Selfup Cooking Classes — Local services in Boston

TDLR - very beginner class. No individual cooking stations for you and a partner. One stand mixer, one burner, one of everything basically. You won't actually make everything that's listed. Chef speed talked and also talked too much about himself. Spend the money if you want a night out doing something different but you won't learn much.

We booked the Romantic Italian Date Night cooking class. On the menu was burrata salad, focaccia bread, marry me chicken, angel hair pasta in a butter sage sauce, seasoned roasted vegetables, red velvet parfait. I'll break each down below:

We learned how to make burrata from scratch which was really cool but it was watching 90% hands on 10%. The burrata was rubbery and freezing cold because they sat in an ice bath until they were ready to be cut and served. Not appetizing, which is a shame because I love burrata.

Focaccia bread - it was already made, they didn't even speak about it, no recipe, no nothing. It was amazing but it would've been amazing to have been sent home with a recipe since we didn't make it. It was paired with a yummy dipping oil and when someone asked for the recipe, he was given a vague answer.

Marry me chicken - it was bland and not seasoned. Tasted like heavy cream with chicken.

Angel hair pasta with butter sage sauce - we did not make this. We made fresh spaghetti - very cool and ended up tasting great. We mixed our own dough and had to wait for other people to roll out their dough using the one machine which was a waste of time it took so long. The spaghetti was boiled and served in a marinara sauce that was made ahead of time and we learned nothing about how to make that either. It tasted good. We didn't make angel hair and we didn't make or taste a butter sage sauce which I was looking forward to since it's different.

Vegetables are vegetables - not much to it. They made (ahead of time) cannellini beans in a tomato sauce. Again no information about it, how to make it, etc it was just put in front of us in bowls at the table.

Red velvet parfait - we did not make this either. There were premade red velvet cookies and we assembled individual red velvet tiramisus. We learned how to make the mascarpone cream by watching someone do it, not hands on. There was no sweet raspberry jam or chocolate sprinkles. It was not yummy.

They had complementary soft drinks, red wine and white wine which was a nice touch. Class descriptions need to be more upfront about what you will make and the class needs to stick to the menu. The chef, John Peredina, spent probably 1.5 hours total of the 3 hours time during the class talking about his career and prior classes he's done - ego is too big for an interactive classroom setting where we need to learn and cook. A little background is great but enough - talk about the food. It's no wonder we didn't make everything as according to the menu. We ended up getting rushed through segments and he took over most hands on parts. We were about 12 people in the class I can't imagine one bigger and getting anything accomplished because we barely did. The class space needs improvements as individual stations for groups of 2-4. People would pay more for a setup like that and a...

I had the chance to take the Italian cooking class twice. First was with my boyfriend and Rudy as the instructor. The second time was with my sister and John as the instructor.

Rudy is pleasant and has fun in his class. I found the pace of his class to be far too slow and ultimately felt quite hungry by the time we sat down to eat. Rudy was solo in my class, so maybe if he had some help it could make a big difference for timing? I personally found the chicken to be a bit tough, pasta sauce and Marsala sauce were a bit bland. The food wasn’t served in a way that looked professional, but more so like I put food on a platter myself. Would have been a nice tough to have I plated professionally for the family style.

Between the two classes, I would choose to take John's class again. John was personable, knowledgeable and you could tell he was there to have a good time. I personally found the pace of the class and the quality of the food (that was prepared in advance) to taste better. The pasta sauce, Marsala sauce, and chicken were all perfectly seasoned and tender. The pace of food preparation by the class to eating time was great. John's sous chef and front of house help were amazing and kept things moving along, which I really appreciated. It was great to have a balance of participating/learning, but also feeling pampered by the chefs. The plating of the food looked as though you were eating in a restaurant which I thought was a really nice touch given the family style. The chefs made fettuccini to die for, and I really enjoyed the demonstration of how to make the Marsala sauce since I didn’t see that the first time around.

Check out this business. This type of class is perfect for a date night or a fun night with friends. I was bummed when my sister got the same class I had already done, but the experience and food was very different between...

So we had the pleasure of taking the Italian Class with Chef G for the best girls night out with my friend this past Friday. SO MUCH FUN!!

When you enter the space there were two classes set up, most of the space for the French class , then the Italian class. There seemed to have been more tickets sold than prepared for so were seamlessly able to move upstairs into the new kitchen which was pretty cool, and spacious!

Basically without giving away the experience while they prepare you get started wine, beer, and like a cheese, cracker, salami situation to snack on. A little limoncello! You then move on making the tiramisu, then fresh mozzarella , then fresh pasta ( ravioli & fettuccine ), and marsala sauce. Then you sit and eat!

But it's absolutely amazing! Chef G is hilarious but like super knowledgeable and informative - made the class interesting cause you learn so much all while having so much fun. He's so awesome! It was honestly a bonus that food was very fun to make and tasted absolutely amazing! I'm so sad I cant remember this assistant Chef's name, it started with a C - but she was absolutely the sweetest, coolest person and was moving the entire class! Shout out to to her :)

Here's my only suggestions: Offer more Limoncello , maybe a limoncello cocktail and also an expresso martini option to the beverages - still simple but that'll really bring it up a notch.

Although switching to upstairs wasn't an inconvenience and I myself participated in each time to make something - I would say to have a cut off on tix sale times, so that way you can truly prepare the space for the most participation in all activities - ( a few more mozz set ups , say like prepare to have 4-6 people person "station").

However will def be back for more classes, anything with Chef G! thanks for a great time -...