Sur La Table — Attraction in Dallas

3 of my family members and myself decided to do a cooking class together a joint Christmas gift amongst us 4. We signed up for two courses; one where we each baked an apple pie, and other where we cooked Italian American dishes.

The pie class is the reason for the loss of a star. While the instructor kept things lively and fun, there were far too many people in the class and no where near enough space, which really took away from the whole experience. Many folks were knocking elbows trying to roll out dough or peel apples, and then having to share tools at a 4-1 ratio. 16 people making 16 pies was just far too many. The class itself I think was more intended for "fun" and not so much about education. We spent a lot of time peeling apples, rather than learning the more complex aspects that most folks struggle with, like how to make a good crust (they pre-made the dough for the class). The chef did make a quick dough in a food processor as a quick run through, but when asked how to make the dough without a food processor, she didnt have much to say in terms of advice, except that they only use food processors there (I think more so due to time constraints. I am certain if there was more time she would have given a better answer). This is no way a complaint about the chef instructing us, but rather the logistics of the course.

The Italian American cooking was a much more enjoyable experience simply because there were fewer students and therefore plenty of space to work. The instructor focused more on the technical aspects such as different types of flour used when making the pasta, what makes gelato, gelato, etc. He was also able to go around and give more detailed feedback on our progress due the smaller student-load. I feel like I learned a new skill out of this course (making fettuccini) that I have since used at home.

Overall both classes were very fun and we truly had a great time! In the future, we will definitely choose courses that have less...

Update: Several months after my earlier, one-star review, my wife went to the store to sign up in person. She related what happened earlier, and he offered to have us come again on him. So my wife signed us up, and the class was fun. Chef Tammie helped us make a delicious meal. We will certainly go back for another class.

My only caution is that you should sign up in person rather than online if at all possible.

Old Review: It’s a good store, but the cooking classes are another thing. I won’t be going there again for a cooking class. Their website was extremely difficult to navigate when I was signing up. It was so slow that it would time out before it landed on the next page. Clicks would do nothing at times. I could not tell if I had successfully signed up. When I finally got a page that took my money, I took a screen shot.

I never got a receipt or an email confirming that I got into a class or which one I got into, so a couple of weeks later I called the store to see if my name was on the list. The woman who answered said that I could come into the store and they could help me look it up, which was not at all helpful.

Valentine’s Day came and we showed up for class, and they give us a spot and we started the class. Twenty minutes into the class they started passing out name tags, but the last two did not have our names on them. I looked up the screenshot on my phone and saw that I had inadvertently signed up for the day before. Then a half hour into the class the other couple showed up. My mistake, and there was no more room for us, so we had to leave. $200 down the drain and Valentine’s Day ruined. My fault, but I never got an email, and talking to a human was useless. I won’t play that runaround anymore. I’m done. I’ll see what’s going on at Central...

Wow! I love shopping at Sur La Table. When my Boss gave me a go signal to shop at Sur La Table I was frantically shocked and surprised. He told me to get all the pots and pans I needed. So, I went but was still being me very conservative, I only bought I really needed most.

We have this toaster which was supposed to be new in which I have been struggling for more than a year. I have to watch my bread carefully and all the time wherein I burned lots of bread everyday. One time the Family went to their Ranch. In the Ranch their Toaster didn’t give me a problem. I just put the time and left it without me watching the bread. When it came out, they were perfect. When we went back to Dallas, I observed the Toaster. I found out one side has heat and other side has none. That’s why my bread is always got burnt one side and other was not. It was time consuming. Then I talked to my Boss about it and compared the Toaster in the Ranch and the one in Dallas. He told me to ask his Son the brand of the one in the Ranch. I didn’t bother to ask him. I just search it through Google by describing it and voila, I got the answer, “BREVILLE!”

Then I called Sur La Table if the Breville Four Slice Die Cast Toaster is available and it’s available. I went there to get it.

Today, I used it to toast the Bread to serve my Boss. He was so happy because he noticed immediately the difference between the old toaster and Breville Toaster. He described it as crusty outside and soft inside. He’s wondering why he didn’t know about this. He even said that they should promote or advertise it. It is worth buying it, as he said! So I thought of giving it a good review. Only in...