Hipcooks Portland absolutely knocked it out of the park with Indian Food Night! Lead chef Lacy and assistant Annie created an experience that was equal parts informative, fun, and unbelievably delicious. From learning techniques and spices to understanding the "why" behind the dishes, the class struck a perfect balance between hands‑on cooking and approachable instruction. Every dish we made was incredibly tasty, and the atmosphere was warm, welcoming, and full of great energy. It truly felt like a community‑building event, not just a cooking class. My wife and I had a fantastic time and left inspired (and very well fed). We will definitely be back for future classes. Highly recommend Hipcooks Portland--and huge kudos to Lacy and Annie for such a memorable night! read more

Had the greatest Indian cooking class with Lacey! Learned a-lot of valuable tips and made a fantastic meal!

Great instructors. Nice hands on experience. I needed much help in knife skills & left having some confidence. Combined veggies & spices in ways that melded w/ lotsa zing & pizazz. Fun atmosphere. Mediterranean Diet class. Plan to take a Greek class & when offered Moroccan class. read more

Joined their Thai food class with my mom and sister. Paul was our instructor and was so fun to work with. The class was easy to follow and the food was outstanding. Will absolutely come back for more classes. read more

My husband and I participated in a Hipcook's class yesterday for a "try something new" date night. It could not have been more fun, delicious and educational. There were ten participants in the class who were all equally engaging but had come with different levels of cooking experience and comfort level in the kitchen. I am not confident in the kitchen, nervous of how my guests will react to what I had prepared and if they will become ill from it. Monika Reti, the owner and instructor of Hipcooks started the class with knife skills which I definitely needed. Everyone participated and practiced what Monika taught us. That night we prepared scallops, a delicious citrus forward salad, a side dish, and a beautiful, light as air, rolled cake. There was nothing pretentious or difficult about this class; Monika made everything seem easy and fun to do. I highly recommend trying one of these classes! read more

Total blast, total home run! Monika is fun, funny, and very engaged. I learned a lot, including touching up my knife skills, and the meal we made was accessible and already reproducible. Most highly recommended. read more

we attended a class 'Crowd Pleaser' and greatly enjoyed the event. Excellent food that we helped prepare while learning everything from how to properly use a knife to making chocolate ganache for cake. The meal included a vegetarian option that was just as the main course. A very pleasant way to spend a evening. We will be attending more classes in the future. read more

Thanks Monika! We had such a fun night cooking, engaging and eating! Learned a few tricks. Paella was perfect, along with the endive and fennel salad. Orange dessert in wine reduction was refreshing. Great for a date night. read more

Had such an amazing time cooking with my friend! It was so fun, inclusive, and i learned some new things! Would highly recommend these classes ​ read more

Great class at the newly opened MLK location! Warm, welcoming, and educational! Treat yourself to a date night or friends night out, learn something new, and eat a delicious meal! read more

This place was so great, me and my husband went to the sushi class and the argentina/empanada class and both were so much fun. I wish they would come back to portland read more

I am still waiting for a refund of $150 from 2020. I find it very unprofessional to take money for classes and then not refund it even after classes have opened again. I mean , can you at least reach out to us and give validation to our very reasonable request ? read more

After 3 years and numerous emails, I finally did get my refund via a check in the mail. I added a second star to my rating to acknowledge that and express appreciation. read more

Amazing! One of the best gifts I've ever received! Gone back twice since and I can't wait to do it again

My partner got us a class for Christmas. I was dealing with a bad bout of anxiety the day of our class. I hope it would pass but the minute I walked inside (what a clean and bright atmosphere), I knew I would not be able to enjoy the class due to the state that I was in. I collected myself outside and re-entered Hipcooks to tell the instructor that I was not mentally well enough that day to continue with the class. She took my arm gently, looked me right in the eyes and said, "Girl, I have been in your shoes before. You will be okay. E-mail me when you get a chance and you can come back whenever works for you. No penalty for cancellation". I will never forget this interaction as long as I will live. Hipcooks employs good people. Thank you to this instructor for your incredible customer service, and for treating me like a fellow human being. I am looking forward to our class in February! read more

