Central Market Cooking School

Overall amazing experience, the food was GREAT and the chefs were so knowledgeable and fun! They made it very interesting and the two hours flew by. I was just let down because after paying $70 you would expect more for an experience that sitting and watching and eating. I wish there was some kind of hands on experience. I understand it's difficult for the entire thing to be hands on but just a segment like prepping salad, learning how to chop vegetables like they do, or something else simple would have made the experience better. It would also have been nice if there were options for people who don't drink because I would assume that plays a role into the hefty price. I also did not see any options for people with dietary restrictions granted I don't have one; I would just be a bit concerned if I did. Overall beautifully prepared and amazing food. I would not personally come back because of economic reasons but I enjoyed my experience!

I had a great time today cooking with cast iron skillets. The dinner was really good and the dessert was very nice also. I will definitely do this again. I met and cooked with a great group of people.

We took their couples class "summer lobster dinner" and the meal that we made was honestly fantastic. I don't cook sea food that often and this class was the same price as some of the Italian themed classes so it was a great deal for a date night. The instructors were very knowledgeable and very entertaining and I felt like I walked away better prepared to make shellfish at home. The only downside is we were paired with another couple for cooking and if the couple you were paired with was not interested in sharing you may do less cooking than you had hoped. I would 100% recommend doing this with another couple that you know but I probably would not sign up my fiance and I alone again.

We went and checked out a knife skills class last night and I have mixed feelings about the experience. On the positive side, the instructors were all incredibly knowledgeable, professional and also kindly corrective with their instruction. So I was incredibly happy with that. We learned various cut techniques and also how to hold knives correctly. On the mixed feelings side, I understood the description to say we were using our ingredients to make a meal, but we essentially just had a bunch of produce to cut/chop. When we walked in, we were given a meal of pizza and a Caesar salad. It was pretty good, but not what I was expecting for the cost of the class. We did chop apples that turned into a delicious dessert, but I walked away with the feeling that the cost was too high for the overall experience and a pizza dinner.They offer a full calendar of interesting classes and the instructors are great, but I'm not so sure about the value for me personally.

We celebrated our 5th anniversary with chef Henry and his great staff, cooking DELICIOUS lobster dishes. We've never done a cooking class so it was a new experience. Tables were seperated in groups of 4. We watched chef demo and then we were able to try it for ourselves. It was relaxed and fun. The food was wonderful but definitely not "swimsuit body" lol. Overall we had a pretty good time!

When shopping at Central Market (such a treat, especially on the weekends when there are samples galore...I skip lunch and head on over!), I rarely think about the fact that just above my head, on the second floor, there are awesome cooking classes going on taught by world-renown chefs. These classes are open to the public for a small fee (around $60 a class--food and wine included), and you can reserve a spot via Central Market's easy-to-navigate website. The classes are quite eclectic, and on any given month you could attend a cheese making class, a pie class, an Italian class, sushi, beer class, etc. I had the pleasure of attending tonight's Indian Spices class and it was such a delight learning from one of the country's best Indian chefs (Raghavan Iyer, author of "660 Curries"). We were given recipes for all the dishes featured this evening, which was a nice memento, and especially useful for note taking throughout! Unfortunately this was an observation-only class--nothing hands-on--but we got to eat all the food (five courses!) that the chef prepared in front of us. The teaching kitchen is quite small, so only a few classes at the school actually allow you to cook. In spite of this I got A LOT out of the class, and feel I understand Indian food so much better now. I also learned that each class calls for volunteers (you can sign up to volunteer at the end of a cooking class, and possibly through the website), and the cooking school will host a monthly volunteer orientation to train you on kitchen protocol (mostly cleaning and serving, some chopping). Although the idea of cleaning isn't too glamorous, you get to work along side professional chefs AND get $20 credit toward future classes (you can get up to $40 credit total, which would be done by volunteering twice). Apparently volunteers also get to take home leftovers! This is a perfect date night outing! I'd also feel comfortable going alone, since everyone there was so friendly and I enjoyed chatting it up with the people next to me (but I have no shame and will make you my friend). I hope to volunteer soon and try one of their more hands-on classes.

I got a Groupon for the cooking school and I love to cook, so I bought two; one for Plano and one for Fort Worth. The Plano experience was really fun, Fort Worth on the other hand was pretty bad. The only class that interested me was the Cooking with Beer class. I made an appointment (which was difficult, because their online system is poorly designed). A week or two later, I got a call from someone from the school. She had cancelled my reservation because you are not allowed to use a coupon with that class. Nowhere did it say this on the website. The lady was polite but why did their system let me use a coupon in the first place?I have kept an eye out ever since and they mostly offer children's cooking classes or classes for couples. They haven't offered a single weekend class that looks interesting. Sad, because I really wanted to give this place another shot.

Great experience - would do it again anytime. Great time and food. We did Japanese cooking.

Attended a couples cooking class this evening. The class focused on NY Italian. The menu included Caesar salad, shrimp scampi, chicken parmesan, linguine and clams, and cannoli. Nettie and her team gave a great lesson filled with fun stories. The recipes were not difficult and the food was fabulous. Not sure why I didn't take a class sooner so while it was my first, it certainly will not be my last. What a great way to spend a date night!