First Class Cooking

It is always a pleasure to spend time with someone who is knowledgeable at what they do and passionate about it. That is Emily. We had a great time learning and participating in the preparation of three great dishes and a dessert. Along the way you may learn many things, like how to dice an onion and how to use a citrus press, you did not know that you did not know. Emily is terrific as everyone has described. Great chef and great teacher. If you look in an illustrated dictionary under enthusiastic, you may see her picture.

Emily was warm, welcoming, and happy to accommodate my vegetarian and gluten free diet. The food was fantastic and I learned quite a bit about technique and process as well as the chemistry behind cooking.
The space was beautiful with big staggering windows overlooking the city.
We were joined by another couple which contributed to the overall pleasant vibe of the evening.
In addition to all of this, I now know how to properly muddle mint for a mojito– that alone was worth it.

I purchased gift certificates for my boyfriend and I to use as his Christmas present. We finally decided on a class in February and were super excited to gain some new skills & recipes. Going in, I expected that this would be the kind of class where we’d have our own cooking stations and eat what we’d be cooking at the end. However when we realized it was in her (amazingly furnished!) home kitchen, I think we were a little caught off guard. The con of course is that it’s not very hands on and you’re pretty much watching Emily cook the entire night. She asks for help cutting, stirring, cooking, and cleaning simple things but again, we were expecting it to be individual stations where we’d be doing all the work. The pro of this setup though is that you can really appreciate and see how knowledgeable Emily is. She explains the science behind everything such as which food items pair together well and why they do, which techniques would be best to use for each case, and other niblets of wisdom that you can carry on in the future.
Everything we had was delicious. The night’s menu consisted of the following:
–Apple Cider Lynchburg Lemonade: So happy we got to make as many as we wanted throughout the night! The recipe was a bit too sweet for me because I like my cocktails strong but nothing that a heavier whiskey pour didn’t fix.
–Clam Chowder with Bacon: Thinner than the typical clam chowder that I’m used to, which was a plus. This had all the flavor but didn’t make me feel heavy and full after. Will be using this recipe many more times in the future.
–Treviso Risotto: My first time making risotto! I got to work with the risotto the most, which was really helpful. Turned out very good.
–Roasted Lamb with Whiskey Glaze: This recipe looked way too easy that I thought there’s no way this is going to be amazing. I was wrong. It probably comes down to the quality of the meat but this recipe didn’t allow for the usual gamey taste lamb has.
–Peach and Berry Crumble: Again another super easy recipe that turned out great.
For my next cooking class, I’d like to go to one that’s more hands-​on. However I think that this would be a great activity to do with friends or as a team bonding event. Emily’s place is amazing and I adore her custom kitchen.

Canceling a class with less than 24 hours notice because another party cancelled is very frustrating. I booked this cooking class for tonight 3 weeks ago for my fiancé’s birthday that is today. I then sent another email 5 days ago reconfirming the class. Last night Emily sent me an email saying that the other party (not part of my party) cancelled so she could not justify holding the class. Emily was very clear in my confirmation email 3 weeks ago that she has a 5 day cancellation policy for customers to avoid being charged full price for the class. This policy should apply both ways. While I was very excited to try Emily’s cooking class, I don’t think I would give her my business now.
Note that 2 stars is for the creative concept and menu and sincere apology I received. But sadly I can’t rate anything beyond this given my experience.

Our group had a great time with Emily, and I’d definitely recommend if this is the type of cooking class you are looking for! For our group, it was perfect. None of us wanted to be on our feet for the full 3-​hours slaving away in the kitchen, so we liked that it was a relaxed atmosphere with a living room/​dining table set up for chatting. I’d say at any given point, half of the group was very focused on the food & helping Emily, and the other half of the group was mingling & chatting. It was just what we were looking for. There probably wasn’t enough work for all 15 of us to do, but it was just what we wanted.
Food was good, Emily was a gracious host, and the views were spectacular!

Emily’s loft is very cute with a great view. Great location too. But thats about it. She has no understanding of the culinary scene in San Francisco as a start. We happened to be a bunch of foodies and for $ 75 per person (where you can have an excellent meal in San Francisco), we didn’t have any appetizers, and we also ran out of the main course as a first serving, because she was very stingy in her servings. The risotto was completely overdone, the salmon was very plain Jane. The only saving grace was the clam chowder which was pretty good. I would say this is a great class for somehow who has no idea how to cook. And even then it should be $ 30 per person. The most disappointing eating experience in San Francisco. Plus she is grumpy and snaps at people. Total waste of everyones time. We all thought it was a bit of a joke.

