Marci was a complete disaster. She did not teach anything. She handed out incomplete recipes and you had to try to figure it out. For instance, there was no mention of Marsala wine in the chicken marsala recipe. When I asked her about it, she told me to figure it out. Her staff packed up their share of the leftovers before the paying customers had a chance to get theirs. She said she had just put the recipes together the night before. This ridicolus company has somehow been in business 40 years, yet she has never had the change to sit down and update/correct her recipes?? Horrible! read more

This place is interesting to say the least. Everyone is assigned into groups to make a few dishes. There are instructions on each station and the owner will come around to check on you every so often...watch out. read more

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We had a great time. The head chef Rashiba was very attentive and funny. She told us stories from her time being a chef around the world. At the end of the night there was more food than anyone could eat and it all tasted good with lots of variety. The place has a very homey and person feel to it. read more

Very nice experience. The instructor was funny and informative and the food was delicious. It's perfect for a date night! read more

I have had this place on my list of fun date nights for a long time. Classes usually fill up fast. I saw a class for taco night, which included tequila cocktails. The menu was extensive! At least six different tacos! I kept thinking, there's no way we're going to make all of this. I kept these date night plans as a Plan B, because plan A was going to a waterpark if the weather was good. The rainy weather led to us changing plans last minute and I checked their site and they had space available for us that same night! So we signed up and received a confirmation email with instructions. We arrived a bit early, and parked in the back. We decided to sit in the car for 15 minutes because we were so early. During that time, I went on yelp to see current reviews for truffles and trifles. I was surprised to see so many bad reviews! I read a few of them, and it seemed that people did not have their expectations met. Therefore, we went in with low expectations. When we entered, we were greeted by Rashida, who would be our chef. she checked our registration and then informed us about a sink in the back where we could wash our hands and don aprons. We returned to the waiting area and took a seat with 12 other people who were waiting to start the class. I noticed a few people had brought their own wine. Apparently you can bring your own drinks. This particular class included a few tequila cocktails, so we were OK to wait. After waiting for the rest of the class to show up, we had a short cooking demonstration by Rashida. She showed us tips and tricks on how to cut onions, smash garlic, and trim herbs. She made so many jokes and has such a wonderful presence. Our group split up into different working stations, with some couples paired up. We were paired up with a wonderful couple from Florida who were on a childless date night. We had crispy fish tacos, pork Carnitas tacos, guacamole, mango salsa, chile mayo sauce and tortilla chips to make. All the ingredients were at our workstation, pre-measured by the chef in little cups and ramekins. We got to work immediately, shredding pork, cutting mangoes, mashing avocados. There was enough work for each of us to do something, but we worked together as a team to make the recipe. This means that each person does not make the entire recipe themselves. A lot of bad reviews commented that they thought they were going to make every single dish themselves. But you can't, for the sake of time; the other couples were making different tacos for the group. We all presented our tacos on platters and served the entire class. The other dishes made were crispy shrimp tacos, chicken fajita tacos, ground beef tacos, and a fruit dessert as well as churros. Everything was served family style and people were enjoying the different tacos while certain classmates took the initiative to make tequila sunrise and frozen margaritas. Everything was delicious. Being that it's a group cooking class, with some supervision, there is no way to judge the cleanliness of the food preparation. All I can say, is that our group did the best we could to keep everything sanitary and not cross contaminate. But you've got to relax a little in this type of situation and realize that restaurants are just like this. Yes, people are touching your food, and then cooking it. It's the same process everywhere you go. There was so much food because six people did not show up to the class. We still prepared everything so there were a ton of leftovers. People were able to take food home in the to go boxes provided. I saw some reviews of people complaining that they did not receive the recipes. We received a large packet of all the recipes as soon as we entered the class. I did however, forget to bring that packet home with me! But it's OK. We went for the experience and similar recipes can be easily found online. I would recommend Rashida and this cooking class. She leads many other cooking classes, including French macaroons. She has a great sense of humor and is very open and helpful. This class was one registration that included two people, as it was a couples class. The website is not very clear, but if it's a couples class, you only need to buy one ticket which will serve you both. The class was $185 for the both of us. I wasn't sure if we're supposed to tip? But we had such a great time I decided to give her some cash. We met a lot of great people and had a blast. I would return for another class. read more

