We took a class taught by April, who was a wonderful and knowledgeable teacher. It's in a fun space and we had a great time meeting other students, and having a nice dinner that we learned to cook ourselves. A really fun experience! read more

This is such a lovely experience. Food, fellowship and laughter. Lacey taught tonight and kept everyone engaged, involved and it felt like a bunch of strangers have become friends with laughter around the table; music to my ears plus I left with a happy stomach and lots learned. I would highly recommend and whether it is just you, go with a friend or with a group, you won't be disappointed. read more

host was really nice, I enjoyed the experience learning how to become home cooks. It was a fun and relaxing experience filled with people that are at different skill levels. Host gave us minimal guidance as needed making it feel like a more interactive class. The food tasted great and the people there were even greater read more

This review is long overdue- I have taken 5 classes with Hipcooks so far and have loved each one! I always walk away with not only the recipes that they teach us but also bits of information and techniques that I always incorporate into my cooking knowledge moving forward. I've taken the following classes so far and highly recommend them: Don't Cry for Me, Argentina Ragin' Cajun Let's go to Thailand Crowd Pleasers J'aime, Paris There's always 1 instructor, 1 assistant, and up to 12 "students" per class, and times/prices vary. Everyone will get involved in cooking an entire meal, from appetizer to main entree to dessert, and you definitely leave feeling full and excited to make the menu for your loved ones. read more

Hipcooks - "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" class - empanadas - Cooking Schools Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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The event was great, the cook instructor and assistant made the time pass quickly as they made it fun! Great time was had and will be doing it again! read more

great corp event! Kyra and Lee were fantastic! Our prospect and customers had a blast

Second time taking a class and it's always A++! Ive learned to make chimichurri, empanadas and we found out about Maldon salt! I highly recommend for a friend outing or a date night. The instructor's are always amazing! read more

Highly recommend! Did a group cooking class for a birthday celebration. It was Argentinean themed and I enjoyed every bite and every sip! The group I was in was fairly large so there was a lot of sharing being done but def a great way to connect and learn. A lot of the ingredients were prepped already which was nice because you don't want to spend too much time from start to finish. Our instructor emailed us a copy of the recipe and instructions the next day so we can recreate the dishes on our own! read more

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Highly recommend. Our instructor immediately set a high, inclusive vibe and we all cooked around a half circle communal table. Met so many new friends that I hope to see again. Would def come back! read more

Hipcooks - Indian Cooking Class - Spiced Basmati Rice, Sag Paneer, Chicken Tikka Masala, Cumin Martini - Cooking Schools Near Me - Los Angeles, California

I am prefacing this by saying I am not a cook... I've always been intimidated by the kitchen... However, when I took April's class, I felt confident and at ease for the first time. I will definitely return and recommended to anyone who does not feel "comfortable "in the kitchen five stars all the way. read more

