Young Chefs Academy

I hate to "trash" this--but it's basically a copy of a recipe given to a kid, and they go and follow it. No instruction; no guidance; no tips...just here you go. Nice young lady working but to echo a previous reviewer-to call this an academy is definitely a stretch.

Young Chefs Academy is true to its name. This is truly a miniature culinary school for children and teens. Why couldn't this place have been around when I was a kid?I became familiar with YCA when my son's daycare had field trips to this location. I also inquired about a birthday party but chose otherwise due to the price. At that time, I was clearly unaware of what all the price included and how worth the money it was. Fast forward a few years, I had the pleasure of getting a behind the scenes look while doing a short term externship for culinary school. YCA is truly not just a drop your kid off for some slice and bake cookie making activities. This is real deal culinary lessons for children. First off, all instructors are knowledgeable, professional, and truly have a way with kids. Since classes start as young as 4, it takes skill to teach and keep kids on task while creating an enjoyable environment. These instructors have been trained well at this. They're also knowledgeable of proper food safety rules and continuously enforce and teach the students in fun ways how to avoid safety issues. I was surprised to see how many young children knew about properly handling raw chicken, not tasting batter with raw eggs, and the importance of repeatedly washing their hands!Besides food safety, knife skills are also covered. Depending on the age and skill of the child, plastic safety knives are used until they've proven otherwise. YCA is all about structure. There are levels - young chefs, junior chefs, and so on. Kids that come on a regular basis have the opportunity to earn patches, move up levels, and participate in different events, such as a YCA open house. Chef coats, hats, aprons, baking kits and other items are all available for purchase in the lobby. Again, why couldn't this have been around when I was a kid?!The fun part, the cooking is what surprised me. It's usually scratch cooking with a theme. The Young Chefs are given detailed recipes and depending on the age/skill level, they're hands on. The recipes range in difficulty and flavor. I'd seen kabobs, bbq, Asian style noodles, an overall variety in foods with a short lesson on the history of the food. The kids also learn the importance of how to work as a team and if the class is large enough, have a friendly competition. An example would be, which team could hand whip cream the fastest. For a structured, fun environment, whether it's a one time class, camp, birthday party, holiday event, or membership, I strongly recommend bringing your child here. I suggest checking out the website, it is informative and easy to maneuver through. Definitely a 5 star program!

Fabulous for kids... and adults too ;) I signed my niece up for there three-day Food Truck cooking classes. She loved it! Each day, for three hours, the kids cooked a variety of American and Asian foods. Gourmet ice cream and waffles, crab rangoon, sauces. A great variety!! Five dishes were concocted every day.The business has a great space. Easy to get to; plenty of room inside. They have two giant kitchens. Three giant metal top tables for the youngins to crowd. And they do all the work: the teacher/instructor reads of the recipe and instructions, and they go at it. Of course, they're given a packet with the dishes so they can attempt making the food on their own time. I saw they have Friday evening cooking classes (every so often) for kids and their parent/adult - another great bonding experience!

I had been wanting to check this location out for awhile but never really had a chance to so a couple of weeks ago when my daughter received a birthday party invitation that was going be held at this location I was more than stoked!The classes/parties are very hands on. All the girls at the party made an individual pizza from scratch. They showed the girls how to measure items in measuring cups, how to kneed pizza dough & what NOT to do when cooking (sneeze in your food or not wash your hands). The girls even got to customize their own pizzas with whatever toppings they wanted.The instructors were very patient with the girls & did an excellent job giving them directions.I would certainly LOVE to take my kids here for a couple classes!

I purchased my niece a camp called "Copy Cat" for Christmas. I was told the kids would be making popular dishes from restaurants like Applebee's and TGI Friday's. An hour before the class was starting we received an email stating we have to drop our kids off and leave due to the class size. We dropped her off and noticed the instructor yelling at the kids and being grouchy. When we picked my niece back up she said the kids mostly watched while the instructors made the food. This is not what I was told how the class would be run and I feel it's a case of misrepresentation.

My son has gone 2 four of the classes and the teachers have all the kids do different activities such as getting things from fridge or cutting items or measuring. It's a total hands on class my so is so proud after class to show what he made. I'm sorry for the other people's experience but the four times I have come I have never seen any of that happen.

it was amazing best experience I have ever had. the staff was so helpful and kind. They were so nice and they really cared about me and my child. They really gave us the full experience 100% would recommend.

Took my grand daughter there for a class as a birthday present. To call this an academy is a real stretch. There seemed to be no preparation in advance of our session. The staff searched for things as we asked for them. Two pleasant young ladies were present but did no demonstrating or instructing. The adults that accompanied the children were left to their devices to show the children what to do. I felt like they should have been paying me to instruct. The recipes were preselected by the staff but they didn't have all the ingredients on hand and had to leave to purchase them. This was generic frozen topping based pudding and corn flake crusted chicken nuggets. What they did have was mostly the least expensive available, some more than a year old, others freezer burned. The tools and utensils were all of very poor quality. 4x6 thin plastic paddles for cutting boards, dull plastic knives, inappropriate measuring and mixing implements.It was clean and friendly but certainly this "academy" is not anything you couldn't better accomplish at home. A better operator could make this a great experience for kids. This operator is offering a poor excuse for a kids cooking class. Two thumbs down.

Great place with an amazing staff! My child had a great experience with their birthday party last weekend. I agree with a previous reviewer I am sure it will be a core memory.

I reserved a birthday party for my nephew, he had a amazing experience i'm sure to be a core memory