Cooking by the Book

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.

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!

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 Unilocal,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!

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…

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!

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.

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!

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 am engaged and sooo want my bachelorette party here! I love it!!!

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.

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!

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.

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

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!

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!

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

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.

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!

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, entrée, 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.

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.

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.