Sur La Table — Local services in Costa Mesa

Do not attend the cooking classes! I paid $200 for my wife and I to attend a 2 to 3 hour pasta making course. We wanted to understand how to make pasta, roll it out through the machine, cut it, cook it and taste it. On arrival they had changed the chef and we ended up with a rude and arrogant guy instead. As you walked in, there was no welcome only,"wash your hands". Speaking of which their hygiene standards leave a lot to be desired. If a Health Inspector had to make a surprise visit - they would be shut down. I had to ask for the pasta machine to be wiped down as it had the old pasta on the bases of the machine from God knows when. We were given one bowl of ingredients already in a bowl between 4 people!!! Sir La Table are so cheap that they can't even allow one bowl per couple. Why can't there be a bowl per couple and why can't you add your own ingredients into the bowl? We then watched the couple next to us mix the ingredients. I did not pay $200 to watch someone else make pasta - I can do that for free with a YouTube video. Another concern is that their eggs are stored, broken open, in a bowl with Saran Wrap over it. No date was written on it. Additional eggs needed in the mix, were poured from the egg bowl dripping down the side and not wiped up. The eggs were then left on the counter and not put back in the fridge. After each phase someone comes and wipes the counter but then doesn't wash their hands - they just carry on working. Please life your hygiene game. Then to make the sauce - again 1 frying pan between 4 people! We used sausage meat from a sausage? Why don't you teach how to make proper sauce? Do you not know how? This should have been authentic Italian not Costco sausages! Just a cheap ass experience. Then eventually the chef had the pasta was divided into 4 so we each had a ball of pasta, yay! Look how tiny it is - this for $100??? Then another chef and his crew arrived for what I assume was the next cooking class. They had chunks of meat, bought from Costco, which is illegal from a health and safety perspective - not that they care! And from then on it was listening to another grumpy chef and having to walk around his crew, with excuse me all the time - this is not great. We then rolled out and cut the pasta. We had a break came back and our pasta had been added to the couple next to us's pasta and they were cooking it. I wanted to cook and taste my own pasta - not theirs! Then the desert was almost entirely made by the chef - it's a cooking class not a demonstration As a finale we were presented with cold pasta and cold sauce, because gas is expensive so why warm it up, and hurried out of the room. Rushed, impersonal, cheap, unhygienic with zero value for money. We will never attend another class and will discourage everyone we know or meet from doing so. What an epic...

LOOK AT THE REVIEWS. The owner/management only responds to 5 star reviews, has no interest in fixing the real issues.

My girlfriend and I decided to try out this cooking class for a new date night idea as we both enjoy good food. The idea of a cooking class had a lot of potential, however throughout the night there were a few things that were misleading & a bit frustrating. When we arrived early (as instructed) there were no guidance as where to sign in or where to wait. At 7, we were told to grab a name tag and go behind a cutting board. We started the class and realized that it really wasn’t a couples cooking class, more of a group cooking class. We had 1 lemon between 4 people to zest. 3 zucchini between 4 people to slice. 2 shallots between 4 people that we cut in half so we could all do something. The only thing we all got that was our own was a knife. The instructor told us that there was an issue with their delivery (Instacart) and the wrong pasta was delivered. Not a big deal, but not only was the pasta wrong but some of the ingredients were missing and to top it off, the dough he prepared didn’t rise at all. During the actual cooking, he missed multiple directions, someone in the class even asked if what we prepared needed to be added and he said “oh, oh yeah go ahead and add that too”. There were about 12 scallops (3 of them broken) to share between 4 people. The dessert was half asked at best. Instead of injecting the chocolate (Nutella) into the pastry, he just decided to slap it on top. The dinner was at best a 2 out of 5. The kitchen staff was useless… they just did dishes and looked miserable as if they didn’t even want to be there. LOOK the potential is there but whoever runs it, seriously needs to look into how things are being ran there. I’d like to give it another shot but most likely won’t use this...

First of all, this is a toy store for me. I like to play with all of these gadgets they have here. Unfortunately, most items here are a bit overpriced. If you want William Sonoma, you have to go to the other side of the mall.

I came here because they were offering free knive sharpening until April 19. I brought my Santoku (I often confused this word with Santouka , as in the ramen place). Not all knive qualify, it has to be thick enough and long enough. Thank goodness I have a long, dull, and boring knive. Nice lady named Tracey sharpened my knive within 15 minutes (it was a weekday). It was a machine (hey, don't expect those water hand sharpened blocks for free! ) and it was nicely done.

I've not taken the classes here but have taken the classes over at William Sonoma. At WS, they will feed you samples and offer a discount on certain pans / pots that were used during the demo. I need to see if I can do that here.

There's a LOT of product in this store and not a lot of room. So I would recommend strolling slowly or ask an associate here, they are friendly. If you want to buy me something for my birthday, keep this...