Awesome culinary classes! Hipcooks is so much fun!! This is such a fun place for people who don't know how to cook, who can cook but needs inspiration, date night, and girls get together. If a guy you're seeing says a cooking class is PERFECT for you that probably mean you need help in that area! Well, my cooking skills sucks, I enjoy cooking but don't really know how. I enjoy cooking, but don't enjoy cleaning up, I enjoy cooking but only if I have a maid. Lol! I enjoy cooking, But I enjoy eating more! So this is definitely a fun class because... of all the above. My friends decided to plan a girl's day at the Hipcook in LA East. Located in the Art District of Downtown LA. The few of us bought Groupon and decided to take the My Big Fat Greek cooking class. The location was not easy to find because it is in a loft. Your GPS will get you to the street but not the exact location since it's in a little community of commercial lofts. Plenty of free parking. If you get lost, call your instructor and she will direct you in. Class starts promptly as scheduled so plan accordingly and give yourself extra time for the drive especially if you're not familiar with the area. I prefer to take Saturday classes instead of week nights due to the insane traffic that will get you stuck at a traffic light for like an extra 15 minutes. I am so in love with the ambiance at the loft. It's so cozy and the instructor sure knows how to prepare you with the mood to cook and eat with the aromatic scents, romantic music and a little wine before, during and after the meal.. Monica was our instructor. She was adorable and entertaining and made us all very comfortable. Knife skills are taught in the beginning when prepping with the ingredients, with the opportunity to practice with the techniques. As she teaches, She wants you to use your own flair based on your own taste buds. Instead of saying and sticking with the exact amount on the recipe, it is encouraged to taste and adjust accordingly to your tastes. This is also a hands on experience, but since there are 10 people, everyone gets to share on that part. It will get exhausted if I had to do hands on training for the entire meal. LOL, so sharing is ok. Some hands on cooking with everybody's hands all over the food, but don't worry, they are VERY serious about washing your hands with soap and water. If you touch your face, hair, phone, anywhere, Go wash your hands!! No joke, i had to wash my hands 6 or 7 times during the preparation of the meal. You get a fantastic meal with wine, a fun night of entertainment, and you learn some new skills. They also sell some kitchen tools and utensils there. OPA! Our Big Fat Greek meal is as followed, and yes we all cooked a fabulous meal! Baba Ganoush (smoked eggplant dip) Dolma (stuffed grape leaves) Spanikopita (Spinach Pie in phyllo (filo) pastry) Grilled veggie Salad- (roasted and grilled Greek salad) Grape Haloumi and Tarragon salad (squeaky cheese salad) Marinated Lamb chops with tzaziki (Dry rub lamb chop) Baklava (Baklava uses phyllo dough stacked with honey and nuts to make a sweet Mediterranean dessert) The time went by so fast as we all were having a blast. At the end, we all sat down on the table and enjoy a grand, delicious meal. These culinary classes are fun. For the price, you get together, learn, make your own meal, AND enjoy the meal and make new friends! I don't think I can make the entire meal by myself, but I'll definitely make a dish or two at a time here and there. read more

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My boyfriend and I took the Dim Sum Superstars class with Kyrsten. We enjoyed the communal atmosphere, and obviously we enjoyed the yummy food. But the instructor was the highlight! Kyrsten provided very kind guidance, especially when someone in the class seemed timid or unsure. Thank you. We will be back! read more

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Today was my second class I took the cheese whiz class and it was so much fun We learned how to make different kinds of cheese My first class was last year and we learned how to make sushi Both are awesome and would like to try more classes in the future read more

Decided on a whim that I was going to become a "chef" and get my cooking game on so I invited several coworkers to the Thai One On class at Hipcook's East LA location (close to Brewery Art Walk). Parking was a cinch since theres plenty of free street/lot parking with all the mini bungalows everywhere. There were approximately 15 wannabe chefs standing around a huge island (like the ones you see on cooking shows), and we watched intently as each dish was described and prepped by the awesome teacher and her volunteer helper. We learned about herbs and spices and got to smell them super close up. From time to time, we would get assigned to cut/decorate/season/mix certain ingredients. For the most part, it was very light hands on and more watching as some of the ingredients were prepped beforehand. I thought for $70 bucks we were going to get mini stations where we could make our own concoctions and really learn HOW TO COOK. So we did get to roll a few spring rolls, mix a few salads, but I was just a tad grossed out at the fact that I was eating food prepared by other people's bare hands (I'm pretty sure vice versa). On a side note though, they were BIG ON HANDWASHING so thats a plus! You touch your phone, wash your hands. Touch your hair wash your hands. Of course not everyone followed that rule so yea.... After every few dishes, time was taken to sit down and enjoy eachother's creations and drink Singha beer. Of course, my coworkers got a little too giddy with the free alcohol and acted like fools ~.~ To be honest though, we all agreed that none of the dishes tasted like the real deal. We made green curry, red curry, pad thai, etc and none of them tasted like what I'm used to....the flavor was always a bit off so iunno...maybe my expectations are too high? Tips: DON'T BE LATE!...everyone was aproned and ready to work by the time we rolled in at 6:05 pm!! BE HUNGRY! because you will be eating LOTS OF FOOD! read more

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Love HipCooks! We've taken two classes and they were both amazing! We visited the Santa Ana location a couple years ago and visited the LA location early December this year. The team and food are excellent. Everyone is professional, fun and entertaining. The lead chefs know their stuff. My husband and I have left these classes feeling inspired! We highly recommend taking a class with HipCooks! read more

Amazing evening with people from all walks of life. We laughed, made food, shared stories, drank wine, and learned about cooking in a setting that kept us all connected for a little slice of community. What a treasure and find. I look forward to another visit -- this time it was French cooking. Simply the best! read more

I loved April's class tonight! She makes the experience so fun! Thai food is delicious!!

