Epicurean Theatre

I just moved to Tampa. On my own for Thanksgiving dinner. I had an amazing beet salad. A perfectly cooked filet. And am wonderful piece of pumpkin pie. Thank you Adriana. The team here wants you to have an amazing time. Great service. Great food.

My husband and I had the most incredible date night at the Epicurean Theatre! We attended the "Dinner with a Master Chef" class on Friday, July 18th 2014. Our instructor was celebrity chef, Whitney Miller, winner of Master Chef (season 1). The Epicurean Theatre is a gorgeous and very modern culinary classroom in the Epicurean Hotel in South Tampa. The culinary classroom has a kitchen in the front of the theatre for the instructor/ chef and stadium-style seating for the students. (If you want a seat near the front of the class arrive early!) Flat screen televisions are located in the front corners of the classroom to display close-ups of the food as it is being prepared. The layout of the classroom allows participants to eat and drink while watching a cooking presentation. After the chef completes each course of the meal the Epicurean's wait staff serves the dish. Whitney Miller was so charming and entertaining throughout our class. I loved her stories about growing up in Mississippi and being a contestant on the Master Chef. Her menu in our class included some of her favorite Southern dishes:First Course: Arugula Salad with Grilled Figs, Homemade Buttermilk Ricotta Cheese, Crispy Prosciutto and a Citrus Vinaigrette (Wine Pairing: Schiopetto Pinot Grigio)Second Course: BBQ Shrimp and Cheese Grits (Wine Pairing: Black Bird Rose)Third Course: White Chocolate Bread Pudding (Wine Pairing: Rosa Regale)Everything was so delicious and I cannot wait to make these dishes at my home! Confession: I probably won't make my own ricotta cheese for the arugula salad because who has time for that?! We received so many great cooking tips from the class and I plan on purchasing Whitney's cookbook so I can introduce my husband to more Southern cooking.If you are interested in taking a class at the Epicurean Theatre I highly recommend it! They offer a variety of classes from cupcakes to cooking to wine or even speaking a foreign language. They even offer brew bus tours! The classes range from $45-$125. Our Master Chef class cost $65 per person which wasn't a bad deal in my opinion considering we received a two hour demonstration from a celebrity chef, a three course meal, and three wine tastings. Can't wait to take my next class at the Epicurean Theatre!

I went to a great event here called Cupcakes and Cocktails held by Chef Beth Lukens, who owns and operates the local company Cloud 9 Confections.Everything about this event was fun. Just like you see on cooking shows, Beth stood in front of the 3-tiered seating area, with a camera on her, and a camera overhead showing inside the pot she was cooking in. Beth is an experienced baker, and I loved that in addition to demonstrating how to make the Bourbon Chocolate Pecan cupcake, she also gave us helpful tips for substitutions and shortcuts.In addition to cupcakes, the event included 3 cocktails, specially designed to compliment the cupcakes we would be taking home. Pumpkin Prosecco - made of champagne and pureed pumpkin, Hard Apple Cider - made with gin, cider, and fresh crushed grapes, and a Bourbon Cocktail - but after the first two drinks, I have no recollection of what went into this last one. It was great, though! :-) Roger, the bartender from the hotel restaurant Élevage, came in each time to explain his concoction, which was really a nice personal touch.After Beth demonstrated how to make the first cupcake, all the participants went down to group stations where we got to frost our own cupcakes. She had all the different cupcakes lined up for us, as well as the different bags of frosting.First we did our own Bourbon Chocolate Pecan cupcake - by scooping out the inside to fill it with pecan filling, then frosting it with a thick bourbon chocolate buttercream, and sprinkling roasted pecans on top. Next was the Hard Apple Cider cupcakes with cinnamon buttercream. And finally we did the Pumpkin Spice cupcake, with a sweet cream cheese frosting. I have to admit, there was a LOT of taste-testing the frosting, even after the cupcakes were all frosted. Beth even provided plastic cupcake containers, so our 6 masterpieces (2 of each flavor) could travel in safety and comfort.I would definitely do another event here - it was very well organized, and in addition to the promised take home cupcakes, we were also provided with recipes on how to make the different cupcakes and frosting.The only thing that wasn't cool, and wasn't mentioned ahead of time, is that you had to pay $5 for valet, which also meant tipping too. I think the Epicurean Hotel needs to include this in the cost of the class, or let people self-park in the spots they have available for the wine store or bakery.Other than the parking, an A+ event from start to finish. Support local small businesses and go check out Beth's webpage, too - yum!

A friend and I decided to check out the Cupcakes and Cocktails cooking class last night. We had such a great time! The Epicurean is an amazing hotel with great staff. The ambiance and decor are unmatched in the Tampa Bay area. The kitchen is on the first floor and the first perfect touch was the enormous wisk for the door handle. The theatre kitchen is large and they have a seating area for about 25-30 participants. There were cameras that zoomed in on the chef and displayed what she was doing on large TVs. Beth from Cloud 9 Confections was the chef for the event. She was fun and engaging, knowledgeable and enthusiastic about her cupcakes. She shared great tips and demonstrated how to make mojito lime cupcakes. We were served blueberry mojitos from the bar while we watched. After she explained two more recipes and we frosted and garnished two of each cupcake on the menu. The bartenders brought two more drinks out to pair with each cupcake. The drinks were delicious and made with expertise. I loved the peach drink and the last drink the NY sour was even made with egg whites on the top. We were told that they have different events all the time and will definitely come again.

My husband and I attended a pasta making class at Epicurean Theatre. While we enjoyed learning the techniques, the portions were extremely small considering the price we paid. The food was good, but we have been to other cooking classes in the Tampa Bay area that are better priced with bigger portions. For $80 per person, I was hoping to leave full. Unless there is a topic I absolutely love, I will not return. I can go to a restaurant at that price and eat better.

Can and Sol was in the front desk when we walked in they offered us wine and were so hospitable! 10/10 recommend

I have attended 8 of the wine event classes at the Epicurean Theatre. I thoroughly enjoyed the speakers, the wine and food. The speakers are most interesting and oftentimes are International speakers of vineyard owners. There is always something more to learn about wine, and the atmosphere and presentation styles provided at the Epicurean Theatre make this a lot of fun !