urbanCHEF — Local services in Houston

Chose the 3-hour lobster ravioli class and turned out to be a great choice. Overall, it was a nice experience.

We arrived early and didn't get started till maybe 10 minutes past the start time. You can purchase alcoholic beverages and eat cheese and crackers (free) while you wait. The goat cheese was really good.

We got to make a 3 course meal from scratch: salad with a homemade vinagriette, gougeres, creme brulee, and lobster ravioli with a saffron cream sauce. I expected to be given a recipe to follow but instead, you'll be given instructions including measurements by the chef instructor.

What tasted the best was the creme brulee. The lobster ravioli with the creamy sauce was the next best thing and tasted very good but I think we overcooked the pasta. The pasta seemed harder than it should be. The salad with the vinagriette was tasty. I did not enjoy the gougeres at all.

The ravioli was the hardest to make. Not sure I would want to make it from scratch myself after our experience. The key is to stretch out the dough as thin as you can and don't overfill it.

Pros: They offer free coffee (regular & decaf) for you when it's time to eat Clean kitchen The chef instructor was helpful, easygoing, and checked on everyone's progress Love the fragrance of the hand soap they provide

Drawbacks: No BYOB Because it was a full class, you had to share the stovetops, 1 sink for dishes, boiling the ravioli, and some cooking utensils. This definitely could slow you down by a few minutes. The kitchen isn't as spacious. Only matters if you have a full class. We didn't get to finish off the creme brulee. Aka flame torch the sugar on top. The chefs do that for you. If we got to do this, I think the class might need to be 3.5 hours.

I would definitely sign up for another cooking class...

Fantastic experience! I am referring to their new location at Richmond and Wesleyan, next to Costco. Beautiful kitchens, accommodating dining space, skilled/educated/helpful staff.

I've gotten to bake pizza and cookies with my children and their friends for a birthday party. Will never forget the looks of pleasure and pride they all had.

And I got to compete in a top-chef/iron-chef style competition for a friend's surprise birthday party. There was plenty of room for all 20 of us, using both kitchens, to create our dishes without bumping into anyone. Chef Sarah and Chef John were very helpful without butting in (or making fun of us amateurs). We would have been lost in the kitchen without them. I still can't believe how delicious our dishes were after all the chaos of the competition and limited amount of time. Good quality ingredients and a wide array of peripheral items (we were not solely limited to our secret ingredients of kale, citrus fruit, rice, and pork chops) made it possible. One hour thirty minutes simply flew by, and yet the meal (appetizer, cocktail, two sides, entree, dessert) could have been something that I would have paid quite a bit for at a nice place like Hugo's or Mockingbird Bistro.

This venue is perfect for big group events like we had, or a kid's birthday party, or team building types of things. I look forward to going back perhaps just on my own for a "knife skills" lesson or with a few friends for a specific class.

In short, a brilliant idea, a pleasant place to be for a few hours, a great learning experience, and a delicious meal. I highly...

We just hosted my daughter’s 13th birthday party at UrbanChef and it was So. Much. Fun. The kitchen is really professional looking and it felt like we were on a baking show. We did the cake building / decorating competition and our chef Sabra (host) was so great. She kept the girls on schedule without being pushy and kept the atmosphere fun and not stressful. All of the supplies were thoughtfully laid out and ready to go so the girls could just decorate to their hearts content! The chef-made lunch was delicious (they chose pizza (homemade dough!) and the cakes (again homemade) were so good I took the leftovers home and had for breakfast the next day :) This party was so easy to organize (literally choose your menu and just show up!) and one of our guests said it was the best bday party she had ever been too. Huge success and 100% would book it again! Thank you UrbanChef for the wonderful memories and making our birthday girls’...