My lovely coworkers gave me this as my parting away gift. What lovely people don't you agree? Anyhow, I attended the "Sushi Making" class and it was AWESOME. They say its the company that makes a difference and sure enough, I met some great and welcoming people. The class itself was about 16 people including the teacher and the assistants. For a 3ish hour class, it went by fast. The teacher was great and the hands on experience kept you active. Everyone knows the best part is eating while cooking especially in sushi making process. And during the duration, beer was served and then sake towards the end. Nothing like some booze won't help. I didn't think I'd be full but I ended up being pretty full. Mind you, I did prepare ahead of time and had some snacks prior. Otherwise, coming on an empty stomach would be a bad idea. Although I had a blast, I personally wouldn't pay $70 to attend a class when you can host your own DIY cooking class at home with more food and more booze. But as a gift, heck, I'd do it anytime. read more

Hip Cooks - Hipcooks is a cooking spot for inspiration you can dine on and learn upon. Yes, you get to eat, arrive empty. I will start saying I am an A-OK+ self-taught cooker. I have not attended any other cooking schools. That is where I start in my experience with Hipcooks. The Hipcooks "class" is a full 3 hour experience. Hipcooks begins with 12-14 participants, the leader, an assistant and a themed set of pre-planned dishes. We gathered, standing, with some chairs available around a semi-circular cooking table. Each course was discussed by the leader. When a course was finished, the participants served themselves and sat down to eat at a long table with wine, water or maybe a cuisine-linked tea. The leader had good information on where to find ingredients. In our meal, all were available locally, including specialty items. I participated in an unfamiliar cuisine with 3 courses: substantial salad with meat, two very amazing mids and a desert. I cannot imagine that special diets can be accommodated for a small group in this format. That would be common to any cooking school. If you have a special diet, discuss ahead before enrolling. As others have said, Hipcooks approach is for the leader-instructor to demonstrate-explain, and for the students to provide a role cooking-preparing-stirring and guiding spicing of group-sized dishes. The whole class is invited to discuss ingredients added, by taste, and experience the outcome. Like at home. The recipes are by taste and feel, not measures, recipes are emailed to participants after. The approach allows no failures in cooking and allows group participation in judging taste. Just like family! I would also say that if you are germ-phobic; other Yelpers or reviewers may be, no cooking school is for you. The instructor advised how to keep our spoon tasting experiences individual, a nice touch. But I have microbiology experience and a microbiology-immune kitchen does not exist! Hipcooks also sells knives and kitchen implements. No pressure though. They are connected to knife maker who happened upon them and said this is cool. I definitely need one of their citrus squeezers. What is special about Hipcooks? Hipcooks mixes it up, adapting recipes over strict "authenticity". Teaching-tasting among your eaters and adjusting. Teaching you can cook far away food with local and locally-available ingredients over "authentic" ingredients you can not get. Each cooking school is different. Hipcooks is different in it's own way. And highly recommended! read more

