CookWithJames

The look on my girlfriend’s face as we walked up to James’ house for a surprise cooking class was PRICELESS. She had no idea what we were doing at this random house on Masonic, and when an unfamiliar man answered the door she looked horrified. She wouldn’t even walk up to the house!
That horror quickly transformed into excitement, however, as we got the appetizers underway for our rustic Italian ravioli dinner.
I cannot recommend this guy highly enough — he’s very professional and we had so much fun learning how to make a deceptively simple ravioli dish from scratch. His renovated kitchen is a pretty incredible work-​space and his home is clean and comfortable.

Two weeks ago, I made one of the best decisions that I’ve made in a while — I booked a date to bring my 11-​person team to James’ home for an evening of cooking and conversation!
I have to admit, I was not 100% certain that this night would turn out well — I take the planning of my team outings very seriously because I know that a few things must be NAILED DOWN in order to make a strong team bonding experience: 1) the team needs to feel like they’re in a comfortable setting, 2) the team needs to be doing something unique and interesting and 3) there needs to be some level of collaboration. This night was all of this, and then some!
Immediately upon arrival, James greeted us at the door and walked us into his BEAUTIFUL naturally lit home. His home is one of the most beautiful homes that I have had the privilege to walk into in San Francisco. We walked in, put our things down, and were brought into his living room, where Gretchen, his girlfriend, served us a tray of delicious appetizers — peppers, cheeses, and sausages of some sort. My team immediately picked up on the energy and warmth of the home and the environment, a perfect setting for an 11 person team to sit down, chat, drink some wine, and spend some time bonding. A few members of the team left the group and entered the kitchen, where James and Gretchen gave them the opportunity to get a little hands on in learning how to make hand-​made pasta.
When that portion of the night ended, we were then welcomed into the dining room, at which time James and Gretchen sectioned off the dining room for the rest of us to enjoy our courses. The food was great, the cheese/​flan dessert was delicious, and my team was able to experience a very memorable and enjoyable night.
I would highly recommend this experience with James for a large team interested in doing something unique for the night. While I do wish that we were more hands-​on when it comes to making the food, it was a very warm and enjoyable night nonetheless.
The next day at work was amazing — the entire team didn’t stop expressing how much they enjoyed the night before, and it was clear that everyone became much closer as a result.
Thank you James and Gretchen for such a fabulous night!

Cook With James is truly a unique experience! We held a team event here for our office and were incredibly delighted to enter the hospitable home of James. We made homemade pasta, sipped wine, and dined on some of the finest food we have tasted in the city of San Francisco. James was a great teacher and took the time to walk us through each step, while also expertly coupling our courses with wine pairings. We had a wonderful time and would highly recommend this experience to anyone, especially groups!

My team at work spent a day with James and his girlfriend in his home. It was so much fun! We were really hands on and had great conversation in their home but when it was time to eat, they closed off the kitchen and served us in the living room. 1 star deducted because it was a little pricey for a cooking class and wine was not included. Other than that, would suggest to anyone!

Overall, I felt that James could have spent more time explaining and «teaching».
The night we went, James was with his girlfriend who is also his assistant. She is extremely friendly but I felt that she stole the show. As much as I loved to hear her life story, I paid to learn how to cook the dish. Sometimes I felt like he was about to speak but then his girlfriend would enter into another conversation topic and he would just shut up until the next step of the cooking process.
In the end, the entire cooking process was NOT hands on. In fact, we had very little to do with the dishes served that night and were promised to have the recipes emailed to us instead (again probably because he didn’t have a chance to ever tell us the recipe while he was cooking) I prefer to have some hands on portion… even if it’s just chopping ingredients.
If you like to have a nice meal served to you by nice friendly people (think of it like a restaurant but with the recipes emailed to you after), then this is your place. If you prefer to actually learn how to make Spanish food, I’d suggest you go somewhere else.

I took my friend to Cook With James for her birthday a couple years ago and I STILL make the paella that he taught us. Great instructor and atmosphere!

Highly recommend James! He is amazing… Loved the experience. The food was the best paella I’ve ever had! Will definitely go back or hire him!

We had a really fun time and a delicious meal. We still use the recipe. The only thing I would have changed was to have a little tiny bit more cooking advice. He gave us some, but I wanted a bit more.
All-​in-​all, a nice guy and a good way to spend an evening.