I took the pasta in casa today. I loved it! Carrie was am amazing instructor. I decided to take this class that get back into cooking from scratch, so this class was perfect We jumped right in, and got right to it. There were 13 ppl in the class. Yup I was the odd ball. The everyone in the class was awesome, very friendly. The menu was as follows: Butternut squash & roasted garlic ravioli with sage brown butter  Dill fettuccine with smoked salmon & vodka cream sauce Mint, lemon & ricotta caramelle Mushroom & spinach baked rotolo Wine Everyone had chance to try each step of the process, from kneading the dough, cutting the dough, stuffing the pasta, and cooking the pasta. The instructors are really cool, attentive and flexible. We had someone who didn't eat salmon and they were able to whip up a vegetarian version. I'm already signed up for their sushi class. read more

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We took the Thai Class One. This is my second time taking a hipcooks class and I came back because the first one I took was in west LA and I loved it. I thought we'd give this a try but our teacher was way different.. They tell you that this isn't about following strict recipes, which is great and takes the pressure off, and they say we're cooking from the heart. But that's not what happened. Our teacher went so overboard with the fish sauce in each dish. We would taste the food and communicate that it was too salty so we need to balance it, but then she'd taste it and say "no, add more fish sauce." I think either her taste buds are numb to salt or she truly just prefers saltier food. My thing is, if the whole group agrees it's too much and ruining each dish - why not listen to the group? We're supposed to be having fun, tasting, and then cooking dishes that we can enjoy. She even admitted at the end that all of her classes fight her on the fish sauce and she doesn't understand why. Okay then change your method! Listen to the class. I was disappointed that we spent $50 per person (per Groupon) and could barely eat the salt bombs. Oh! And the icing on the cake was receiving the actual recipes the following day from our instructor! Guess what? Each dish said "2 tablespoons of fish sauce" NOT 2 LITERS! Well what I did enjoy was bonding with my boyfriend and meeting new people. I'm interested in doing more classes but definitely not coming back to this location. The teacher and her assistant were friendly so it's nothing personal, I just don't think they are flexible to their groups. read more

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I got this as a birthday for me and a guest and had such a blast! Our instructors were Carrie and Melinda and they made the entire experience very fun and relaxing. We took the "Don't cry for me, Argentina" class and everything we made was super delicious! So I've never taken a cooking class before but from what I've seen on TV, I imagined that each team of 2 people would have their own station and we would be cooking for ourselves. This is NOT like that. We had 9 people in our class and we were all cooking for eachother so they made handwashing a frequent theme throughout the class. You touch your phone - go wash your hands. You lick your fingers - go wash your hands. You touch yourself in anyway - go wash your hands. We started off by making two different kinds of empanadas. One was stuffed with beef and peppers, the other was stuffed with cheese and onions. We made those then decided towards to end to mix those two together and those were the best ones! My favorite thing of the day was the panseared steak which was cooked to our liking with only salt and pepper as seasoning and the chimichurri sauce we made from scratch that turned out absolutely amazing! What's great about all the recipes is that they're all incredibly easy to make at home. This was a fun, beginner's class for cooking and they have different themes like Thai, sushi, cocktails, etc. and they have them several times a week. If there was anything in class that you liked, they also have things that you can purchase after class to take home with you. read more

Hipcooks - Empanadas!! - Cooking Schools Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Delicious and fun! The class was simple, yet informative. Learned a lot and all the people in the class were cool. Laid back, fun vibe. Will definitely take another class! I took the Thai class, and the curry was some of the best I've had. read more

Do not buy gift certificates from them when COVID happened they closed down which I understand but then the Woodland Hills never re-opened in person classes and my husband who bought me a wonderful gift certificate for a gift and now the only way to use it will be virtual cooking. They will not refund it I have asked many times and I do not want a virtual cooking lesson that defeats the purpose your company is horrible and its sad you rip people off not only for the money but the experience of memories. read more