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Do not purchase the Date Night class as a gift for others - extremely unpleasant experience! I regret not walking out mid event. Here is a detailed account of the experience: We were checked in by Marci, the owner. Once checked in, Marci asked us to sit at a long table and say our names and occupation. During which, she shamed people consistently. A couple brought beer - she equated it to a cocaine habit. A retired teacher was told that retirement is lazy. A firefighter had is department belittled, saying it's worse than her county's. There were stations setup throughout the room. Each had printed out recipes, some pre-measured ingredients, and a set of appliances. We were divided into teams and told to go to stations. No instructions or coaching. Once we began, it was apparent many of the recipes were wrong - wrong ratios, wrong processes, no clarity on which tools to, and ingredients were measured incorrectly. Throughout the FOUR HOUR experience - Marci belittled and berated us constantly. It felt like an episode of Hell's Kitchen. Despite following her recipes EXACTLY - she kept telling us we were doing things wrong, using the wrong ingredients, not following the right processes, etc. She made us change ingredients, pull things out of the oven midway and change ovens (why?), start recipes over, and micromanaged everything down to the spoons we used. We were never left alone and she took every opportunity to tell us we were "lacking common sense." Throughout the evening, we had her assistants and other attendees checking in on us, offering us drinks, and apologizing for what was happening. Rashida (the assistant) is the saving grace of this place. She is so kind, talented and wonderful. She was stretched thin supporting 20+ people and still gave us free drinks, checked in on us, apologized regularly, and validated that "none of the recipes are right." When it was finally time to eat (9:30/10pm), we learned everyone's recipes were incorrect or incomplete. The food was fine at best. Nothing special. Marci left mid-dinner and the group spent the rest of the night "trauma bonding" over the experience. Overall, it was the worst way to spend a "Date Night." Important note - the assistants and dishwashers are hardworking, kind and patient individuals. This review is meant as no reflection on them. read more

This experience was awful as the main instructor was extremely rude. We were provided instructions on how to cook that were incorrect and when we followed them to a T, we were yelled at for being wrong. Marcy the instructor was the most mean spirited woman I've ever met. Also this is not a cooking class, but more of a large group being broken into different teams that each follow printed directions for several recipes. No teaching occurring. The experience was so stressful and left my family in tears after making it back to the car. I could not stress not going here stronger. The staff even kept apologizing to me for how awful Marcy (the main instructor) kept treating us. They explained how the strongly dis-like her. We were told that Marcy doesn't always lead a class, which is why some people have a 5 star experience, but when she does, many people leave in the middle of the class. The assistant Rashida is the only saving grace. read more

Amazing fun experience. It was a little chaotic but still fun. I loved the owners assistant!

I attended the pasta making class with my partner. We received a gift certificate to attend so when redeeming it I called the it number and the owner answered and instructed me to email her a photo of the gift certificate and which class. She emailed me back saying we were confirmed and some details. The emailed mentioned bringing a mask however it was not needed. You can bring your own beer or wine. We got there about 20 minutes early and waited at the table with others. Once everyone arrived we went around and introduced ourselves. There were two instructors Mar (the owner) and Rashida. This place has been running for 39 years. We were split into different stations, each station had a different recipe. So essentially, you learn one recipe, prepare it and at the end everyone shares their meal. Before we got started, we watched the instructor demo how to make pasta. Then we start! There was one assistant but you could tell there is usually more hands to go around and assist everyone. Because they were short staffed, we waited and drank wine until our instructor was able to come over and answer questions. Once our hesitancies wore off and we got to cooking, we had a lot of fun along with those cooking around us. I have to say, all of the recipes were outstanding.. just really really delicious. The class was about 3-31/2 hours long. We got a copy of all of the recipes at the end. Reading the reviews, I can see how the class could become chaotic. But, if you go in knowing that these are two ladies that have been around for a long time and are short staffed but you are going to have delicious food at the end, I think you will enjoy yourself. read more

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Don't waste your time or money! Highly disappointing. Registered for a class on a Tuesday, class was re-scheduled without notification and the menu changed. We would not have known about the schedule change unless we had looked on the website. We were NEVER emailed or called about the schedule change. There were almost 30 people in the class which meant that the recipes were divided among all of us. Some people only got to cook one item. There was no instruction, recipes were handed out and we were expected to know exactly what to do. The recipes were missing instructions, like toasting nuts, and the assistant instructor was not kind when she felt we doing something incorrectly. She didn't explain why it was incorrect or how to fix it. The kitchen was unorganized and labeled improperly. Multiple pieces of equipment, like ovens, were broken. There was only one set of oven mitts for the whole class, and no alternatives like kitchen towels. The timing of the cooking was also not taken into consideration, meaning the items that took longer to cook were not assigned out first. By the time all the items were done cooking the meal was cold. Some of the food was inedible read more

