and did not write a review after my first experience.
In the second class, which was sushi, we had a MUCH better time since we got to do everything. The sushi class was so great and I learned some really good tips which I have used since. The instructor was engaging, friendly, and had some helpful hints and tricks. Plus at the end of class we had a huge sushi feast. YUM!
Your experience probably depends on the instructor, the class, and what portion of it you get assigned to. I would highly recommend any classes that are individual in nature (such as sushi). But, even with the first date night class where I didn’t learn much, we had a fun night out together and didn’t have to do the dishes!

My mom found UrbanChef and scheduled this as a «first date date since the baby was born» gift for my wife and I. My wife is not the most comfortable in the kitchen so she was skeptical at first, but it didn’t take long for her to change her mind.
We attended the Cajun date night course with Jon and it was the best date night that we have ever had. We were split up with another couple that we interacted very well with and everyone knew exactly what everyone else was doing.
Jon was detailed with the instructions, personable, and helpful with everyone. We made crab cakes, jalapeño cornbread, shrimp etouffe with white rice, and a chocolate bread pudding with a whiskey sauce. The food turned out delicious and the group setting at the end was nice to enjoy the meal with the other two couples we were not paired with.
All in all this was an awesome experience and we are already planning on doing another night at UrbanChef.

Recently my wife and I took our four kids to urbanCHEF for a children-​themed cooking party.
The kids — and there were lots of them — were aged 5 to 10 and had an absolute blast. They learned about where key ingredients came from, the importance of keeping your station tidy and clean, how flavors compliment each other, etc.
The chefs overseeing everything were super knowledgeable and very patience with the youngsters too.
Lastly, and most importantly, the food they was made was delicious! All sorts of from-​scratch pizzas!!!
Highly, highly recommended.

I went to Urban Chef with a group from my church and had a fantastic time. I know virtually nothing about cooking and our teacher made me feel like a real chef. The whole concept of cooking and learning with a group of friends was great fun. The food was absolutely fantastic and I loved the way the kitchen was set up. Very clean and state of the art. Highly recommend.

Imagine a kindergarten class in a communist country where the teacher teaches you math, reading, and science all at once then says OK EACH OF YOU GO WRITE A PARAGRAPH FOR A THESIS and it’ll just all come together in the end. Yup. That’s what a cooking class at urbanCHEF was like.
My husband I were treated to a class from our dear friends for our bday. We chose «date night in Italy» where the menu comprised of the following: mixed greens with a homemade vinaigrette, melon + prosciutto, lasagne, and strawberries with chocolate sauce. This relatively simple meal and lesson for $ 140/​couple. I had high hopes since I’ve really enjoyed cooking classes at Well Done and Sur la Table, which are both comparably priced.
The Good: the place was clean. The lasagne was REALLY GOOD. You can BYOB. You actually sit down at a table to eat at the end.
The bad:
— you don’t really learn anything because they have break-​outs to prepare different parts of the meal. (Hence the communism comment — what you’re doing is for the greater good) There’s a brief explanation at the beginning of class of the logic behind prep, but at no other point in the class do they really explain how to tie it all together.
— There’s also not much teaching going on. Chaos. The chef will kind of «seagull» it where she swoops in to say oh you’re doing it wrong. We weren’t told what wrong looked like because she didn’t explain what good was before we started.
I won’t be back here and I told them that in their survey. I won’t be bringing my corporate events here either. Can you imagine how stressed out a room full of Type As will be with all the chaos and lack of direction? I’ll continue going to Sur la Table or Well Done where there’s prepped ingredients and sous chefs, and the focus is on preparing an entire meal rather than ingredient prep.

