came as a plus one for a company event! if you're viewing this experience from that perspective, i…read morethink it's a great! they're super organized and know how to cater to a large group (~25 people) really well. we assembled a berry tart to bake at the start then got to build our own bruschetta combos. there was whipped feta, turkish apricot, and orange chutney as bases, and you could top it with mint, tomatoes, bell pepper, and cucumber. at the end before we ate, we took turns seasoning the chicken and watched a demo on how she made the carrot hummus. i didn't learn as much actual cooking as i was hoping. i'll have to try their public classes instead!

Such a fun date night experience! The cooking classes are held in a beautiful space in east Austin…read moreand are lead by very talented and kind chefs. They describe it as a "recreational" cooking class, which means there is some light cooking involved but they've done a lot of the heavy lifting which takes the stress out of the experience and maximizes enjoyment. There were about 15 people total in the class. It's BYOB and they give you all the recipes after. We attended the New American Mediterranean class. Menu items included strawberry gazpacho, an arugula salad, carrot hummus, lovely grilled chicken marinated in Mediterranean spices, and berry ricotta tarts for dessert. Each item was more epic than the last. My girlfriend and I agreed that this was the best meal we've had in a long time. Absolutely delicious! We can't wait to try some of the recipes at home, and attend another cooking class (possibly the Italian one!) soon.

Freda's Kitchen - Iron Chef Review…read more We engaged Ashley and her team to create an Iron Chef style event for our family of fifteen ages 5-84 over the holidays. They did an absolutely incredible job! Ashley made sure every detail was taken care of and coordinated the entire event flawlessly. Ashley's team members (Kyle, Kristin, Holly and Chef Uyen Pham) were all exceptionally professional and they ensured it was a wonderful experience for everyone involved. Although the final results are still under protest (just kidding). We highly recommend Freda's Kitchen for anyone looking for something different whether it be a team building or in our case a family event. We also held it at Wilson's Appliance in Dripping Springs who were gracious in allowing to use their top of line equipment in their model kitchens.

My friends and I did a cooking class here and had a great time. Our chef and her assistant were…read morereally friendly and down-to-earth, and they gave an introduction letting us know about their business and why they started it, which gave some meaning to what we were doing. The space where we ate was gorgeous and felt like we were dining in someone's beautiful home. Half our group was running late (30 minutes!) due to the marathon closing off some roads, and they still gave us our full experience. FYI, it is BYO here! If we had known earlier, we would have brought our own additional drinks, but they did serve us wine. The kitchen was a little cramped for 14 of us, and compared to other cooking classes I've done, it was a little ad-hoc getting everyone organized. They didn't have a pre-set number of people for each station, and with only 2 staff, they were stretched a little thin helping everyone. It all worked out, but it was a little slow figuring out who would do what, with rough last minute estimates on how many people were needed at each spot. Still, our food was great, we all learned some new kitchen skills (though the chef did help us quite a bit to get us there!), and we had a fun time! There were tons of leftovers too.

Highly recommend doing a cooking class for the team event! As part of the planning team, I'm glad…read morethat this session received a lot of good feedback. This is also an element of surprise as this experience is refreshing compared to a normal dine out. 30 of us traveled from California and had our team offsite in Austin. We spent one night doing cooking class with SilverWhisk. The venue was a fancy $2.4M house with a pool. It looked right out of Vogue and amazing. By the time we arrived, the appetizers (Tuna crackers) and Sangria were already set up (delicious) and the chefs were preparing for the cooking session. The whole session was very organized and the staff were very friendly. While many of us are not good at the cooking, we received great instruction and the end result turned out to be great! Would totally do it again if our team ever visit Austin again.

Hi! We had a corporate team building activity with 11 people! We had SO MUCH FUN!…read more First off the space was GORGEOUS! Our Chefs (Chef Jerry and Chef Priscilla) were SO kind, patient, fun, and organized! The meals we made were awesome and something that we could all make at home, not "too fancy" where we'd have to go to a special store to get, but also just the right amount of "newness" for some of us that might not try on our own at home...like handmade pasta or from scratch chocolate mousse. We had two teams. One team took Italian and made a handmade Bolognese pasta dish. The second team cooked a Mexican Chicken and Rice dish. Both teams prepared a dessert as well. It was the most fun most people have had at a corporate event! *So much better than a stuffy overpriced steak dinner!* I could see this being a great way to start a bachelorette party, friend gathering, family reunion, birthday party, date night with other couples, etc.! We hope you open up more spots in different cities! Highly encourage it!