Came here for a birthday with about 14 other people and I can safely say we all had a blast. We ended up putting together:
–Orzo Salad (My personal favorite!)
–Mushroom Tart
–Pistachio-​Crusted Snapper
–Chocolate Macarons
Although we didn’t all put everything together individually, it was definitely a group effort and Emily’s explanations were both thorough and practical. Some other reviews here cited lack of individual cooking spaces. Really? This isn’t the CIA with restaurant-​grade appliances. The lesson is to show you that you can take a regular kitchen (her kitchen DEFINITELY excluded) and make great food. Yes some parts seemed like an assembly-​line, but I felt there was just enough interactivity for us to get our feet wet with some new techniques and a wealth of knowledge coming from Emily herself.
I’ve also read reviews that question the fact that there was a dog there. The dog was not only super gentle and calm around crowds, she spent most of the time sleeping by the TV so there was definitely no worries there. If you are a germophobe though, you probably should go back to your sterile ball.
Again, I’ve read reviews that have cited Emily retreating to basically wait for the group to finish eating and leave. I actually mentioned this to a friend that was with us about halfway through the lesson and while she did seem to take a load off while we ate our main courses and appetizer, I felt this was pretty appropriate as she was just giving us time to enjoy the good food. She did eventually come back and we picked her brain on a variety of topics related to food of which she had a ridiculous amount of insight. In fact, we had to interrupt a rather spirited discussion about the merits of Trader Joe’s to sing «Happy Birthday» to the birthday girl! She also joined us for dessert and chatted with us until we left. There didn’t seem to be any sort of pressure to finish and go and she was very accommodating.
All in all an amazing experience. I would definitely recommend to anyone novice or experienced in cooking. You likely will learn something new and have a great meal with an amazing view to go with it.

Best cooking classes ever — we know very little about cooking and have learned easy but special dishes like qui onus with preserved lemon and mint, fish with coriander and pepper — even the best toffee ever.
I especially like that Emily gives clear and calm advice and helpful tips. She also uses incredibly great produce — and gives great tips on where to but which food — even when Costco is not so bad! And she manages to mix in tips in cooking tools and even how to clean cookware!

Wanted to learn to cook a multi-​course meal and saw Emily’s First Class Cooking online. I was immediately interested because it was a one time event and seemed to have good menu choices. I wanted to write this because even though I read these reviews before I went, I was still very surprised by how little you actually get to do yourself. Be prepared that the class is watching her and a few other people cut vegetables and stir. When there is 12 people, it tends to get crowded in the kitchen. The good thing is that she is knowledgeable and I appreciated her cooking skills. She will answer all your questions very friendly and thoroughly. Make sure you ask questions, she’s willing to answer and if no one asked questions, you wouldn’t learn much. Ultimately, I’m glad that I did it and I’m hoping I can replicate the meal on my own. Just be prepared you’re watching more than you’re doing.

I’m going to repeat what a few others have already stated here but worth repeating. I was part of a private group booked for a team building event. We were also surprised that there was a dog in the house and hanging out with us the entire time. (guess she assumes no one is allergic or afraid of dogs?) We thought this was a little inappropriate given that we were cooking.
The class was neither very structured nor very hands-​on. Emily was knowledgeable and opinionated, spoke very quickly and jumped from topic to topic, and was not able to hold our attention for any length of time. She was also very short with a few of us and rather than suggesting the right way to use a knife, for example, she would say things like «you’re doing that wrong».
There were no individual cooking stations. We stood around and basically waited for her to tell (yell?) out directions like chop the onion or grate the ginger. She seemed a little distracted or frazzled and it took several hours to get the meal prepared. She was put off that someone in our group was a vegetarian. We were all a little surprised at how short she was with us and did not create a warm and friendly atmosphere. Fortunately, we all had fun in spite of her demeanor. Perhaps we just caught her on a bad day?
When the food was ready, Emily told us to come fill our plates — then basically started cleaning the kitchen and ignored us. We felt that she was waiting for us to leave.
I’ll give it 3 starts instead of 2 only because the food was delicious.