This is a wonderful evening with a small group of friends or just a loved one! I can’t wait to go back and do the Italian meal. We did the Spanish Paella this time.
Photos of what we made and ate can be viewed here:

to start, i had a hard time scheduling a time to do our cooking class, which was a bit frustrating. at times, it seemed our email communications were going into the ether because i had to follow up several times in order to get answers about the menu for the evening, where to be, what time, etc. since i’d gotten a Unilocal deal, i could understand that his schedule might be pretty full accommodating other guests.
the cooking class itself was really fun and enjoyable. james is very knowledgable and a warm host. he showed us some tips and tricks that we still talk about and the food was wonderful — we were so happy to have leftovers to enjoy over the next few days.
that being said, i was pretty disappointed with the follow-​up. he said he was going to email us the recipes for what we made that night but i never heard from him again. after all of the back and forth just getting the night we went to happen, i didn’t have the energy to beg him for them. i understand that people get busy and all, but if this is a full-​time or even a side business, this seems pretty basic. 1) have a great cooking class, 2) send out recipes, thank guests for coming, encourage them to come back so you can repeat process. we’d told friends about the class and they sounded interested to the point that i was considering a group class for all of us, but the lack of follow-​up has made me pretty reticent.

James creates a unique and wonderful dining experience for his clients. I think James is amazing: knowledgeable, funny, interesting, committed to creating a community that honors and recognizes quality food, and his take on the standard dinner party is brilliant. I went with a friend with a Bloomspot deal, and will book again. The wine he chose was fantastic, the paella was delicious, and the whole conversation was interesting and fun.
I will definitely book again and this time without a coupon. He is that worth it.

Bought a Unilocal deal and took my boyfriend.
Since we were coming up from LA, he was really accommodating about finding a good day for us to come, since we had to plan further in advance.
James is really nice and definitely knows his way around the kitchen. I loved asking him questions, from ingredients to kitchen tools. He taught us how to make simple dishes that I can’t wait to make again at home! James gets the best ingredients and if you’re living in SF, definitely ask him where he gets his groceries from.
We had a nice time watching him cook and sipping on some wine, and he also let us get our hands dirty and prep part of the meal.
I must say, he bought the BEST prosciutto I’ve ever had in my life…
When each dish was done cooking, my boyfriend and I ate in the dining room and ate while he kept an eye on the kitchen.
I’d love to come back to cook with James, perhaps when he hosts a bigger session with more people!

Cook with James… means I was going to COOK with James? NOT!
He was an amazing guy. don’t get me wrong. Very sweet. He brought some of the best ingredients for the dinner… I’m picky when it comes to choosing meats, cheeses and he was good with his selection. What was not good was his selection of the menu. It was average… which didn’t require a whole lot of cooking to begin with. I had pasta carbonara, saltimbocca with chard both of which had pounds of butter it it… really you need to bathe collards in butter too? Too greasy for my taste.
Desert was good but it was prepared beforehand… no fun;-(
I don’t think I would recommend this place. It’s better to just enjoy a gourmet dinner in a fancy restaurant for that price since I didn’t get to cook myself at all.

When I saw this deal it sounded like fun, and I thought I could learn some things.
I invited my sister and son. My sister and I are accomplished cooks, and my son is interested in learning.
We chose the Italian meal. It included carbonara and saltimbocca both of which we have made at home many times. But James’s take was different. He used chunks of pancetta WAY bigger than I ever have, and I was worried about the fattiness. And he added a little pasta water to the sauce before mixing in the eggs. The result was a thinner coating on the pasta, which made for a lighter dish – very good. Oh and the pancetta fat – give me more! I didn’t notice it a bit.
We usually make saltimbocca with veal or chicken, but I really like the pork version. Cheaper than veal and moister and tastier than veal or chicken. The big lesson here was how he browned the pork for that beautiful crust. And how he finished the second side. Quickly sautéed chard and kale veggies were a treat.
I’d recommend James to new cooks or seasoned cooks. There is something for everyone to learn-​and have fun.
Now let me jot down a thick slab of pancetta on my shopping list…

