Sur La Table - Carmel

The cooking class was very disappointing. There was a lack of demonstration, clear instruction, and enough assistance for the large group. The instructors seemed more focused on preparing for the next class rather than engaging and teaching the current one. There was confusion among the staff about their roles and responsibilities. The class ended early with minimal learning, and we were offered an additional lesson on knife skills, which could have been included in the original class. The cost was high considering the limited instruction provided. It would have been a better choice to go out for a nice dinner instead.

Today we participated in a homemade ravioli cooking class and it was fantastic! We learned the art of making our own pasta dough and created two different types of fillings for our ravioli. Chef Randy showed us how to do it all, providing us with clear instructions every step of the way. She was available to answer any questions we had during the process. It was a really enjoyable experience and the food turned out delicious! In addition to the ravioli, Chef prepared a shaved Brussel sprout salad for us since we didn't have time to make it ourselves. The 2.5 hours flew by quickly. Thank you for an amazing class and experience!

I would not recommend the cooking class at this restaurant. Overall, the gnocchi class was disorganized and the female instructor did not seem knowledgeable on how to lead a cooking class. The kitchen was not fully prepared, causing a delay in making the food (it took two hours to make only two dishes). Our first dish was clearly made incorrectly and did not turn out right, making it inedible. The instructor was unprepared, somewhat rude, and seemed flustered while re-reading the recipe throughout the class. She separated our group and paired us randomly, which was unexpected, and became upset when we tried to gather back with our own group. She even asked who was paying for our event, which felt inappropriate. Additionally, she offered us water when we stood to eat (no seats were provided) and poured water sloppily from the kitchen faucet into mismatched drink pitchers. At Sur La Table, one would expect a certain level of professionalism and elevated presentation, which was not achieved during our visit. I have been to delicious, educational, and enjoyable cooking classes elsewhere, but unfortunately, this one did not meet those standards. It would be wise to spend your money elsewhere.

This was the sixth store we stopped at today looking to buy a new set of dishes. They had one of the biggest in-store selections in the most friendly staff. Happy to know this place exists and about all of the class offerings! We will definitely be planning a date night there soon!

Arrived with a group of eight people to do a group cooking class. We arrived on time and we’re not greeted with any instructions of what we would be making. They had already prepped two of the four items so we didn’t actually get to make half of what was planned to be made. Each time the chef made announcements, we could not hear her. We didn’t understand why she didn’t have a microphone or a whiteboard to document steps we should be following. Overall, it was very chaotic and unorganized. I would not recommend this for a group activity. The only reason I would give it two stars is because the food did taste good even though we only actually cooked half of it ourselves. It’s amazing that we were there for 2 1/2 hours and only made it two items. The next day we were emailed the recipes for what we cooked during class and noticed that several steps in the recipes we’re not in line with what we actually did during class.