This was my wife’s birthday present and we went to a date night which focused on French Cuisine and fish. There were a total of eight of us in the group and we all interacted well.
The evening was run by Sarah who did a great job in helping us plan and time the different components of the three course meal. Sarah was also there to help us learn new techniques and answer questions.
The tasks are split up between all, so we all contribute.
We had fish soup, Sea Bass En Crute with potatoes au gratin and green beans and crème brûlée to finish. It was delicious!
The wine list has some very good wines that are reasonably priced.
Fantastic evening that was educational, fun and delicious!
Thanks Sarah
Clive and Linda

My husband and I loved the alumni event held at Urban Chef. The filet mignon with bearnaise sauce that we prepared was excellent. We were even encouraged to make profiteroles – they turned out to be an elegant, scrumptious finish to a fun meal. If you do cook here, I would strongly recommend wearing flat shoes with some support as you will be standing for a couple of hours while you cook.

I absolutely loved the cooking class I took here! Chef Sarah hosted our little group, and the subject was sauces. At first I was a little uncomfortable because it’s a group cooking atmosphere, which meant that we were all sharing the same cooking surfaces, and it would sometimes feel a little congested around the stoves, but once I got to know the other students a little more, the environment became comfortable.
I thought Chef Sarah was very friendly, knowledgeable, and kept things interesting! The only thing that was a little rough was the price; wish it were a little more affordable, but for eighty-​ish dollars, I felt it was worth it.
The only suggestion I have for urbanCHEF, other than considering dropping the price a wee bit, is that they add a camera above the cooking area. Several times we had to group around the stove to see what things looked like, or what was going on. It would be a lot easier if they had a tv set up so you could see whats going on!
I definitely look forward to going back to urbanCHEF!

We went for the Date Night: Beef Wellington class and had a great night.
The facility is great — very clean and they had everything ready for us to start cooking right away.
The staff were super friendly and helpful and did a good job of keeping a group of 20+ increasingly tipsy adults on track.
I found the wine list to be pretty good and very reasonably priced. $ 12.50 for a bottle of decent bubbly and $ 28 for a really nice Pinot Noir. You can also bring your own wine for a $ 4 corkage I think.
I had a great night with my husband. We met some nice people at our table and enjoyed the dinner at the end. We are planning to come back and bring our friends. Maybe for my birthday…
All this being said — I have a few suggestions to make the experience even better:
1. The check-​in process was slower than I would have expected. I would think there’s a way to separate people who aren’t buying wine from those that are to speed the whole thing up.
2. Have a kitchen towel at each place along with the apron.
3. Display the recipes so everyone can see them while they are cooking. This could be high-​tech on a TV screen or even written out on a large chalkboard. Or at a minimum, printouts at each table would be great. We spent a lot of time saying — «wait, what are we supposed to be doing?» — because we were too busy drinking /​chatting and not paying attention.
4. I would have loved some music in the background in the kitchen and especially in the dining room. Something themed with the dinner would have helped lessen some of the quiet times and added a really nice touch to the overall ambiance.
These are just ideas on how to make a good time even better. And like I said — we are planning to go back.

We had a corporate team building with 16 people at UrbanChef today. For a team building, I don’t think it gets better than UrbanChef! Teams of eight collaborated on three dishes (we got to select the menu and decided to make it relatively healthy) and then we had a «mystery basket» competition in groups of 4.
After cooking, we moved to the lovely dining room and had a fun lunch where we eat our creations.
The facilities were clean, the instructors friendly, and the food was good.
I recommend UrbanChef and look forward to returning.

My co-​workers and I had the opportunity to experience cooking and savoring some Morrocoan-​theme dish at urbanCHEF as our team-​building event. This place has a great atmosphere. The chefs are very skillful and knowledgable. They made us feel comfortable about cooking, and that’s one of the reasons that this place is perfect for those who don’t usually cook and want to learn the basics.

