Cooking Class: The Art of African Spices

Gabriella

14 May 2025

I had a lot of fun in the class, but that was due to the people there which was the only highlight. The venue set up was not great for cooking. There were 5 people total for this pasta class, but only two small saucepans for boiling pasta and one saute pan for making the sauce. What would we have done if there were more people? The saute pan had the non-stick coating chipped and flaking off and I was questioning whether or not I should eat the pasta sauce by the end. We were not given cutting boards but instead chopped on wax paper, and the tiny knives were terrible for chopping garlic and tomatoes. I understand not wanting to hand out chefs knives, but something bigger than a blade the size of my pinky would have been appreciated. Chopping garlic with that is not going to help someone find a love of cooking. Furthermore I had onyl about 12 inches each direction for rolling out my pasta due to the size of the table. Overall I was very disappointed by the cooking experience. The Chef was friendly and fun at least and had a good sense of humor.

Joshua

01 May 2025

Erin was great! The brewery wasn’t too busy, so we were able to move around and do what we needed to do where we needed to do it. Instructions were easy to follow. Dishes were simple and delicious. Erin really made the experience!

Anna

21 Mar 2025

We had a blast hanging out and cooking with Chef Erin! She made it super easy and fun! Full bellies and full hearts when we left! 💕

Chris

20 Mar 2025

Chef Erin was very nice and had no trouble guiding us through our class. That being said, the entire class felt very cheap. Our first scheduled class was canceled 1 hour before it was meant to begin and we were only notified via email. On the day of our rescheduled class we showed up 30 minute early and were told by the venue that they did not think the class would be happening as they had a different event going on at the same time and had told Classpop they needed to reschedule. At the time of the event Chef Erin arrived and the venue made accommodations for us to have the class anyway - two of the attendants had already left. This meant that we were stationed between the indoor/outdoor sections of the restaurant on a windy day. We sat at two high top wooden tables on bar stools. The tables were covered with disposable plastic tablecloths. Our first task was to make the dough for our noodles and we were provided parchment paper to work on that had to be held down with duct tape. We mixed the dough in a measuring cup with a plastic fork. After making the dough we were tasked with mincing garlic, chopping basil and tomatoes. We were given small paring knives and had to cut directly on top of the plastic table cloth - no cutting boards. We were told to put aside excess garlic and basil for the sauce later, but we had no idea how much sauce we would be making, or how much was an appropriate amount for the bruschetta. We also used the paring knife to cut the baguette. After making the bruschetta, we resumed working on our noodles. We were given cheap rolling pins (ours was broken), and we rolled out our dough. We then used pizza cutters on top of the plastic table cloths to cut the dough into noodles. We were told it "didn't matter what size the noodles are". The next step was to cook them in a pot of boiling water. We added our noodles and were given a plastic toothed spoon to stir them. When the pasta was done cooking we started making the sauce, a can of crushed tomatoes and the leftover basil and garlic. We "seasoned to taste" using bottles of HEB spices. Our dinner was served on Styrofoam plates with plastic forks to eat it with. For $110 (on sale), this class felt incredibly overpriced.

Matthew

11 Feb 2025

Chef Erin was great! We loved her energy, feedback, and hospitality during our class!5”

Victoria

04 Feb 2025

Chef Erin was fantastic! She explained everything super simple, recipe is easy and suuuuper tasty! You won’t regret going to class with her.

Shannon

29 Jul 2024

Good instruction. Venue not really set up for cooking classes, but I learned a lot.

Auria

22 May 2024

We had an amazing time! Chef Erin was super nice and knowledgeable. Would totally take another class from her!

Evan

01 Mar 2024

Caveat emptor… this isn’t really making ramen so much as assembling ramen from pre-prepped components. Chef Erin should revisit her format - crowding around hot plates that blew out the circuit breaker in the storage room of a Saké bar wasn’t really what I was expecting at this price point. At the end of it, I did end up with a good bowl of ramen and the knowledge of how to marinate a hard boiled egg. Chef Erin is also really nice and a lot of fun to spend time with.

Joel

29 Feb 2024

Chef Erin provided an amazing cooking experience filled with fun, laughter, and easy to follow instructions that resulted in a delicious meal! You can tell she thoroughly enjoys what she does and has the best attitude even when having to deal with adversity of different locations she has to teach classes at. I had such a delightful time that I am already looking at additional courses offered by Chef Erin to attend next.

Lisa

28 Feb 2024

Helpful and informative!