Was excited to attend class with my sister. Class fee was high, in our opinion, higher than Chicago fees for same. We experienced disorganization in set up, late start to class, hard to read names of pre-measured ingredients, no response to email pre-class, although offered. As courses or menu selections were completed, it was a cattle call to race to table to grab your bite. You experienced this several times as menu is split up among participants, each cooking a portion of menu; twice we did not get to sample menu offerings. Additionally, published item on menu was not offered, or prepared to share among participants. When this was brought to attention of assistant, she offered her telephone number to discuss in further detail after class. While Marci is delightful, class was highly disorganized, will not return. read more

we took a cooking class on a cruise and wanted to try one locally. we found truffles and trifles and and were very happy with our choice. Marcy was very knowledgeable and I can now cut an onion without crying. the entire staff was amazing. had a blast and learned a lot. we will do again. read more

Sent family members (young professional, married couples) to a Date Night experience, and all four of them were met with some very rude and disrespectful interactions. The "instruction" was more correctional than informative, as other reviewers have stated. The whole experience was so stressful and disheartening for them they left as soon as their dishes were prepared. As this was a gift, I am very embarrassed by the way this business handled my family during the experience. Lesson learned; I will be much more thorough in my review reading for future gifts. read more

We did a company event here and as a group probably made it better than what the individual experience would be. It was free for everyone attending since the company paid for it, but as I've seen on some of the reviews, we had instructions and a little bit of input from the owner and other chef, but it didn't feel like I was learning a lot. It felt more correctional and telling me as a novice what I was doing wrong. We did the dessert menu and they came out very tasty, but everything was so sweet that having coffee and milk to go with them as we tasted the 10-12 different desserts would have easily bumped this up to 4 stars. read more

What on earth is going on here. For the amount of chaos happening, I wouldn't have been surprised to find out we were being filmed and in a reality TV show episode. Our class broke off into 6-7 groups yet they only had one teacher running around telling people they were screwing up, jumped in for a second to 'help', then left to the next station with little guidance. They provide everyone with a print out of the directions but they didn't even have the main protein, ham, available in our case, so they said skip it and do the next steps. Only problem was, the only steps were telling us how to cook the ham... The group next to us was having the same problems and half way through it we just let an experienced cook just take over blindly. From there we got to share drinks with fellow stations as it was BYOB and everyone was generous and nice - which is the only reason I gave this a 2 stars. Realistically though, this likely only deserves a 1. My fiancé brought me here on a surprise date night but looking up the price, definitely not worth what she likely paid. To add insult to injury, at the end everyone shares plates they made. Problem was, some of them were undercooked and had a nice night next to my toilet getting it out. Was going to give them the benefit of the doubt that they were short staffed but looking at other reviews, this is very common. Not worth it imo and likely other options to go to. read more

Beware! Read the reviews about Truffles and Trifling before paying your money! They do not teach you, a recipe is printed and placed at your station! The pictures are outdated! Cleanliness is questionable and the owner is unpleasant! Not worth your time or money! ZERO STARS! I had to leave one star in order to post my review. read more

Very fun class with amazing recipes to learn from. Amazing kitchen and refrigeration units with awesome opportunities to learn. Awesome staff there was so friendly would 100% recommended for anyone trying to hear some stories and have some good cookin. read more

My husband and I had a wonderful day date at the macaron making class with Chef Rasheeda. She was amazing in her instruction and knowledge. She made the class fun and a memorable experience. We are looking forward to coming again and bringing our children. read more

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They changed my class dates twice, and failed to inform me of the second change so I missed the class. What a joke of a company. For $75 for the class I would expect better customer service. Avoid this business. read more

Great environment and vibe! The owner was very professional and down to earth. Food and ingredients was already prepared. Well organized and clean establishment! Can't wait to go again. Food was delicious. Couples friendly! read more