Urban Chef has hands-​on cooking classes – you have to know that going in, or you will be disappointed. It’s not a demonstration with a tasting, so don’t go in expecting a cooking show-​type atmosphere. Instead, you go in, you get your hands dirty, you work to cook a meal with a bunch of other people, and you end up with a great meal at the end, along with some increased cooking knowledge. Man, do I love it.
My second time at Urban Chef was the best one. My friends decided to throw me an «Iron Chef» birthday party, so we had the entire space – yes, both kitchens. We divided into teams of boys versus girls, and each team had to cook their own meal. It was one of the best times I have had at a birthday party, and I highly recommend it.
Chefs Jon and Sarah were nice and helpful, even if they did judge us guys as the losers at the end. They were there to help us when we needed it, but they let us do most of the planning and cooking ourselves. Sure, it’s crazy, but it’s Iron Chef! I mean Urban Chef!
We all had a blast, drinking wine and beer and enjoying ourselves for several hours before going to the dining room and gloating over how good our dishes were.
Best. Birthday. Ever.
Thanks, Chara. Thanks, Urban Chef.

I want to give urbanCHEF a better rating, but I can’t at this point. I wouldn’t be opposed to going back, but it was just so disorganized. Our experience could’ve been because of our instructor, I’m not sure, but I don’t have anything else to compare it to.
A group of 6 or 7 of us attended a sauce class for my sister’s bachelorette party in mid-​October. I liked the theme, because it seemed like a good approach to learning basic sauces that you could mix and match with different meals.
The good — The facility is really nice. It’s clean and they have solid equipment. There are two kitchens, so classes can be going on simultaneously, and then they have community tables in the back, so everyone can eat afterwards. It’s a great set up.
Upon arrival, we’re offered a wine menu to look over – cokes and water are free. If I were going to be honest, I was a little caught off guard that they didn’t offer a glass of wine with our class, but not a huge deal. I certainly don’t expect them to cover a night of boozing, but I’ve always been offered wine pairings in other cooking classes I’ve taken. Their wine menu was a little pricey and didn’t have much to choose from in the way of whites, but now I’m just being persnickety, so I’ll move on. (Maybe they need to just tack on a wine pairing price for those that are interested???)
After everyone settled in at our tables, our teacher briefed the class on the sauces and dishes we would be preparing. She quickly rattled descriptions off all of the dishes and without any transition, launched right in – «okay, i need someone to chop onions,» «i need someone to mince garlic.» and no one in the class moved, because we were all caught off guard, until she informed everyone that this was an interactive class and we would all be working as a team to create one meal. So, everyone starts scurrying around to try and find and execute the items she’s rattling off, but with 20 strangers working together in a class, it’s hard to know WHO is doing what and WHERE the ingredient you’re working on would even be going. ‘Is someone already chopping onion? Who knows… Guess I’m going to chop some more.‘
Bottom line, by the end of the class, I’d chopped an onion, stirred some caramel and mashed some potatoes, but our group couldn’t possibly recreate ANY of the dishes we made, because we each were only a part of one TINY little step of the construction of some of the dishes.
In all other cooking classes I’ve been to, you work to create your own meal as a pair or a table of 4, but having 20 people work on a thanksgiving-​size meal doesn’t enable people to really learn much about technique.
That said, dinner was good and we had a good time, but we just had to laugh at it half way through, because we knew we weren’t going to walk away with a grasp on sauce basics. They gave us recipe cards at the end and we still joke about the idea of recreating them… Not. going. to. happen.
urbanCHEF, you have a TON of potential. The city needs more great cooking classes. You’ve nailed the space, now just work on the instruction and you’ll be set.

We first went to urban chef for a kids birthday party. The kids got to «cook» their own pizzas and make cookies. They all felt very grown up and had a blast. We then chose to return for a date night. The space is really nice with original art work, and dark wood furniture– very classy. The chef is knowledgeable, and friendly. The thing I liked the best was the communal nature of the cooking classes. It was neat to meet people from all over town, share stories and share a meal. And the food was tasty. We all left full and happy :) The cost is comparable to other cooking classes around town, and seemed worth it for us for the experience, and knowledge of new cooking techniques we learned.