When I had the idea for a cooking class, I looked at a couple of different schools locally and I selected Hipcooks because it's very close to my house, it has great reviews, it has an attractive lineup of topics, and it promises an adult experience with a no minors policy posted on their website. Hipcooks is conveniently located on trendy Williams Street, just a couple of doors down from one of my favorite restaurants, Tasty 'n Sons. The space is roomy and attendees are instructed to grab an apron, wash up, and belly up to the counter for a hands on lesson. And hands on it was. We started by creating our dough, which was deceptively simple as it's really just flour, eggs, and water. The time consuming part was kneading the dough until it was the right texture and consistency. I must have had really dry hands that day because it seems like it took me forever and a lot of extra water to get my dough just right. Our bubbly instructor, Tina, was constantly checking on us, though, and making sure that we were doing things just right. But eventually I did finally get my dough just right and we were able to move on to fillings: a butternut squash filling for ravioli, a ricotta, lemon, mint filling for caramelles, and a mushroom and spinach filling for rotolos. The food processor was out of order, so Tina had brought her personal Ninja Chopper to blend up the filling for the butternut squash ravioli. She asked for a volunteer and I eagerly stepped forward, since I have a Ninja Chopper at home I felt comfortable with this task. Unfortunately there was a lot of the butternut squash filling to puree and the Ninja Chopper has a very small capacity, so my guy and I had to do it in batches and it took quite a while to complete. It took so long, in fact, that we completely missed how the ricotta, lemon, mint filling was put together as well as the mushroom and spinach filling. In hindsight, we should have asked someone else to take over after we completed the first batch so that we could catch more of what was going on in the class. Once the fillings were done, we began rolling out our pasta. I am still a little amazed at how easy it was. We learned how to use the KitchenAid stand mixer to roll out the dough to the perfect thickness and then, for a dill fettucine we were also making, how to slice it up into noodles. By this time it was about 1:00 p.m. and I think Tina could see us drooling and hear our tummies rumbling so things progressed quickly from there. Ravioli was pressed, caramelles and rotollos were rolled, fettucine was cut, and suddenly pasta was getting dunked in boiling salted water. The class gathered at a large dining table, the assistant, Eric, poured glasses of wine, and we dug into our creations. Sitting around the table, enjoying our creations, and getting to know our classmates was a really fun experience. Hipcooks definitely lived up to my expectations. The only downside... As I mentioned earlier, one of the reasons I selected Hipcooks over other establishments is that they have a no minors policy posted on their website. Now let me just say that I have nothing against kids - I have 2 of my own - but when I go out with my guy it's not to hang out with kids. I've also been in situations before where I paid for an event like this and there were kids in attendance that were very badly behaved and neither the parent(s) or hosts did anything about it, making for a very unpleasant situation. So imagine my disappointment and frustration when we walked into the class and there was a 10 year-old in there. I was more than frustrated initially, I was irritated and even angry. Why have a no minors policy if you're not going to follow it? Thankfully, the girl was very well-behaved and wasn't an issue. But, I would have preferred knowing that there would be a kid there going into the class. I contacted Hipcooks after the class and expressed my concern. They still have the no minors policy on their website. Tina explained, however, they "very occasionally make exceptions to the policy when there is a mature child with a rabid interest in cooking" and minors would never be allowed to take a class on their own. In order to avoid this in the future, she said I could indicate in my registration that I do not want to be in a class with minors and they will "keep communication open." So bottom line, my guy and I both enjoyed the class and learned a lot. Instruction was very hands on and recipes were provided so that I feel we could easily take what we learned and immediately transfer it back to our own kitchen. The quality of the ingredients and recipes were excellent and there were great tips on technique as well. I will look for other classes with Hipcooks, but I will do so cautiously and hope that if they do register a minor for the class that I've signed up for they will allow me to reschedule or even cancel without penalty. read more

Hipcooks - Making the butternut squash filling for ravioli - Cooking Schools Near Me - Portland, Oregon

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I just attended a Thai Cooking class at Hipcooks and loved it! I learned a ton of great information and the owner, Monika was really fun and engaging and kept the class moving. I also appreciated her emphasis on clean hands for everyone since everyone contributes to the cooking. It was nice that she broke the class up into courses of the meal, so we'd make the appetizers and then all eat and then the main dishes and ate, etc. We even got Singha beer with our food for an authentic Thai experience. I definitely plan to take more classes at Hipcooks and would recommend it to anyone who wants to improve their cooking knowledge. read more

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I recently took my first class at Hipcooks (Thai One On). The Good 1. Great menu (8 different items from appetizers, salad, curry, etc.) 2. Atmosphere was bright and cheery 3. Instructor was very knowledgeable about the topic 4. The placement of the cooking space was good, students are able to see at every angle. 5. Instructor promotes interaction from all students. Not so good 1. I was a little disappointed that there wasn't as much cooking as I had hoped. Stirring for a few minutes or cutting one thing shouldn't be called a cooking class. Instead it should be described as an interactive demonstration. 2. The location while fun, it's very difficult to find parking. 3. Germs. Even though students are instructed to wash their hands routinely during the class, when it comes to the tasting portion (tasting for adjustments i.e. salt, sugar, etc.) Hipcooks needs to invest in some biodegradable tasting spoons. I found it off-putting to pass around a spoon or a knife that everyone was expected to run their finger across to taste something. Also they should make students wear gloves when mixing with hands. I had definite reservations about eating after seeing my classmates use their bare hands on food. Other than the whole "hands" thing, I had a good time and would consider taking a class in the future. read more

Hipcooks - Tofu Pad Thai from the "Thai One On" cooking class. - Cooking Schools Near Me - Portland, Oregon

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I booked a hip cooks class when the pandemic started, more than two years ago. Because of Covid class was cancelled, to this date I have not refunded a refund. I have sent multiple emails.asking for it and the only response I get is to keep waiting. read more

