Group Cooking Class Make Gyoza at a San Francisco Cafe

Chef Alexis is a great teacher. I learned how to make fettuccini noodles and I can't wait to try this at home! Chef Alexis held the class with enthusiasm and a great sense of fun. She also made a great hearty alfredo sauce with fresh tomatoes and wonderful spices. Thanks for a great experience!

Alexis is very sweet, and the class was a lot of fun socially with the group of people attending. The cooking aspect left something to be desired. This is a tough class to do without a kitchen. The class was supposed to begin at 6 pm, and Alexis arrived right at 6 and then of course had to set up, so started almost half hour late. There was only one tablecloth and not everyone signed up was able to fit at that table. Two additional students were isolated on a separate table, no tablecloth, not enough eggs for one of their pastas. Was resolved by using one of the double yokes from another student. There wasn’t much instruction, no demonstration of technique. It was more of a verbal instruction. There weren’t enough of the little plastic pasta cutters, so we had to use plastic forms to try to cut the pasta. There was one small object used as a rolling pin that had to be shared. Most student’s pasta was way too thick, and the strainer had been forgotten. Supplies and time management didn’t feel well organized. The sauce was made by Alexis and once finished, was poured into a plastic pitcher and left to cool while the same pot was then used to boil water and try to cook the pasta one by one. My pasta was way too thick (lack of instruction in making it thinner by rolling it out more). It was gummy and thick, not enough time to fully cook the thicker noodles. The sauce by this time was cold and it was inedible and I wound up tossing it out. So much for the pasta dinner I had been looking forward to. I’ve done cooking classes before and have always had a nice meal at the end of the class. Suggestion for future: Have chef actually demonstrate how to do it correctly, how thin to roll it out, do a demonstration of the steps and then have students replicate. Perhaps have professionally made pasta ready to cook for the class, and offer students the opportunity to take their pasta home with them and cook on their own. Trying to boil pasta for all of these different students in one pot, with no way to keep sauce warm really didn’t work. For $60, did not find the class worth the cost. Went home hungry, and others went to food truck outside of brewery (only there for a special event). The venue was fun, and would go back there again but would keep in mind when choosing not to select a cooking class that wouldn’t work without a kitchen. I wish Alexis all the best, and could be a better class with better organisation. Also would recommend speaking up. With all the brewery background noise and the band playing outside, it was hard to hear soft spoken Alexis. Again she is very very sweet, but overall was quite disappointed in the class as were other students. Several people drove quite a ways to participate. If you are local and want a fun night out and not plan on eating any pasta, the social aspects were a lot of fun. The class just needed more hands on instruction and would have been nice to be able to sample good quality home made pasta and not the gummy cold mess we wound up with. Wish her all the best, the approach just needs work to be worth the cost. The two stars are for the social aspects as it was a fun group of people.