I can bake, but I can't cook. Sad, but true. I'm working on it, though. I have an ever-increasing collection of cookbooks. To combat our lack of kitchen abilities, last night a dozen of my gal pals and I met at a fun loft in the Brewery District near downtown to take a Hipcooks cooking class. We chose to take the Elegant Dinner Party class. The idea was to learn a "gorgeous meal that you can effortlessly serve without spending all your time in the kitchen." Sounds good to me! Bonny, our instructor, was a spunky gal who was informative and entertaining without being a cheeseball. She started with some basic knife skills, increasing our appreciation of fine cutlery. Throughout the night we took turns preparing the various ingredients. We started with the salad. I'm not a fan of beets, but I found myself peeling fresh beets with ease. Those were tossed in olive oil and roasted in the oven while we caramelized some cashews and prepared the ginger-chile dressing. We combined all those ingredients with bags of organic, bagged arugula from Trader Joe's. Our entree was steak with a red wine demiglaze and mashed potatoes. We learned a fun technique to determine the "doneness" of our steaks by comparing the muscles in our hand. It's hard to explain, but believe me, it's a cool trick to impress your friends with. The demiglaze was drizzled over the steak and mashed potatoes, which was delicious, and finished with a sprinkling of fresh chopped parsley. The meat itself turned out great, but most of my friends ended up with steaks that weren't quite cooked to their likings, but I think that's because the cuts of beef were much thicker than your average cut. Also, when we sat down to eat, we were given your typical butter knife as opposed to regular steak knives, which would made it a little less frustrating to eat the meat. I won't dock them a star, though, because everything else made up for that oversight. We finished the meal with an orange almond cake with marscapone cream. The cake was so easy to make and turned out beautifully! (And amazingly delicious!) We were also able to bring our own bottles of wine to enjoy during the preparation and meal, although not until after the knife skills portion of the night. ;) The entire night lasted about three hours and cost $55 for each of the 12 of us. I believe you can sign up for a class without a huge group like we did, but this was a great way to get to hang out with a bunch of your friends. I look forward to taking more Hipcooks classes and highly recommend them to all So Cal residents! I'm excited to impress my friends and family with this fabulous meal! PS. Check out the photos of the meal we created! read more

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For my bday I wanted to try something new and since I have awesome girlfriends who took the day off to celebrate my day I wanted all of us to do something special. I booked reservations for the "A Cocktail Party" class. The instructors were entertaining and engaged with everyone. I learn how to make some great drinks including the caipirinha which I fell in love with and now I order at Brazilian restaurants. read more

I LOVE HIPCOOKS! Just came back from "Thai One On", thanks to my lovely roommate who bought me a gift certificate. If you're ever in a pickle over what to get a friend or sig. other, HIPCOOKS. Liza was leading the class, and from the start I loved her energy, humor, and knowledge about food. The Thai class was definitely more of a workshop style as I thought we'd all have our own ingredients and cooking stations, but the way the loft is set up, it calls for family-style cooking, eating, and dining. It was interactive, fun, and easy... I can't wait to try some of the dishes we made!! Oh, and can't forget the beeeer :) I just need to get a cuisinart mixer now... read more

Hipcooks - veggie spring rolls - Cooking Schools Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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Monika is the teacher, chef, and owner of Hip Cooks who was inspired by fun cooking for friends. Upon walking into the studio she looked at me with familiarity. I told her this was my first-time in the Hip Cooks kitchen and we joked about how my imaginary twin gets the more exciting life. But I wouldn't be surprised if she had a few familiar faces because in the class that I took, My Big Fat Greek Cooking Class, she had two returning students who spoke highly of her other classes. The class was small, less than fifteen people, and her enthusiasm behind the counter helped ease those who were nervous about crumbling the Haloumi. Even I, who never touched a food processor, helped process the Smoked Eggplant Dip (Baba Ganoush). Her ingredients were simple and no measuring cups were necessary. It was all clean fun in Monika's kitchen and that's where all the cooking was at its best, in the spirit of fun. I love Dolmas and learned to make it from my Lebanese friend, but apparently there is more than one way and Hip Cooks taught me that. Monika says that a good dish doesn't need measuring cups or recipes. Simply taste and add, that's it.. Hip Cooks is definitely a great place to have fun food and drinks, and no one person is in charge of making a dish so no one gets blamed if the dish is not up to par. And everyone gets a duty at something, whether its stirring or cutting. But she doesn't let anyone get away with doing nothing. I made a smart-ass comment and I ended up grating rough grinds of Parmesan cheese. Still, the food was excellent, the experience was fun, and Monika is a great teacher whose classes I'd visit again. She has been published in LA WEEKLY and has been featured in classes with celebrities. Hip Cooks may cost you, but it is definitely a great inspiration to put on (or in my case buy) and apron. read more