Sangeeta

28 Feb 2024

Really enjoyed the hands on pasta making class. This was so different than other cooking classes I have taken. We were not watching the chef cook but actually listening to her instructions and making our own dish. Chef Erin is so calm and clear with her instructions. Thanks

Jay

19 Feb 2024

...:(

Montana

15 Feb 2024

This is review is a little long, but I’d read all of it to know what you’re signing up for. I agree with the other Feb 15 reviews, as I attended the same class for Valentine’s Day. I can’t speak to Chef Erin’s culinary skill, and she seemed like a nice person, but the experience I actually paid for was overpriced and disappointing to say the least. Giving two stars is being generous, and the second star is because my partner and I met nice people during the class. I expected the class to be in a culinary kitchen. We were in the storage/staff-only part of the facility — standing next to fermentation tanks, working on low tables to prepare our meal, and going without chairs to sit in or eat in — so everything felt crammed and like we were an afterthought. I would have preferred if the class had been canceled. It was so unsanitary. Our class had a vegetarian couple, and my partner doesn’t eat pork, yet the 16 of us were sharing pots that used vegetable broth, chicken broth, and pork broth without washing between uses. If you have an allergy or dietary restrictions, beware of cross-contamination. I don’t know how else to say this, but it felt very cheap. We used plastic spoons and forks. We used styrofoam bowls. We cut ingredients on a thin sheet of paper on a table that probably wasn’t disinfected beforehand instead of a cutting board. Like someone else mentioned, we used a ramen packet for seasoning (with some additional seasoning options) and HEB broth. I didn’t understand what made this ramen ‘’modern”. Maybe because we used oxtails instead of pork chasu as the meat option? The flow or structure was off. At one point, we had a nearly 20 min break immediately after choosing our toppings so we could go get drinks. I don’t think that was necessary. Also, one of the burners went out so two groups had to work out of a small corner, and the rotation to cook ingredients took a long time. At one point, a group used an extra pack of noodles and Erin said something along the lines of “that means another group won’t have noodles now.” To me, that means she should go around making sure each group that just joined the rotation knew the instructions, and she should have extra ingredients on hand to ensure everyone can complete the experience even if an error occurs. Luckily, someone found another pack of noodles and everyone was able to make their dish, but that doesn’t need to be a risk in the first place. It was truly a “I could have done this at home” experience. It may have even been better at home because my utensils wouldn’t have been plastic. It’s especially upsetting because it was for Valentine’s Day and I expected this activity to be a highlight of the holiday for my partner and me. At the current level, I would not purchase this experience and I definitely would not do it a second time. I believe in actionable feedback, so here are some suggestions for Erin: find stylish disposable options, or invest in reusable and matching kitchenware customers use; operate in a dedicated cooking space (that would likely solve the burner problem too); purchase better stock ingredients or allow customers to make all components of the dish from scratch; practice better and frequent sanitizing; reduce class size to minimize waiting periods, etc.

Juan

15 Feb 2024

Chef Erin was a very sweet person and wanted to give a good review but sadly cannot. My partner and I did this for Valentine’s Day and some things were out of her control. For example they stuck us in the back of the brewery with 16 people crammed in there while the burners were losing power constantly. I understand it’s not traditional ramen but what we had was even close. Instant ramen would have satisfied me more. The ingredients to chop were green onions and garlic with little kitchen knives, powders to flavor the HEB chicken stock broth. And even better we ate them in small plastic throw-away bowls with throw away spoons. For the price, I think It was very little effort put in and a lot more basic things could be corrected to make the experience better. Do not take this cooking class.

Carlos

15 Feb 2024

Not what I thought it was going to be.

Brice

26 Jan 2024

I gifted my wife this ramen class for Christmas, and it was such a disappointment. We eat at a lot of good ramen restaurants in Austin, and this wasn't even ramen. Erin was a really nice person, but this was done with very little effort. She provided rice noodles instead of ramen noodles, hard boiled eggs from a bag instead of learning to make soft boiled. Cartons of heb chicken broth with a mix in packet for flavoring and a few bottles of random seasonings (steak, Cajun, salt), to flavor the broth. Would NOT recommend the ramen class. We left and ate from the sushi truck out front.

Mahima

17 Jan 2024

Erin was fantastic! The ramen class was well planned and executed, we had a lot of fun.

Rachel

05 Jan 2024

Erin was super helpful and knowledgeable! Would definitely recommend her class.

Xavier

25 Dec 2023

Very fun and engaging class. Definitely going to try to make more Italian and shrimp dishes - just needed a guide to start.

Danielle

20 Dec 2023

Class was nothing short of amazing! Such a great experience! Thank you 🙏

Shawna

13 Nov 2023

I really enjoyed Chef Erin's pasta making class! She showed me that making my own pasta isn't as complicated as I thought. And the class size was small so I felt comfortable asking questions.

Brent

18 Oct 2023

Would've liked to do more cooking, but that was beyond Chef Erin's control. Chef Erin is a great teacher and a great person overall!

Leonore

11 Oct 2023

She was awesome. I enjoyed the class so much. The ox tail ramen was delicious!!!

Jessica S

23 Aug 2023

Everything exceeded my expectations! From the chef's professionalism, to her prompt responsiveness, and most importantly, her incredible food! Definitely recommend checking out Chef Erin!