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I won't say I had a bad experience, but it was a little chaotic. I think we may have been the first sushi class, so that might account for what we experienced, but I also see some of the same themes in other reviews. Boyfriend and I were paired with another couple. It wasn't clear if we were supposed to work together or do or own thing. There was a brief demo of how to roll sushi (which was very helpful and informative), and then were were told to go to our assigned stations. We weren't given any kind of tour of the kitchen. It would have been really helpful to know where to find utensils, platters, cutting boards, etc, or even what to do if someone cut themselves (which didn't happen, fortunately, although the knife we were given was not in great condition.) After being told to follow the first recipe before moving on, we found we were missing supplies and ingredients. For example, our recipe included making an omelet, but no other instructions or supplies were provided. We flagged down someone (3 staff for about 20 students) and were provided with butter and a pan, but no instructions on how to make a "thin omelet", except that we were told to use 4 eggs. The other couple jumped in a started making the omelet, but apparently didn't use enough butter and were only supposed to use 3 eggs (how were they to know??), so their omelet stuck to the pan. One of the teachers then showed us what to do. I have a lot of at-home cooking experience, but the rest of the recipe was super confusing. After asking for help were told "just do what you want, don't kill yourself trying to follow this." So we did, and it was way more fun after that. While there was a good range of ingredients for the "freestyle" portion, quantities were very limited (like one bottle of each sauce, to be shared among 20 people). Just figuring out what was available meant going to each station and asking what they had. Apparently there was also a demo on making fried cheesecake, but no announcement was made about this. At one point we noticed that like half the people were gone, and they were in the other room getting to watch that happen. We did get to eat the cheesecake however, which was delicious. We ended up making 6 rolls in total. At the end, everyone displayed what they had made and got to try each other's rolls. Everyone was very nice, and overall it was a good experience, it just would have been a better experience if it was more organized. I also would have liked to learn about how to make sushi rice, but we were just given rice that had already been prepped. read more

I was invited to join a macaron making class with a girlfriend and I blindly said yes without consulting Yelp first. Rookie mistake, only in not a rookie. Shame on me! I was very disappointed with this evening and I can honestly say that I will not be a return customer. 1) overpriced for what it was; 2) they gave us printed instructions on how to make everything and then read them to us Word for Word; 3) there were more cooking demonstrations than hands on application; 4) wasn't nearly as sanitary as I would prefer when preparing/eating food; 5) we split into groups of four and made four different types or macarons, but nobody wanted to share their flavor with the rest of the class so we didn't get to try a couple; 6) when it was time to box stuff up to take home, it was like a free-for-all. It wasn't organized in any way, like, "take two of each flavor." It was more like "fill your box as fast as you can and who ever doesn't get any - too bad for them!" 7) the main lady was coughing and clearing her throat constantly and not covering her mouth or washing her hands; 8) the assistant was quick to point out what you were doing wrong (which for me was quite a bit lol) but not necessarily in a constructive manner; 9) the staff boxed stuff up to take home before the paying customers could. The staff were friendly but didn't seem to have a ton of patience with newbie bakers. Pros: awesome girl time with my friend and BYOB. read more

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This was supposed to be a great experience! However another couple that was there definitely had a horrible experience! While putting his apron on, the guy found a dirty napkin in 1 pocket and a dead roach in the other! So gross! read more