Our family of five attended the Indian food class today. Katie did a great job teaching the large class, while keeping us all involved in this hands-on style. We started by tasting several Indian spices, which helped to prepare us for was to come. Every single dish we made turned out delicious, and we sat down to enjoy them all when they were hot. The only thing I would change would be to be able to follow along with the printed recipe while we were cooking (rather than getting an email the following day) I highly recommend this class for couples, families, or a group of friends. read more

Hipcooks - Delicious run cocktail with our Indian meal! - Cooking Schools Near Me - Portland, Oregon

Great class and was something fun for us to do. I do think the crowd that signs up does decide your fun a bit, so theres certainly some luck involved in having a great experience. Something else worth noting, the class I took was certainly designed for beginners. If you're already efficient and somewhat skilled in the kitchen, you may find this a bit boring With that said, I would like to go again, but would aim for a more challenging cuisine and would look for a night marketed to a younger crowd, as the Sunday night soup class was a little sleep (in retrospect, I should have figured this would be the case prior). read more

I just participated in One Dish Wonders tonight.....both the instruction and food were excellent. I was given the gift certificate back in 2012, but never used it. There was a bit of confusion redeeming it, since it was so old. Tina worked it all out and was able to give me a makeup code. I really appreciate her efforts in honoring this gift certificate that was so out of date. The class size was small, the setting was intimate and the instructions were easy to follow. We enjoyed the fruits of our labor......and also did a little bit of shopping afterwards. I bought a cutting board and a microplane. read more

This is a beautiful space with beautiful cooking equipment. We had a lovely instructor who was vivacious and funny. It was a nice way to spend an afternoon, if expensive. We did the Indian cooking class. I guess, as a pretty serious home cook, I thought the Indian cooking class would be more authentic. We made samosas, an easy dish, which I'd made a lot growing up and while I did an exchange in Nepal. (We didn't make the dough.) All of the other dishes were incredibly heavy--tons of heavy cream in both the spinach and chicken, and coconut cream in the fish curry. The end result was that the food tasted good for a little while, but mostly because fat tastes good. That kind of food appeals to a Western palette, I guess, but I was hoping to learn more traditional preparations. I would never make such a heart-attack-inducing meal at home. It's way too much. I would have loved to make a fish curry without the coconut cream, maybe some okra, maybe some cauliflower, rather than Westernized restaurant fare. I think this business is geared more toward those who don't cook at home every night--college students, take-out hounds, and not for more serious or seasoned travelers or cooks. read more

FUN!! This was a Mother's Day gift. I chose the Thai cooking class. Recently went with a friend and enjoyed a great evening of discussion, hands on food prep, eating and drinking at a communal table with other fun people like myself! For this class we prepared: Veggie Summer Rolls Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce Coconut Rice with Shrimp Tofu Pad Thai Papaya Salad Green Curry with eggplant & mushrooms Red Curry with chicken Black rice with coconut cream The instructors were really friendly and informative. This is a very relaxed atmosphere. The kitchen is bright and clean. They also sell some of their favorite kitchen tools and cookware. I ended up leaving with several items including a cobalt blue Le Creuset covered pot. ::LOVE::! Go here! It's great! read more

This is the first cooking class that I've taken and didn't really know what to expect. We received gift certificates as a Xmas gift (excellent idea), took the Thai class and had a blast! Most of the reviews here are accurate, but I wanted to touch on the 'dip your fingers into the bowl' comments. Yes...this does happen, but it's with a clean finger that isn't re-dipped into the bowl and doesn't touch anything after said dipping. Really...these are communal meals you're preparing. If you're uncomfortable with other people's hands touching your food you should probably stay home. PROS: * The recipes were spot on and easy to recreate at home. * The atmosphere is relaxed and the instructor was friendly and knowledgeable. * The food was DELICIOUS!! CONS: * Other classmates. Is that bad to say? There were a few in the class we attended who were short on their measure of consideration for others. I would have liked to see the instructor include more of the people in the class rather than just the few who followed what was happening around the work space. Spread the food preparing love....it's what we all came for. * I would have also liked to prepare more food individually, but that likely happens in other classes. In the Thai class each of us prepared the spring rolls and then aided in the preparation of everything else; with the exception of a few dishes (I think the sticky rice with shrimp and chicken satay apps) that had been prepared ahead of time. All of this being said I will definitely go again. I'm thinking Indian (Mmm...) while the bf is thinking sushi. Perhaps we'll see you there. read more