So, so cool! We did the "Thrill of the Grill" class. Class size is limited to 12 (perfect)! We were arranged in a semi-circle with our own stations and the instructor in the "middle". The class is set up in a community type of format, that is, we were assigned different duties for each dish and then brought it all together. The instructor was super cool and laid back. She never made me feel silly that I'm hella scared of knives. It's been awhile since I took a class with them but not out of not wanting to, I've just been too busy. Most of their items are from Trader Joe's - it actually felt like they've got stock with them. Seriously, almost every part of the meal included a Trader Joe's product (from the sangria to the chicken to the grilled peaches). I didn't have a problem with this because (a) I'm a huge Trader Joe's fan (who isn't)? and (b) it just made it easier to know where to buy everything. By the way, we still make the sangria and get rave reviews each time! (Yeah, yeah our friends are drunk when they rave but who cares? JK). Also, you can purchase gift certificates for classes which is a nifty idea. Minus one star for the location. Too far from the Westside! (I know, I know, they now have a West LA location on Robertson. I just haven't had a chance to check it out yet)! read more

I HEART HIPCOOKS!!! Love taking cooking classes here! Not your traditional cooking class and great to go either solo, on a date or with friends! I've been coming here for a few years & have taken a few classes - most recently their Soup class. The Soup class was soo much fun, and you actually learn some great knife cooking techniques. What I love about this place, is that it's hands on cooking, however no measuring. A lot of it is based on preference and taste. It's a group setting that is completely informal. Plus you all sit together as a family to taste the food, and usually most courses include an alcoholic beverage either that you create in the class or compliments the meal. Recently had Bonnie as an instructor for the Soup course and it was a lot of fun! It's really hard to get into their classes, so as soon as you see a free space, make sure to grab it. They also have location on the Westside, which I haven't been to. Love the one on the Eastside because it's very relaxing and in a funky location. Also recommend their Thai class. read more

A very special and close friend of mine was getting married and to celebrate, a big group of us got together and had the best day ever! To end our day, we ended up at Hipcooks in East LA, tucked in an artsy neighborhood by the LA river. This was one of the coolest Bachelorette parties I have ever been apart of, no joke. Hipcooks was a little difficult for all of us to find, but we eventually got there. The day was hot, and the space Hipcooks was in, was blazing hot too. Especially with all the hot pans and ovens on. No AC, no fans, it got a little uncomfortable. The cuisine for the day was Indian, "Shortcut to Nirvana". We washed our hands, grabbed an apron and went to work. We started with the mango chutney, cooking...simmering. A few other couples were there and they had tasks as well. We didn't have to cut anything in this class, but we really got to know the spices used in this type of cuisine and the magical pairings it made with the food. The instructor and assistants were very kind and patient with us goofballs of the group, we all had fun with it. We continued to prep, making veggie samosas by hand, crimping the sides and placing on the baking pan. Fish curry was on the stove, basmanti rice was steamed, and the chicken tikka masala was almost ready. The time flew by so fast, we were ready to serve ourselves and sit down at the large table in the middle of the room. A mint cocktail was served with our meal and sparkling water was at hand. We threw our glasses up and cheers to our meal and our new friends! I recommend taking a cooking class at least once, and if you do, go to Hipcooks! read more

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This was great! Took the Greek cooking class and loved every minute of it. You will be on your feet and participating as well, just so you know. At the end you get to eat with all the students and staff, like a big family. Now I can cook Greek food ! Look out for special discount deals too. I would say it is worth the money. Go on a date there or go with family and friends. It's an experience ! read more