I sat on this review for a while, but our experience was bad enough that I feel like I need to warn people. We signed up for a Valentine's date that was anything but romantic. We arrived at 6:30, right at the start time, to discover class had already started. We washed up and sat at a table with the other students. The lead chef asks us to introduce ourselves with our name, the college we graduated from, and our job. If someone was vague, she pressed them for more details. There were like 20 of us so it took a while. All students are grouped into sets of 4 and sent to a station. Our chef is apparently not here yet, so we watch some skill demos at another station. Whatever. The dude gets here and we go to our station to work. We are sharing our chef with 5 other stations. My fiancé and I are paired with a cute couple who are on vacation. Turns out we have some things in common, but we're supposed to do both recipes together so it would have been hella awkward if we weren't chill people. Our station is assigned to make a spinach gratin and a salad - other stations are making cocktails, desserts, meat entrees - some choice would have been nice. The four of us start cooking and immediately run into problems. Ingredients are missing and we have to track down a chef to find them. Tools like "flat whisk" are mentioned but no diagrams or definitions are given. All of the knives are dangerously dull. While looking for tools we need, we open the drawer under the oven. It was full of detritus. We finish the spinach gratin after seeing our chef instructor for about 5 minutes. No seasonings are provided other than salt and pepper. We make it happen, though. It's time to take it out of the oven and we can't find any potholders or oven mitts. We ask our chef and he says to "use our phone or something." ???? Eventually we nab some from other participants. It's time for us to start the salad. We go to start the vinaigrette and chop up lettuce - but we have no bowl for our mixer and no lettuce. Other cute couple witnesses a fight between two of the instructors over where the lettuce is. It takes 20 minutes to get a bowl for the mixer. We're throwing it together and suddenly our instructor is there and he doesn't know why our salad isn't done. The head chef is calling for it right now! We feel super rushed and try to throw everything together. Most of the strawberries are bruised and the mangoes are underripe. The instructor pulls me to keep an eye on the toasted almonds and sugar. I don't know what I am keeping an eye out for. I stir the sugar and almost ruin it. Eventually the chef comes back and puts parchment paper out to spread the caramelized sugar. He tells me to put almonds in the sugar. He is still pouring the sugar. He pours it over my finger. There's ice for me when I get back to the session. The instructor is nice and very apologetic, but tells me not to cry because it will make him feel bad. He poured molten sugar on my hand and had the audacity to tell me not to cry! It hurt! This wouldn't have happened if I was given specific directions or adequate time to complete the task. We're speedily plating all 28 of the salads and go out to serve them to the other folks. We barely had enough salad and didn't have enough fruit for everyone because we had to throw out half the fruit due to bruising. Some people have the audacity to complain about what took so long. I told one of the women I didn't go to waitstaff class yet ‍. We had to serve our salads, but the rest of the food was buffet style. Felt real shitty, man. When everyone sits down to eat, we notice that half of the salads we made went untouched. Apparently a lot of people bailed. We probably would have if it wasn't $160 dollars. Those salads were thrown away at the end. I'll admit, the food the other groups made was really good. But I paid $160 to make a salad and a side. It was pretty terrible. read more

The first time I went to Truffles & Trifles was around seven years ago. I went to the "California Wine Dinner" cooking class with a friend. It was a unique experience and the food was delicious. At that time I wasn't the best cook, so attending this class really encouraged me to get out and try new recipes. (And I still have the recipe packet from that class, and I still refer to it to make my favorite dishes.) This past weekend was the first time I have been back. My husband and I attended the "Bourbon Street" themed date night with a couple of friends. I was pretty worried about the food choices, since I can be kind of a picky eater (as is my friend's husband) and I've never been crazy about New Orleans style food. Well, I should have known better than to worry, because it was all fantastic! When you go to a class here the group is divided up into stations. Our station was responsible for making braised short ribs, corn muffins with andouille sausage (like little corn dogs), and peasant bread. The short ribs were a huge task, and that took most of our time. The assistant chef spent a great deal of time at our station. He taught us how to cut an onion so you won't cry (that alone makes the class worth while), he monitored the temperature as we browned the meat, taught us all about adding spice to our sauce... well, it was pretty remarkable. And he threw all kinds of culinary terminology at us but explained everything thoroughly. Of course after you're done eating comes the best part - you get to eat. Everything is served Thanksgiving style so we can taste what everyone was cooking. The other groups made fantastic stuff. There was baked rice, gumbo, chicken divine (so yummy!), bread pudding, of course beignets... and lots more. Nobody went home hungry. So overall, this is a fantastic place. It is a truly unique experience, and just loads of fun. read more

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Went here for my wife's birthday. We have taken a few other cooking classes with other companies so we had a benchmark if you will. We were so dissapointed in every facet of the evening. Organization, friendliness, food, recipes, etc. I'm not a chef by any means but my role was to dump pre measured ingrediants into a blender. Learned nothing read more

(9/25/2017) Convinced a friend who doesn't really cook or bake to come with me to check out a cooking class. We went for macarons. Should've done a little more research and eaten dinner beforehand. We did however BYOB. Private kitchen is in a cute section of College Park. I got there first, was greeted not very cordially. The rest of the guests were mostly jovial. The chef/owner is pretty type A, if you weren't doing it exactly as she did it, she would come take over and do it for you or grab your hands and move them for you, it was rather off-putting. We tried to make the best of it. We were delighted with the product, not having made them before. Likely will not ever make them again, it was a pretty fussy process. Likely would not take a class here again either. read more