Around October 29^th 2011 I wanted to spend a memorable one year anniversary together with my girlfriend Steph. Knowing of her passion for cooking, I started to look for cooking classes taking place in San Francisco and Berkeley that very weekend. Due to Halloween all the popular places hadn’t anything on offer, so I was forced to change my plans accordingly.
That’s when I came accross James’ web site and it immediately caught my attention. After exchanging a few email messages about the menu and the payment, the private cooking event was set to happen on the evening of Monday, October 31^st.
I took my girlfriend to the City without letting her know what she was into — a surprise is only a surprise if your plan stays secret. The GPS guided us to a restaurant nearby of James home to hide all clues from Steph.
You should have seen her astonished look when we walked past the restaurant she thought I would take her to for dinner. Instead, I continued uphill into a calm neighbourhood area. Steph must have thought I had become totally crazy when I randomly walked up to the door of one of the houses on the street. Knowing exactly that I had found James home, I rang the doorbell …
James, aware of my visit, got up from the living room sofa, opened the door and let us enter. After an introduction of himself and his background, we went onto a short tour through his appartment. We ended up in his large, professionally equipped kitchen and started to prepare food right ahead, while sipping from our red wine which I had bought earlier that day.
At the beginning, we were actively participating, but eventually we let him handle the things while he told us a lot about his experiences in Spain. My girlfriend, curious as she is, got into a lively discussion about anything related to food and James’ was able to answer all her questions as well as giving her advice on improving her cooking skills.
I’m a huge fan of the Spanish and Mediterranean kitchen, but James showed the both of us how easily you actually can cook awesome tasting, but nevertheless totally healthy food based on just a small set of very simple ingredients.
After James had finished each of the course, he filled our plates, took the plates to the living room and left us alone in the beautifully decorated dining room, where I could spend talking privately to my girlfriend while eating the delicious food. Candlelights did the rest!
Overall, I can recommend James to any boyfriend who wants to give his girlfriend a very, very special treat which she’s going to remember for quite a while. The food James prepared was able to beat a lot of dishes a «professional» cook could have prepared in some moderately priced restaurant. The atmosphere was especially awesome and romantic because we didn’t have to share the celebration of our anniversary with dozens of other people crammed into a restaurant.
Thank you very much, James — we might be back someday.

It was our 6^th anniversary and my wife asked me to take her somewhere where it would knock her tastebuds out! I think James did the trick and made my wife work for it as well! We had fun making little pepper poppers, carbinara pasta, saltimbocca pork and dessert was already made for us. it was a very fun intimate night for us.
well done!

Once again, standing ovation for Cook With James. This time we were at
this very cool venue in North Beach called CookHouse (go to
to see their gorgeous space).
Our friends also used James for their wedding rehearsal dinner. Definitely the most unique wedding rehearsal we’ve ever been too.
James’ knowledge is excellent. His rapport fantastic. And the food magnificent. It doesn’t get any better than this. Thanks James!

I came here last night with some family and friends. I really was not sure what to expect. Even after reading all the reviews, this was something completely different. We walk up and James was very welcoming. We chatted for a little bit and then we started with some appetizers and wine. Started with a few kind of cheeses, crackers, and some roasted chili peppers! Oh man… those were delicious! We headed to the kitchen to learn exactly how Paella is made; rice with chicken and chorizo! FYI ~ did you know true authentic Paella cane take a little over an hour to make? Who knew!?! So as the night goes on, James was great about showing us the step by step process. Shortly after the hour, we were ready to sit down and enjoy some home-​made Paella!
Overall, this really was a great experience! We got a bit loud, but that might of been because we finished off 6 bottles of wine, plus has a few drinks beforehand!
FYI ~ This event was planned by my brother who found a Unilocal Deal… so if this happens to pop up again, I highly recommend you buy it!

Boyfriend surprised me with a visit to James a couple of months ago. James was gracious enough to accommodate just the two of us even though he usually does parties of 4 – 6. We had lots of fun learning how to make new dishes and chatting about traditional Spanish cuisine. The food was delicious and I have a new-​found appreciation for making my own pasta sauce :)

«My compliments to the chef!»
Never have these words had so much meaning, because when you Cook With James, one of the chefs is James. The other is you.
James is a talented and passionate chef who has worked at the Michelin-​starred restaurant Quince in San Francisco, among other establishments in America and in Europe. His sense of earned confidence and skill in his well-​appointed kitchen is palpable.
But the Cook With James experience resonates because he shares that sense of confidence and skill with you, making you feel like the most complicated-​looking and delicious dishes are well within your reach to prepare.
I’m a novice chef. So my girlfriend bought me a private Cook With James session for my birthday. At first I was nervous about whether I’d be able to keep up.
Let me tell you what we made: Baby artichoke pasta in cream sauce, Grilled sardines, and Pork Saltimbocca.
I would never have tried any of these on my own. But being in the kitchen with James, it was as if he had pulled back the curtain and demonstrated that there’s no magic to it. Good ingredients, simple steps, a lot of tasting along the way. I feel like I could replicate those three dishes easily.
And here’s the best part. My girlfriend had asked for a bit of knife skills to be included in the session. To accommodate, James chose dishes that incorporated knife skills in creative ways: de-​boning the sardines (!), trimming the baby artichokes, and slicing the pork.
And that’s what makes this experience so different. James is not there to impress you with his cooking skill. Nor is he there to tell you what to do.
James shares a love of cooking WITH you, and shows you what that means.
In an age of celebrity chefs and frantic displays of cooking prowess, it’s refreshing to meet to meet a real person who cooks with love, and inspires that in others.
My girlfriend and I will be going back, and bringing friends.