I was part of a private group for this cooking class. First off there is a medium sized dog in the apartment that greets guests at the door. I am allergic so this was an immediate turn off. The kitchen, living room and dining are loft style and the dog hung out in the living room. The whole space needed a deep clean. There were cutting boards laid out and there was stuff stuck to the boards before we started using them. The bar stools had food stuck on them. After Emily added salt to the batter we were making, my friend noticed something dark floating. When pointed it out, Emily said it was colored salt. I can’t imagine that colored salt would leave one big dark chunk. The plates, serving pieces and wine glasses were chipped. I expected a clean environment. When we finally sat down to eat I noticed that many of the chairs had crumbs on them. All of the above really made me not want to eat anything that we were preparing.
I also expected professional cooking instruments or at least things that were from one line. It was a mix and match of cheap cooking tools and pots and pans. She had a $ 2 knife from Ikea that was falling apart.
On the positive the food had good flavor and I think that I can repeat with the recipes provided. It is a nice concept to have this event in a home environment.

Yes.
I wouldn’t say it’s a cooking school. It was more like a dinner party where we learned how to cook. The atmosphere is much more relaxed than a class. It’s also much more comfortable and relatable, like you’re in your friends’ or your own kitchen, not a classroom. It makes for an amazing date, but I could see it being a terrific venue for so many things.
Emily is fantastic at this. She gets 5 stars. Her food was delectable. I’ll be thinking about the braised beef over polenta for days. I think I finally learned how to brown my meat before I cook it. I can finally cook steak at home!
People looking for a proper cooking school class should probably look elsewhere. This is more about having fun and being social. But it’s really fantastic. I am going to recommend it to everyone. I think Emily is great and we appreciated all her hospitality, personability and warmth!!! What a fun thing to do. We loved it.

Perfect Date! Since we both love to cook, I took my wife (Girlfriend at the time) here since it’d a great activity to do together. Emily was knowledgable and the space is incredible. Sunset over the city really helped the cause for a 1^st gift. We made an appetizer, paella, a side, dessert and a cocktail.
For our 1year anniversary (of being married) I emailed Emily out of the blue just days before the 1 year mark and explained that I wanted to recreate that meal. She was fast to respond and so happy to help.
Whether this is your 1^st date of your 100^th, I highly recommend taking this class to expand your capabilities and to create an experience that you can talk about for year to come. Couldn’t be happier to have made the choice to go here 4 years ago!

I booked a class with First Class Cooking for a team offsite event. The rate was $ 70/​person, with an 8 person or $ 560 minimum. The booking process went by smoothly. Emily was flexible about the timing and the menu. She helped us select four courses, based on preferences my coworkers expressed:
— avocado salad with mustard vinaigrette
— goat cheese + green garlic soufflé
— mustard, dijon, + fennel pork tenderloin
— raspberry rhubarb meringue tart
The food turned out very delicious, and I definitely plan to try the recipes at home.
However, the class was neither very structured nor very hands-​on. Emily was knowledgeable and opinionated, and she had a lot of tips and thoughts to share. She spoke very quickly and jumped from topic to topic, so if your attention waned for a moment, you might miss something important.
There were no individual cooking stations. We stood around Emily’s spacious and well-​furnished kitchen, as she walked us through making all four courses in parallel. There wasn’t really a game plan drawn out ahead of time. We just followed her around her kitchen as she talked and did most of the work. Occasionally, someone would be asked to perform a quick task, such as cracking a few eggs, chopping some leeks, and stirring sauce.
The class took place in Emily’s condo. When the food was ready, Emily brought it to the serving table and then retreated and sat in the stairs the whole time we ate. We felt that she was waiting for us to pay and leave, which made things a bit awkward.

Most amazing and intimate experience! Fantastic view!

This is a great class for those who are total novices in the kitchen, or might be scared of what even goes into preparing food. Emily was so warm and friendly she could put any take-​out addict at ease.
While I very much enjoyed her class, there were some drawbacks (for me at least). Like I said, the class was a little junior level. The activity level is rather minimal, it’s more standing around, watching her cook and you get to jump in occasionally. Take note that it’s not fully hands on. And in that vein, you can be at the mercy of others in the class: one girl added too much spice to the dessert, rendering it inedible! I felt so bad for her, but it was a friendly environment and we were forgiving, even though we kept teasing her… The food we made was decent, but nothing super gourmet or surprising.
Save one, the biscuits! She had some great tips that I took to heart and I even made the recipe again and took it to Thanksgiving dinner and it was a hit. Walking out with this one new skill was worth the price of the class.