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This is a great place for singles, couple, families and any size group in between. It is a place for sharing food with others, bonding and laughter. The assistants are helpful and knowledgeable and the owner is easy to talk to if you have the pleasure of dining with her. read more

Truffles & Trifles - Specialty Food Near Me - Orlando, Florida

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I have been there a few times, and always enjoyed it, but I had a class on 10/17 and to this day I have not received the promised recipes we are supposed to get. My husband pointed out we did not have everything that was listed on the class - but like a lot of excuses these days - blame it on the pandemic. I just want the recipes - how many messages does it take. read more

If I could leave 0 stars I would. I paid for a class and the morning of I emailed to confirm, someone responds that they had to cancel the class and was rescheduled for two weeks later. Again the morning of the scheduled class I email to confirm and they tell me not enough people signed up so it is canceled. Each time I had to reach out to find out if the class was happening, and they tell me it's cancelled. Now they will not refund my money either. Absolutely horrible business. read more

Just walked by and wondered what it was. Picked up descriptions of cooking classes being offered and got really excited. . .until looking at the reviews here. I guess it seems if you just want something fun to do with your girls one day it might be super fun. We only visited the shop, and it was a very warm and welcoming place with a lot of great cooking supplies. . . Seems the big draw is really the cooking classes. . .one might venture in and buy supplies to work with. Chef seemed very friendly and answered our questions. read more

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I was disappointed with the class we payed a lot money for the couples classes and we weren't provided with the wine and wasn't informed about bringing our own. We were put into stations and were only taught 2 things out of everything we were told we'd learn. The class was very unprepared with providing the ingredients and even got angry with us because they had to run to the store to get milk because we accidentally messed up the dessert. Finally the thing that upset so the most was that we weren't taught anything we were put into stations and was handed the recipes and not actually shown how to cook them. Overall we made the best out of a crappy situation and hope y'all learn from you mistakes. read more

Had an amazing morning today at the Truffle and Triffles Macaron Baking Class. The instructor is so very knowledgeable in so many typing of cooking and baking techniques. I will be attending the French Cooking class with her next and the the Sushi Class. So happy that Central FL has a wonderful place to take cooking classes - for anyone or a great Mother-Daughter or Father-Daughter outing, Date Night, or group special events. We just need enough ppl for a Gluten Free class and it would be perfect. read more

My girlfriend and I love to cook together, so we wanted to celebrate our anniversary by taking a cooking class. We found Truffles and Trifles' "date night" class, which listed 10 delicious-sounding dishes, mentioned drinking wine while we cook, and fell on the date of our anniversary to boot. We thought we hit the jackpot. Oh boy. This will be a lengthy review, so if you want the short version: the "class" was nothing of the sort. It utterly lacked in organization, instruction, or even common decency. The food was edible, but hardly worth the price. To begin with, while the description we read on their website mentioned wine, it failed to mention we would have to bring our own, so we were a bit embarrassed when walked in the door and saw other couples pulling wine out of coolers, while we were empty-handed. But we figured that bit of miscommunication might be our fault for not calling ahead, assuming $150 would mean wine was included. Upon entering the store, we looked around for any kind of sign-in sheet, a person to greet us, anything or anyone to tell us where to go or what to do to confirm our reservation and get started. We ended up having to ask another couple what to do, and when we finally found Marci and tried to check in, she ignored us to have small talk with another couple. Even when she finally deigned to recognize our existence, she frequently turned away to continue her previous conversation, when all we needed to do was give our name and get a pamphlet. At this point, we were seriously doubting our decision to come here. We went into the cooking area, looked around, and made small talk with another couple - we were glad to find out we weren't the only ones to not get the "bring your own wine" memo, or who were feeling totally lost and undirected. Shortly after, Marci had everyone sit down to begin introductions. During introductions, Marci continued to pay attention to the same couples she ignored us for when we first arrived. When it was my girlfriend's turn to introduce herself, as a student studying art history, Marci chose to comment on how poor her job prospects were, and how she should have been meaner to her granddaughter so that she wouldn't have studied the same thing! We didn't pay $150 to be harassed and demeaned for our life choices. And then the cooking started. Rather than each couple get to cook the full array of dishes, as we'd been expecting, Marci divided us into teams of 2-4 people, and each team received 1-3 dishes they were responsible for. Two of the couples (guess which ones) went off with Marci, while the rest of us gathered around her lone assistant chef for some instruction. She demonstrated to us how to smash garlic with a meat tenderizer, how to cut herbs in a cup with scissors, and how to dice an onion without cutting the root. If you wanted cooking techniques, there - I just saved you $150. We went off to our stations, which were overcrowded with cutting boards, utensils, ingredients, and people, leaving at least half of the room unused. The assistant chef made some comments about how the recipes might be wrong, or how she didn't always agree with what Marci did or wrote, but to just follow as best we could. We tried. The recipes were unclear, some steps were out of order. The ingredients provided didn't always match with what the recipe called for. Many steps were already done ahead of time, often reducing the recipes to a frankly patronizing level. For example, our station was making a tomato soup, mac & cheese, and salmon cakes. The tomatoes were roasted before we got there, reducing our job to throwing everything in a pot and blending it. We tried to at least sauté the garlic briefly before dumping everything else in (as called for in the recipe) but the assistant chef came over and dumped everything in for us. The mac & cheese amounted to boiling pasta, beating an egg, and mixing cheese. The salmon cake recipe called for poached, flaked salmon, but we were given a slab of raw salmon, and three times as much as we needed. But at least we did some actual cooking; one group only washed some fruit to dump into an ice cream machine, and then had Marci come over to tell them how they should do the recipe differently next time. I believe I heard her say, "You should smash the blueberries first next time," to which the couple replied, "we did!" Honestly, the class would have been unbearable had we not been paired with a very nice couple (who graciously shared their wine). We had more fun talking about how awful the class was than with the class itself. While this class didn't ruin our anniversary (thanks entirely to the afore-mentioned couple, and the fact that my girlfriend and I are able to have fun no matter the situation), we could have had a much better time spending the money on a nice meal. If we do another cooking class, it won't be with Marci. read more