At first, I felt a little yuppie to be taking a sushi/Japanese food class at a place with a name like Hipcooks. And I may have been, but I don't give a damn. The class is super fun and totally approachable no matter what your level of experience is. Like, I had no idea where in Portland to find good sushi-grade fish without driving all the way out to the Beav. They tell you! You eat a lot too - and bonus points for giving us Sapporo and sake to wash down our delicious foods. I was able to take my skillz and turn around and host my own sushi making birthday party that was mad fun. And the recipes they gave, like shitake mushroom and sallion inari pockets, killed. Thanks for turning me Japanese! read more

My friend and I signed up for this class and we had a great time! Peter, the teacher, was very instructive and informative and made the whole thing a lot of fun. We did Tapas and got to make and drink Sangria throughout the process. Lots of joking, laughing, and eating while we learned. Much better than other cooking classes I've taken. More interactive and fun for sure. I love their recipe-free cooking method, but you still get a recipe via email so you can reconstruct it. Cooking by taste, feel, smell, sight, sound is the right way to do it! They claim that "hipcooks" means that they cook "off the hip" (receipe-free). Unless you're a total germaphobe, the tasting method is really not unsanitary. We were told repeatedly to wash our hands frequently during the process, and everyone did. There was a mix of finger tasting and clean spoon tasting. Most of the stuff that was finger-tasted then got cooked more/again. read more

If you're a very experienced cook this place may be a little simplistic for you but for the average person who likes to cook you're bound to learn something (or several things) and it really is a fun time! From what I understand, the Thai class is a little more advanced. It involves making your own Thai curry pastes and for that reason alone I plan to take it at some point soon! I took the Persian class because I love Persian food and it's very hard to find! They went over quite a bit about Persian cusine and designed a nice menu. They really give you fantastic practical tips on things like where to find ingredients. The other people attending were great and the food was delicious. These classes are aimed at teaching you cooking CONCEPTS, not just how to follow a recipe. You follow a recipe to a certain degree, but they don't measure anything and really stress that cooking is a fun creative process and a great place to experiment! Along with preparing you're pre-planned recipes, they teach you some great basic things you can take with you into the kitchen anytime. They will explain, for example, things like chopping techniques, how to temper eggs (and what that is and why it's important), and how the more you rinse rice before cooking it the fluffier (not sticky) it will come out in the end. A lot of those kinds of tips I knew, but I picked up a few new ones and you can't beat all that fabulous food along with an entire nights entertainment for $55! BTW, if you're looking for a great date idea, this is it! I couldn't' stop thinking about how impressed I would be if someone brought me to a Hipcooks class on a date (even a friend date... it would be a GREAT birthday present!) read more

I got a gift certificate for my birthday and took the cheese class here and I learned quite a bit. I was able to successfully recreate two of the cheeses that we made again at home which I think says a lot about the actual learning and take home materials that I received. The instructor was knowledgeable and friendly enough though her helper seemed a little snooty. The class itself was fun overall because of the sheer amount of dishes that we made. I just wish the other attendees were more on the same taste tip as myself. I don't want to sound like a jerk but when we all went around the room to introduce ourselves and say what our favorite type of cheese was at the beginning of the class 97% of the people said Tillamook cheddar. Really?! I really think classes here would be best if you were in a big group of your friends or you knew the other folks attending were going to be better matched to your own tastes and interests. If the school did even a little bit of pre-screening match up action it would go a long way for people who are attending as individuals. read more

Could not have had a better time. Jackie was a wonderful host/teacher and handled our entire family better than we even can... If you're considering having the best time, Hipcooks is your spot. Thank you for such a magical evening Hipcooks! read more