HIPCOOKS Just like in the name, this class is definitely for the hip and the cooker in all of us. This cooking class is not your typical cooking class, but more like a fun dinner party that you happened to stumble upon. Monika (the genius behind Hipcooks) conducts the classes in her very food-friendly loft in the Brewery Arts Complex, downtown LA. The three and so hours I spent during my class (Turning Japanese) was probably the happiest three hours I spent. We covered the fundamentals of sake, sashimi, and sushi rolls. Not only, do you get to eat and make your own food, but you learn how simple it is to cook! So brilliant! Monika offers various classes from Healthy, Fresh and Zingy to The Thrill of the Grill. Each class is unique and all equally interesting. Hipcooks is a fun alternative to the eating out and a good place to check out some fun things LA has to offer. FYI- Monika's classes do fill-up quickly, so make rezzie's in advance! read more

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The bride didn't want a crazy bachelorette party, so we booked a girl's day out by signing up for the Thai food course. The bride and all of the girls had a fun time, but I am not sure that hipcooks can really advertise this a "cooking class." The reason I say that is that most of the food was already prepared. For example, the vegetables were already pre cut, the noodles were precooked, most of the ingredients already measured out and placed in small bowls. Sure, it saves us some time, but in a cooking class, I would expect to be doing more of the prep and cooking myself -- a more hands-on experience. So, if there is one thing we learned about Thai food is that it requires a lot of fish sauce. Our instructors went through about 4 BOTTLES of fish sauce during our class and man, we were able to taste every gram of sodium as a result. For a cooking class, the food tasted horrible! I barely ate anything that we made because of the copious amount of fish sauce/sodium that was dumped into our dishes. It was interesting to check it out this once, but I'm hesitant to ever take another class again. read more

If I said, "we had a great time," I still wouldn't be doing justice to Vivian's awesome Tapas class. She was fun, informative and encouraged ample hands on participation. Oh, and all of that is amplified because the dishes and drinks we created were insanely delicious. Highly recommended for all as both novices and experts in the kitchen all learned something new! Great job Vivian! Nom nom nom!! read more

Hipcooks - Cooking Schools Near Me - Los Angeles, California

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If you want to have a Great time and Learn how to cook and have fun doing it this the best Cooking Class you can sign up for. Monika the Owner is amazing in the kitchen and really makes the working part fun. Very reasonable also, 55- pp read more

I just took the Una Noche en Espaa- a Tapas Class at the Hip Cooks east and I really enjoyed it! Just remember to wear comfy shoes as we were standing about 99% of the time. The food was really simple to make and put together. No fussing over where to find Madagaskar Chocolate or something exotic. It was mostly from Trader Joe's. Also they had a few things to sell, such as vanilla bean syrup, or this really great lemon zester, and some knives and sea salt. Pretty inexpensive. The Sangria was very nice as well as the Hummus and the garlic shrimp with saffron (super easy to make). The Empanadillas Argentinas was pretty good, but the Tortilla Espanola was a bit bland, but I am sure you could add more things to it besides the potatos and onions. I loved how Bonnie explained everything, all the cooking tips and lingo, as I am not a professional, but I like to cook. She had a very upbeat and happy personality. All in all, it was fun and I would take another one of their classes. Parking was ok. I got there 5 or 10 min before class and i had a hard time finding a parking spot. Get there early. It was easy to find though. I wish there were more classes so I don't have to wait a few weeks to take it. read more

A friend and I signed up for something different to do on a Friday night. We had such a blast. The staff was so friendly and made the experience so fun. The group was small enough so that everyone had a chance to try out their knife skills and add to the recipes. We tried the French cooking class with mussels, chicken with wine and pot de cream. Oh my was the food yummy and very easy to do whether a novice cook or not. I also enjoyed sitting down to dinner with my classmates after we cooked. (Wine was included!) So much fun and with a little planning ahead this would be a very fun date night assuming you both like to cook and eat. All and all I highly recommend. Good times. read more

While it's definitely not the same as the "in-person" classes from yesteryear, the streaming classes are actually quite good! They're shorter (about an hour) and less expensive ($15-$20, depending), but the instruction is still the same high quality, with great directions and suggestions for "on-the-fly" modifications. I learned how to make chocolate lava cakes, and OMG they are so good! And surprisingly simple! My only regret is that I didn't have cream in the house to make whipped cream for it, which they also did in class! Glad to have this one in my repertoire. Thanks, Hipcooks! Another great experience. read more