This place is the best. I had gone to many classes about 10 years ago and after a hiatus, I…read morereturned because I saw that there was a cool class for Mardi Gras. It wasn't my first Mardi Gras demo class, it lasted about 3 hours and there was wine pairings. It was a wonderful way to celebrate in a lowkey and delicious setting. The chef spoke about the way to prepare the dishes, we tasted them and I learned that New Orleans cuisine has many sauces which (for me) are quite complicated so I am happy to eat them on special occasions when I'm dining out. Most classes are minimum 60-80 dollars and can cost more depending on the ingredients. The classes can be demos or hands-on. Some are 21 and up and will offer wine pairings as well. Pro-tip, they release next month's schedule (on event brite) on the first of the month and offer a 10% discount if you book your next month's class within the first 7 days of the previous month. This year, I was checking out their schedule and it piqued my interest that they offered a shorter than average (1 hr) Lunch and Learn to celebrate Mardi Gras. I booked my ticket which was about 30 dollars, a steal compared to their usual prices. I was delighted to see that Chef Sid was still there, whipping up delicious New Orleans cuisine. We had the crab creole dip, crawfish etouffee over rice and we finished with a brownie and butter pecan praline frosting. Everything was well seasoned and flavorful. I also learned a few tricks to try. I hope they offer more of these opportunities because it was a quick, and cost effective way, to come back!

We attended the Paella Valenciana class. What a blast! Our two instructors were terrific and fun…read more We started by making an eggplant and bell pepper dip, then a fantastic chicken and duck paella, and then we were served an excellent flan de Naranja. Would absolutely do this again. Totally fun 2.5 hours and went home with leftovers!

This review is for their Blue Ribbon courses only. I attended a six hour, Saturday course for…read morecooking a Tuscany menu. I purchased the gift card from Travelzoo at half price. So, based off what I paid and the food we ate, the skills we learned, and the class itself, I definitely recommend it. The class started at 9am and we spent 3 hours going through basics of cooking broccolini, cannelloni beans, prime rib, and a pine nut cake. We spent roughly 1.5-2 hours preparing the meal and eating it. For someone who has never taken a cooking course and a husband who is not adept at cooking, this made a great date and fun meal. Of course, I will not say it is for experts or someone looking to go into culinary schools. However, it was fun, different, and interesting. It was also a lot of work. Get ready to learn, sample, and produce. And, eat whatever you produce. Take notes. Come early because the location is totally confusing if you have never been. The instructors were very nice, knowledgable, friendly, and had fun tips. Maybe these are tips people already know who cook, but they were new and fun to me. I recommend this class for a somewhat adventurous spirit, as a couples' date, ladies' day out, or for people who want to check out what it feels like to work in a commercial kitchen. Do NOT go if you feel like you are a master chef already or you will be disappointed. Don't go if you don't want to cook or sit and learn for a few hours. The (I'm assuming) students helping were very nice and cleaned all your dishes, cleared your area, and helped out if you had questions.

This is a long one...I apologize. Basically--from start to finish, this "school" was a big scam…read more I attended the culinary program. The admissions guy, Brent, sold the program very nicely. Made it seem like I'd learn how to be a chef and be ready for a career in the industry, in fact, an externship was a requirement to graduate. I signed the papers and paid for the school...it was not cheap. Almost $20,000. One year and a half later all I have to show for it is a nice set of knives, some books, a $10 an hour job and a much lower credit score. My experience here was horrible. Several students left out of frustration. Most of the instructors seems knowledgable and had some experience in the restaurant industry. However--they would frequently arrive to class late. When everyone else is there at 7 am, it's frustrating when there is no instructor. Also--the curriculum was ridiculous. The instructors usually just read from the PowerPoint presentations that they barely knew how to operate and that obviously weren't prepared by them. We were presented with so much information and such little structure, I don't really understand that they really expected us to retain the information, rather they were just trying to cram as much into such a small amount of time. Needless to say, much of what was presented (if it wasn't written down) was useless. I suppose that we did work with some pretty good ingredients, it was occasionally fun and very, very easy. But that's not really what I was hoping for, exactly. The admissions director sold the school as being something completely different. There was no structure at all. We never even learned the basics of working in a kitchen or even the tools that we'd use in a kitchen. Frequently the instructors would just do everything themselves without explaining how they did it, simply because it was faster than having us do it. Having someone talk you through the process of making gnocchi is great, but it doesn't give you any of the skills you need for a job making pasta in a restaurant...because for that you need experience. When I started my externship (which I had to find completely on my own) I was completely unprepared for the position. I was able to pick it up, through the help of my employers. On top of my fairly disappointing education I received from Le Cordon Bleu, I also received quite a shock when I checked my credit report. The school had taken out almost $5,000 worth of loans that I had not authorized. The money was eventually returned to "the government" and I didn't end up owing them anything, but it stills shows up on my credit report. They did this without my consent. It was unacceptable. Litigation is probable. After all this, if you're still reading, realize...you will learn a few things about food at this school. But that comes at a price that is completely not worth it. This school will not prepare you for any type of job in the industry. Please save your money and your sanity--get an entry level job in a kitchen and move your way up. It's much easier than you'd imagine. If you do decide to attend school here, remember that you will be paying the school for two months while you work...which means that Le Cordon Bleu will be making money off you even when they've done nothing to help you. It's a very elaborate scam. These private schools need to be stopped. They prey on the poor and market to parents and people with good credit so that they can make money off your loans and putting you in debt. Don't become a victim. There are plenty of other options.