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How much fun is this place! A couple friends and I got a gift certificate for our friend for her birthday for here - it's like $55 or something, a super-reasonably-priced gift - and I signed up to go with her. She picked "Persian Immersion," a class that sounded good and was on a mutually-convenient day. (I'll eat anything - sounded good to me!) It's up in the now-uber-trendy Mississippi area, and I spent some time earlier today eating at Tasty & Sons and drinking at the 5th Quadrant (both good choices and right nearby). The Hipcooks classroom space is really nicely done -- one big room with a little shop at the front, and a large prep-cook island, kitchen set-up and communal dining table up in the main area. The class was...er... 14 people? It was mostly pairs and groups, and tonight's theme was birthday gift certificate recipients and their friends (like us!). The class participants stand or sit at a semi-circular island, behind which the instructor stands and cooks (with a fridge and some ovens behind her). Sinks are off to the side. It's spacious but cozy, and seems clean and well-kept. In fact, proper hygiene is enforced and made very clear - finger-tasting is encouraged, but reminders to hand-wash after each, use clean spoons, etc. were awesome. I loved that the instructor, Monika, also encouraged everyone to participate -- in chopping things along the way, stirring and incorporating ingredients, and doing finishing steps (flipping things out of a pan). She also moved us around a lot, and kept things chatty and non-intimidating. I especially loved that she explained a lot about the ingredients, including what you could substitute, and where to get the specialty stuff (some of which they sell, for very reasonable prices). In fact, she is super excited about, well, everything - she just seems like one of those people - and was very encouraging and enthusiastic. The eating was very cool, too. We got to eat the first course and have some wine, then make the main course, then eat it with more wine. It was fun to have dinner with strangers, although if that's not your thing, you should be aware of it. We learned a lot about Persian food -- the flavors that predominate, the styles of cooking, the importance of aroma and texture. We also had a great time. It was not pushy, or preachy, or snotty, or overly self-absorbed. It was just a great way to learn something new and spend an evening with a friend, and I can't wait to try to make the stuff -- she says she'll send a detailed email tomorrow with all of the "how-to"s and other stuff we need to know -- not "recipes," but general "stuff that's in this and how to make it" kind of notes. As the child of a wonderful Polish family of "a pinch of this" kind of cooks, that totally suits me!! I loved it. I'll be back again. This would make a GREAT gift for almost anyone, I think - the variety of classes available range from "basic knife skills" to "fancy french stuff" to "manly grilling" - I'm pretty sure anyone could find something to love - and the times are really flexible (nights! weekends! days! whatever!). And for $55? This is the best "dinner and participation" event I can think of. read more

Love! I learned knife skills and made yummy food! We had a great date night! I can't wait to go back again.

This review is specifically for the "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina" class taught by Jackie. I went to this class back in November, we were super excited about it! Unfortunately, our experience was mediocre at best. We cooked the following: - White wine sangria - very meh - Empanadas Argentinas (meat-filled & onion/cheese) - good - Grilled or pan-seared steak with Hipcooks Chimichurri - pretty good - Zucchini parcels stuffed with lemon-mint ricotta - meh - Mousse de dulce de leche - delicious - Red wine (not made obviously) - good Not too bad, so why the two star review? Well, it wasn't so much about the food itself, it was about the experience and the person leading the cooking class. Don't get me wrong, Jackie is a sweatheart, very nice and energetic but I (and others I've talked to) don't think she makes for a good teacher. Our impression: she is a good cook but she treated the class as if it was a gathering of her friends who came to enjoy wine and chat about stuff while some food was sometimes being made. That's all good and dandy, except it means that we didn't learn much and we didn't experience everything. Let me explain. The class started with Jackie delegating tasks to prepare some of the dishes. People chopped up different things and then we all cooked some of it. One issue that was already obvious at this point was that there were people of many different skill levels (not easy, yes), and while Jackie was trying to promote "soul cooking," it really didn't compute with many, including some more experienced cooks. One example out of many: "Add some olive oil to the chimichurri." "How much oil?" "Until it looks right!" That's when people who have never made, or don't even know what chimichurri is, look at one another in confusion and just start adding little dollops of oil without knowing what the end result was supposed to look like. There were many many many little examples like this. "Use some balsamic reduction. Oh, and by the way, don't buy balsamic reduction, just get vinegar, stir it up and you get balsamic reduction!" I wonder how many people went home and started stirring cold balsamic vinegar hoping for it to become a reduction. "Take the steaks out two hours before cooking so they reach room temperature." Because?? It's not so much that this tip is sometimes proven to be a myth, or that it works for some and not others, it was more that there was no explanation whatsoever as to what this was supposed to achieve. Anyhow, lots of little examples like these. Another issue was food planning. Jackie had an assistant helping her (very nice). We cooked food and, while everyone was supposed to eat two empanadas (one of each kind), some were missing so the cook's assistant could eat. Guests had to share some of their food to make up for it. While I'm all about sharing, we all paid for a cooking class and an eating experience. I don't want the cooks to get hungry but if something is missing, the guests shouldn't have to be responsible for it. It left a bitter taste in my mouth (pun intended). Speaking of quantities, we were 14 guests. We shared some sangria, which wasn't very meh, and then 2 bottles of wine. OF COURSE we ran out of wine and some people were left wanting more. Just 2 bottles. Within reason, that is not something that we should run out off. We weren't getting hammered on wine or anything. If you stretch a bottle of wine, you probably get 6 glasses for a somewhat decent pour. Again, 14 people, 2 bottles. You do the math. Lastly, it was very unfortunate that the class wasn't designed to have everyone make every dish. I don't think that's unrealistic either, it can be planned. My girlfriend and I made cheese empanadas (not meat), assembled the Zucchini (which Jackie had pre-cooked), cooked our steaks, chopped some parsley for the chimichurri (everyone got to stir it though! whoohoo!) and that's it. Of course, other people didn't do some of what we did, which is also unfortunate. We didn't see how to make the ricotta, we didn't partake in the meat empanadas and we didn't see any of the mousse de dulce de leche, which was in our opinion the best dish of the night. When we were eating and Jackie was chatting, we asked her about the dessert, how it was made, etc! "Oh, well such and such made it! How about you explain what it is!" Of course, the guests who made it weren't able to explain any of it. And even if they had, we wish we had made it too. Instead Jackie went into talking about how she went to a soccer game in Argentina. Lastly, empanadas is spelt with an A at the end, not an E as it was on the board (she didn't know the right spelling when asked). Again, Jackie is a sweatheart and is very nice, but when you sign up for $70/person cooking class and deal with all these little issues, it ends up being a poor experience and we left disappointed. Hopefully this review is descriptive enough that the class gets improved as it has a lot of potential. read more