I always leave Emily’s class completely satisfied with my meal and experience. I can’t say enough nice things.
I love the recipe choices Emily makes based on what is local and in season. It’s fun to watch her cook and listen to her talk about it all. I personally also love to jump in and get involved. Emily always makes it clear that you can be as involved as you want. I find I remember more if I do it, plus I really enjoy cooking.
I would probably take at least one of these classes a month if it weren’t for my tight budget. But I will definitely make room for more in the future. I’ve learned about how to store fresh herbs, how to make delicious salmon, and about making truly refreshing salads with dressing made from scratch.
Addition: As of February 17, 2013
Emily creates a fun atmosphere with an approach to cooking that is not intimidating or lacking in energy for any level of culinary interest. I first attended one of her classes as part of a singles dating social event but I found myself more excited less about the dating and more about learning new cooking skills, and about Emily’s personal and professional experiences within the culinary world. It was also fun meeting new people as interested in cooking as I am. So while I would do the dating night again for sure, I was very happy to take 2 more cooking classes with Emily sans dating element.
Emily has inspired me as a mentor in the culinary world, so much so that I still love getting her emails with the monthly schedule of classes; Even now that I have moved across the country. I would love to do what she does some day and welcome people into my home for cooking instruction and socializing.
Bravo Emily & First Class Cooking!

As part of a work private event (with spouses) we got to try Emily’s class. It was an all vegetarian menu as my boss wanted to promote sustainability and have ideas for meatless Mondays (perfect for me, coz I am vegetarian, yaay!)
We made — a summer vegetable tart, grilled eggplant with charmoula and mint yogurt, spanakopita and pavlova with fresh berries. Everything was exquisite and Emily was a great instructor.
Its probably worth mentioning that she hosts the class in her SOMA loft (which has lovely views), but there is only one of everything (stove, counter space, equipment) so dont expect to get hands on training, as people in the class sort of volunteer for the various chores and I can see this being chaotic for a large group. Emily was very informative and gave us several cooking tricks, techniques and her focus was on how ingredients work with each other and a lot of her tips could be easily transferrable to other dishes.

It was a really sweet gift from the BF to take me to a cooking class. And I have always wanted to try it out so when we went to First Class Cooking, I’d have to say it was a neat and enjoyable experience.
Emily is friendly, knowledgeable and super down to earth. Great teacher and fun to listen to. I love to cook and I learned a lot of basic cooking techniques from her. She has different dishes for everyday so depending on what your food preferences are, you can choose a day where the meals are of interest to you. Prices range from $ 55 – 80 per person and per occasion. She houses up to 10 people per session. She teaches cooking classes from her beautiful home which has magnificent views of the city.
The only problem I had was that I would have loved for it to be a little bit longer and more in depth in explanation and for it to be more hands on. I felt a little rushed and felt like I was just helping her make something as opposed to getting hands on training. Maybe this was due to her place not having enough workstations? Not quite sure. Overall, the experience is really fun and definitely worth a try.

Known as the nomadic world traveler with an eternally vacant fridge, my friends and loved ones found it nothing short of amazing that I finally decided to pave the road to domestication. As I approach my thirties, I feel nothing short of incompetent for not knowing how to adequately cook or bake, nor sew or decorate for that matter. It’s almost New Years; I’ll just add my many domestic shortcomings to my other laundry list of resolutions.
Gone are the days of eating turkey sandwiches every day for lunch and raisin bran for dinner, this self-​proclaimed foodie is desperate to upgrade her lackluster cooking skills. Emily Della, at First Class Cooking, sprung up like a mushroom in a rainstorm giving me the inspiration I was looking for.
Emily is a friendly informative teacher who thrives in the comfortable chic and urban environment that is her home. One can’t help but get temporarily distracted by the massive panoramic windows highlighting San Francisco’s architectural wonders. Whiffs of the luscious spinach soufflé and stuffed chicken baking, however, were enough to whip my head back towards the kitchen.
Our private group, which included my grandmother, aunts, and female cousins, prepared an easy and tasty meal composed of a warmed goat cheese salad, chicken breasts stuffed with spinach, prosciutto, fontina, & sage, a spinach soufflé, and peppermint bark. We all took turns slicing, dicing and stirring. It was more of a team effort versus everyone doing their own individual tasks. I didn’t mind sharing the counter space or occasionally handing off the fancy kitchen knife to another because it gave me the chance to hone in on the cooking tips Emily was sprinkling here and there. Moreover, it gave me an opportunity to pour me another glass of red! All of the food came out fantastic. Surprisingly, I feel confident enough to make it at home.
If you’re seeking a kitchen adventure, or are paving your own road to domestication, call Emily. She is bound to start your journey off on the right food.