We had a party of eight that Chef Nic thoughtfully prepared for us. The process, from beginning to…read moreend, was easy and the communication was excellent. I'm sad I was so busy enjoying the food that we forgot to take pics! We are an older foodie bunch, all whom have hosted with private chefs before and this one did not disappoint any of us! I asked for unique items (i.e. something I don't usually have or can cook myself) and Chef Nic sent me suggestions to choose from. We ended up with a 5-course meal which was way too much food, so afterwards we asked, "What course would we have skipped?" and couldn't decide! Chef brought most of the food prepared enough for ease of cooking and serving, and brought it all out in surprisingly even serving times. The chef immaculately clean-up my kitchen and even started the dishwasher. We highly recommend Chef Nic and Gather & Forge.

Was in Austin for my bachelor party and found Gather & Forge through some research and could not…read morehave been more happy with the decision. The experience was top notch from beginning to end. Chef Dan did a fantastic job cultivating a fine dining experience from the comfort of our home and left with raving fans as a result!

Wonderful family-style cooking class, where everyone pitches in on a dish and then shares the meal…read moreat the end. Made for a truly delightful outing.

We had a lovely birthday party for my mother's 60th. The family had a blast preparing our meal…read moretogether while learning some valuable cooking techniques along the way. Then, we all got to enjoy the fruits of our labor as we sat down to eat the awesome meal we had just prepared (with a little help of the wonderful staff!). I would definitely recommend enjoying an afternoon at Onion Creek Kitchens with your family or close group of friends. You won't be disappointed.

My husband and I took the pasta making class taught by Nicole at Gourmage in New Braunfels. The…read moreclass was informative and fun. We loved working together to make a delicious herbed fettuccine. I feel like we learned everything we need to know to be able to replicate the dish at home. I also loved the location. We enjoyed a nice glass of Cabernet from Gourmage while we cooked, and while we ate the pasta we created. Nicole and Stephanie made the experience easy and enjoyable for everyone. I can't wait to do another class there.

Chef Nicole came to the house we rented for our team building event. She had to deal with 12 loud…read morewomen and she managed to circumvent the noisy cackling. Our menu consisted of: Salad w/ Creamy Vinaigrette Pecorino and Chive Risotto Chicken Picatta Crème Brûlée We had a great time learning how to mince the proper way, why we mix olive oil and butter for frying and how chicken is cooked for piccata. She managed to do this with limited space and I must say, we had an enjoyable time working together! Thanks, Chef Nicole!

I'll be perfectly honest with my review. The concept is understandable however if you are just…read morestarting or thinking about a career in food or hospitality then online is not for you. Do hands on. If you have been in kitchens for years like me then yes, apply. You will learn so many techniques. I guarantee you. Thank you Escoffier for a great experience!

VA/MILITARY STUDENTS BEWARE!!! Their process to certify your classes is non existent. The…read moreresponsibility falls completely on the student. The VA Department youre used to from other schools? Doesn't exist here. I've been to 4 schools, and this is the worst, most grossly inhumane experience thus far. As a student who DEPENDS on my benefits since the passing of my father, Escoffier has left me destitute. They do not care about your Military affiliation, nor do they have any resepect for your service to this country.

Sent my 7 yr old son to their summer camp. He came home each day upset about being bullied, with…read morezero teacher intervention. The classes were supposed to be separated by age, but that was not the case, as his bully was several years older. In addition, very disorganized drop off with adult supervision only the 1st day. Would never recommend or register here again.

From the owner: I am a Spanish and bilingual education teacher with 16+ years of classroom teaching experience. I…read morecurrently teach Spanish in an international baccalaureate elementary school. I love teaching and making a positive impact on the lives of students and their and their families. Knowing the Spanish language and having an appreciation of various cultures has been very valuable in my life and in the lives of many people locally and around the world. My mission is to foster a love of learning Spanish and an appreciation of cultures of people who speak Spanish in the minds and hearts of young people. My goal is to create an space for children to learn and use Spanish through fun learning activities and active play. I loved teaching children in my 2024 summer Spanish immersion camps and look forward to continuing the language learning journey in small group lessons this year. Schedule your individual or small group tutoring today.