What an experience! I've never taken a cooking class, but have always wanted to. I recieved a gift certificate from my partner for Christmas, such a thoughtful idea. My class was taught by the owner of Hipcooks, what a treat! The food was amazing and I left wanting to sign up for another class. The whole experience was a 10 and the courses were so flavorful and filling. I highly recommend this for any occassion, whether it's a private work party, date night, birthday or "just becuse," you won't regret it! read more

We cannot say enough about how much fun we had at Hipcooks! First, the premise: We will miss a friend's wedding and wanted to treat the couple to a date night in the city. The Pasta in Casa class was perfect! The 4 of us arrived and received a warm welcome from Tori our instructor. Loved that we were making 4 different pastas and learning to make our own dough. Highlights: learning to use the kitchenaid mixer that has sat collecting dust in our house for 2.5 years, and since our friends just received all of these items for their registry it was immediate gratification for them as well. Tori gave us great instruction, and offered insight on troubleshooting with pasta. I loved the different variations she shared for the pastas also, my mind was reeling with ideas. Having taken classes at Sur La Table before, I found that Hipcooks offer (1) better value (2) better instruction (3) better attitude - it was a win all around! read more

Took the Shortcut to Nirvana (Indian Cooking Class) in May 2009. Had a wonderful time. Learned to make Tiki Masala and learned about the different spices and short cuts to cooking. The teacher was excellent and made sure everyone participated (14 people in total) in cooking and assisting in dishes. We all sampled the food we made around the table family style. Such a wonderful experience and can't wait to take my next class. Highly recommend to friends and great mothers day/christmas gift. read more

Took the pasta class. Different than other cooking classes- very very hands on. I can watch on youtube how to make it, but i don't know how the dough should feel when i know it's done, or proportions (we made a ton of pasta), or feel how the dough changes when through the machine. Peter very knowledgeable, food was excellent. didn't have papers following recipes, but did it on the fly, and incorperated foods from other classes that were left over, which is inspiring for how to empty my fridge. great class dynamics. It was really great. Next on my list is the cheese making class! read more

I've never taken a cooking class before and I think the Hip Cooks is a great place to go! The instructor seemed very knowledgeable and she made the class fun. I took the Tapas class and loved it! I didn't know what to expect when I signed up. Basically, the food is prepped (like the onions are already chopped, things are measured, etc) and the instructors gives a demonstration. She has the students in the class participate so everyone gets a turn to try doing something. There was lots of tasting as we went, and at the end we all sat down and ate the food. It was a good class and I loved that it was a demonstration. I sometimes get frustrated trying to keep up with instructors. This way I see how the food is prepared and I can recreate it (hopefully) at home. Worth the money! read more