Delightfully disdainful, highly overrated and overpriced. Marci certainly has culinary skills, but is socially ineffective. Her terse, insolent communication style made for a very uncomfortable and unenjoyable class. During the three hours, Marci delivered insults, including demeaning my special needs child, and barking orders at both her staff and other students. She was impolite and condescending, while self-promoting herself. Our team actually whispered and tried to avoid her. At the beginning of the class, Marci spent 10 minutes giving baking tips that you can easily find on Pinterest (how to make brown sugar or buttermilk) and gloated on other chef's imperfections (Martha Stewart's marshmallows were like wallpaper versus her beloved recipe which was so superior and highly demanded). She then sent us into groups to follow recipes without clearly outlining the logistics and responsibilities. When we reached our stations, all of the ingredients were pre-measured, and there was a support chef to assist, which was nice. However, for nearly $60 per person, we made one serving size and shared with the team versus making your own batch. The timing and flow of our baking was poorly designed. For example, donut frying was not staged well, leading to longer than necessary cooking times and lack of clarity. Some of the recipe sizes were mis-matched: way too much ganache wasted and too little frosting, leaving cupcakes bare. She joked that this was test class and we were her guinea pigs, which was disappointing for the price. Additionally, the cupcakes were one click better than Duncan Hines and fell severely short of the Blue Bird Bakery or Miss Mollys. Her prized Krispy Creme donut was overly sweet and greasy the following day. I tossed them away. I would save your money and avoid the negativity. I sincerely hope that Marci reads this review and learns from it: all the culinary skills in the world do not make up for good old fashioned niceness. read more