Hipcooks - Chocolate lava cake - Cooking Schools Near Me - Los Angeles, California

Hipcooks is a pretty cool place to get a group of friends or co-workers together and learn how to cook different foods! Hipcooks offers many different classes just about every day of the week and sometimes multiple times on the weekends! Tonight's class was cooking Spanish Tapas. We had the following items: -Spanish-style hummus with pita toasts -Candied Walnuts, Cashews and Pecans -Marinated olives -Manchego con Membrillo -Tortilla Espanola -Camarones Bravas - garlicky saffron shrimp -Empanadillas Argentinas -Flan -Sangria ...ALL OF WHICH WE COOKED OURSELVES! It all turned out really good! Our instructor was Lisa and she was great! Extremely patient, energetic, and had a great time with all of us! Everything here is homemade, just about. So, you really, cook your own food and learn how to cook it. This was a pretty cool experience, the entire thing lasts about 3-hours, and you have a ton of different food. This is somewhere I would return to again and learn to cook different things! read more

Hipcooks - Cooking Schools Near Me - Los Angeles, California

LOVE IT!!! I've taken the Thai and Spanish class. I always leave with a wealth of knowledge! The instructors are great. I really love how they don't use measurements. It makes it that much easier to make it at home. I wish we could bring our own wine. Some of their preferences are not my fave. Small con. read more

My co-worker and I practically almost killed ourselves trying to make it on time to make our Spanish Tapas class we were so excited about! We rarely get out of the office before 6:00p.m. but earlier that morning we made a firm commitment that our butts will be sitting on the 10 Fwy by 5:00p.m. to make a 6:00p.m. class in downtown. But you know how it is when you want to leave the office at a certain time - one thing pops up after another and all the sudden people want things at the eleventh hour and e-mails & phone calls need responses straight away and 'just can't wait until tomorrow'. We both arrived about 50 minutes late. Exhausted. Irritated. This is NOT DTLA - it's actually way the hell east. To me, DTLA is 9th & Fig. Grand & 5th. The Library Tower. The artist "lofts" I read in the class description as far as I'm concerned are the new high rise developments popping up near LA Live. I was so wrong... HipCooks is actually located in sort of an urbane bohemian artist commune on the outskirts between industrial warehouses and run down businesses. Very hidden and very cool. We were apprehensive on entering our class so late but seriously, what's the worst that could happen? Tell us to go home? After our trek, going home and jumping into bed sounded pretty good. But we went inside and were pleasantly, warmly greeted by our instructor, Kyrsten. The Flan dessert they had already prepared prior to our arrival was appropriately already baking in the oven so we missed that presentation... The class method was a bit different than what I'd expected. I completely thought that there would be individual stations where you made your own creations, with your instructor guiding you, but it was actually a lot more interactive with the rest of the class participants partaking with simple cooking tasks as slicing, chopping and stirring ingredients. It was a bit too slow and fundamental at first, as we made some snacks to graze throughout the class: * Candied Walnuts, Cashews and Almonds * Marinated Olives * Manchego con Membrillo (which is a quince paste, but they substituted guava paste from Trader Joe's) Then we moved onto the more interesting items: * Tortilla Espanola (this is not a Mexican tortilla by any means, but looks like a Frittata with Italian Parsley, Sliced Red Potato and Onions) This was awesome and I could see myself making this for a brunch or light dinner * Argentinian Empanadas (fun - love empanadas and they were so easy to make) * Sauteed Garlic & Saffron Shrimp (this was just okay - not too impressed) * Homemade Hummus (after this class, you will never buy store bought hummus again!) Oh and of course, they taught us how to make some Sangria that was not over sweetened but just right. And made with Two Buck Chuck Syrah. HipCooks is great for beginner cooks - they do a fantastic job in creating an energy that's so conducive to bringing out creativity out of those who aren't that seasoned in the kitchen. No pun intended. If you're already a sophisticated cook at home, this class may bore you a little but the environment and experience is very entertaining and enjoyable. For someone who cooks 4-5 days out of the week, I still took away a few things I would apply in my own kitchen. PS - they sell the most adorable Kitsch n Glam aprons in their studio at a fraction of what they sell on their website... www.kitschnglam.com Look good while you're doing the pan flip. read more