This review is for the cooking classes, not the bakery/shop portion of the business. I took a cooking class at Truffles and Trifles a few days ago and I've been trying to decide how to review it ever since. Should my review factor in my expectations based upon the information on their website? Should it only reflect my actual experience? Originally, my wife and I were going to take the "Tuscany foods to make you weep" class together, but she ended up having to work. I decided to go ahead without her - this way, if the class was no good, we were only out half the money. The description of the class reads "We will give you what you need to succeed. If you have never traveled to Italy, we will bring the country to you. Ceasar salad with fresh made croutons; roasted tomato soup with homemade croutons; Italian seafood scampi; cannelloni; spaghetti alla pesto; risotto with butternut squash and leeks; fried stuffed rice balls with prosciutto and mossarella; tuscan short ribs braised in red wine with celery root puree; ricotta tart and tiramisu; italian peasant bread" WOW! A cooking class that teaches you all that?! SIGN ME UP! I contacted the school and they said the class lasts 3 hours. Hmm. That's a lot of food to learn how to make in 3 hours, don't you think? Well... you don't. The giant list of dishes in the description is a pool of dishes. Groups of three or four people are formed and each group makes a few dishes with the help and guidance of the instructors. Each group makes different dishes. We had four groups and collectively, we made about twelve dishes. No demos are given - a pamphlet of recipes is provided to each person and the recipes are posted at the cooking stations. It's up to the group to decide who does what. If you keep things fair and even, a single person may end up being responsible for one entire dish - and learn a bit about the other two or three. Granted, if you're not busy - you can wander over to the other stations and watch them work or listen to the instructors helping them, but you've got your own dish(es) to worry about. The instructors are very knowledgeable, friendly and approachable. They helped us with every question and issue, no matter how small - and offered lots of tips and insights. At the end of the night, all the dishes are put together and you get to feast on what everyone has made - so you get to TASTE all of the dishes in the giant list, but you only learn how to make a few of them. So, do I rate it on how good of an experience it was by itself? Or do I factor in my disappointment in the fact that I've previously made two of the three dishes my group was responsible for? I really wanted to learn how to do the short ribs, the risotto and the stuffed rice balls. Sure, I have the recipe pamphlet, but I could have just looked up the recipes online - I wanted the guidance and instruction of a teacher. Because the experience was so far from what they advertise, I have to factor in my expectations and disappointment. That is not to say that I didn't enjoy my experience - I might even go back for another class. The key, I think, is to find a class where you would be happy to learn ANY of the dishes being made. Alternatively, you could choose to take a class as a group as a group building exercise, or just for a fun night out. There's no doubt about the fact that it's a great experience that can be tons of fun. You're allowed to bring your own bottles of wine and drink while you cook (or wait until dinner at the end). If I hadn't gone there with the specific desire to learn to make these dishes, I probably would have rated my experience higher. read more

Here's how the pasta-making class works out. When you arrive and enter the front door, hanging on the wall on your right side are aprons. Take one and put it on. Then, enter the room that has long tables and kitchen stations. Have a seat at one of the long tables. If you brought wine or beer with you, ask someone for a glass. I was under the impression they sold wine and beer, however I didn't hear or see that when I arrived. Perhaps one must ask about it. At the start of the class, Marci (I believe she is owner of Truffles and Trifles and Head Chef) will take attendance and give you a booklet of recipes. Marci likes to hear from each person what their occupation is, as a way to get to know you a bit and it is a good way for class attendees to get to know each other. Class begins. Everyone stands around one of the assistant chefs who demonstrates how to make pasta. Attendees are then split into groups of 4-5 people and each group is responsible for making two recipes. There were five or six groups when I went, so we had at least ten dishes to try throughout the night. After receiving help to make the pasta, the only other cooking instruction we received was when one of the chefs noticed a major boo-boo we made, and when we asked for it; otherwise, groups are left on their own to cook with an occasional checking in by one of the two chefs. I wish there was more instruction on cutting and cooking techniques. I attended this class solo and I was one of three who were solo so we were placed in the same group with a couple; most attendees are with a mate or with a small group. It is a great way to meet folks, whether you're solo or with a others. My only complaint is, and there is nothing Truffles and Trifles can do about it, one of the attendees in my group was drunk, smug, and haphazard. Everyone else in the group and in the class was lovely. This was a fun experience and I will definitely consider taking another class. read more

Had the best time ever cooking Mother's Day Brunch! We learned how to flip crepes and took home the delicious recipes! Marci and staff are geniuses! read more

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I liked it but it wasn't anything like I expected. I wanted to get some skills and learn but this Cooking class wasn't exactly technique specific. no demos unless you asked. most of it is on your own. more of a social/party environment. you can be as hands on as you want or like any group project do NOTHING. The teacher is spread out very thinly while groups of three or so make tons of random recipes, then you sit down and taste everything Family-style. She would peek over your shoulder to see how it was going but didn't really do demonstrations per se. LOTS of couples so bring a friend if you are not in the mood to network. Marci is so cool! I'll go back but look for the beginner class. I need to learn something for $60 per person. read more

We had an amazing time tonight at the Mediterranean cooking class. This was our third time taking a class and will definitely be going back. Chef Rachida was amazing, super funny, great personality and very knowledgeable. She made the entire night enjoyable and the food was delicious! read more