Sur La Table — Local services in Jacksonville

My friend and I had a class last night with Chef Dwayne. I’m not sure if something happened prior to him coming to work, but wow was he the most unfriendly chef I’ve had the displeasure to meet. We weren’t met with one smile for the one hour we stayed. His attitude and helpfulness didn’t seem to be approving so after a quick talk to the employees working up front, we left. I don’t need someone to kiss my butt, but is it too much to ask for to be friendly? First off, a lot of the measurements seemed to be off. MOST if not all recipes usually require a 2:1 ratio when cooking rice. They gave us more of a 1:1 ratio… when we( and EVERYONE else) said we needed more, he had the nastiest attitude and made a sound before storming to the fridge AND to the back of the kitchen to grab more stock. Another instance, we were told to mix some things together, and ALL of the groups had a different consistency. How does that make sense? When asked if it was correct, the answer was, “NO”. In fact, anytime my friend or ANYONE asked if this or that looks right, he scoffed and said, you guessed it, “NO” and walked away. Is he Gordon Ramsay? Are we in culinary school in Paris? Or are we all trying to have fun cooking after paying $85- $70 for a class? Didn’t know that price included a confused and rude instructor. To reiterate , the whole class seemed dissatisfied and we all talked amongst each other. If management were to send personalized emails to all attendees of that night, I can assure you everyone was unhappy with his attitude. He was WILDLY unprepared, kept going in the back for x amount of things, all while huffing and puffing. I’m not one to write reviews all that often, but trust and believe I’m more than happy to write this one so people can avoid classes with Chef Dwayne. Maybe if the sous chef was out in the kitchen more, Chef Dwayne would be more prepared, but then again, I highly doubt it. I don’t expect him to memorize every single detail, but the fact that he had to keep going back to the paper to know basic ingredients and directions was puzzling. Us students were teaching EACH other things instead of him teaching us. In response of me having to call them over 4 times for a call back or email, I received a $10 partial refund. Their words,” After reviewing feedback from all other attendees, the responses were overwhelmingly positive, and no similar concerns were raised.” Have they ever thought that maybe people did not want to speak up because of how rude he was? Unless his whole demeanor did a 180, or the staff up front told him how we felt, I’m 100% no one from management actually reached out to the other participants since it took all day long to get a response from anyone. I’m extremely disappointed with how this was handled and had a horrible experience. If I could give negative stars, I would. Thank you for the...

I booked a class for classic patisserie... I am honestly shocked by how bad this experience was overall. I spent $89 dollars and over two hours of my time. THE instructor was very kind and very apologetic for what happened, I do not blame her. However, The chef assigned to this class was clearly not well versed in these recipes and was quite frankly not a baker (I remind you this was PASTRY class). She forgot ingredients, offered no tips or tricks, and gave incorrect instructions (the instructions are all verbal until you get the recipe after class). One example, a Paris Breast is supposed to be shaped like a wreath/donut and have the whole in the center. We were instructed to pipe a filled circle. Unsurprisingly this caused the center to not cook and by the time the center was barely edible, the edges were bone dry. It could not be cut without absolutely crumbling. The photo shows what I walked away with....I am amazed and feel so stupid that I paid money for this, I should have just stayed home.

The worst part is when I submitted a complaint to their customer service team, the lady who called me argued with me! She tried to tell me the teachers are not set for the classes and implied that a baker did not need to teach it. While I am sure she is a great chef, the teacher herself said she is not a big baker. You would hope that this kind of store would understand the differences between cooking and baking. It was not appropriate to throw just any teacher in this position baking PASTRIES (which are notoriously hard)! And maybe even just a teacher who had made these recipes before! The customer service lady even blamed me for not complaining during the class. I am not a fan of confrontation and I did not want to make the chef feel bad. As if my feelings were not valid for being submitted privately and after class? Long story short she argued with me and made it clear that to her it was all about the money and kept insisting she couldn't refund me even though I never asked for that! She offered to extend the sad 10% discount you get when signing up for the class... laughable. As if I would spend my money in that store EVER again! Long story short: don't waste your money, you are better off trying it yourself. And if you want a store that cares about the product, don't go here. They only care...

I recently attended a cooking class at Sur La Table in and unfortunately, I left the experience feeling somewhat dissatisfied. While there were a few enjoyable aspects, the overall experience didn't meet my expectations, especially considering the price.

What I Liked: • One of the highlights was chatting with friends and meeting new people. The class environment was friendly, and it was nice to connect with others who share a love for cooking. • I did learn a useful technique for cutting an onion “without crying” and the best way to dice it.

What I Disliked: • The biggest letdown was the minimal time spent actually handling food. For the two-hour class, I only had brief tasks such as dicing onions and removing the skin from a ginger root and mincing it with a microplane. For the $89 I paid, I expected a more immersive and hands-on experience. Instead, it felt like I paid to watch someone cook my food in front of me. The majority of the food preparation and cooking were done by Chef Cat. • The overall class experience felt very dry, lacking engagement and excitement. There was a significant lack of direction and communication. At times, Chef Cat would forget to provide instruction or explanation to our class. • We were told that we would receive the recipes to recreate the meals and a coupon for in-store shopping via email at the end of the class. However, I never received either of these items and it’s been over a week since the class concluded.

In Summary, Chef Cat often mentioned she was new to the establishment and, while nice and friendly, as our Chef she did not deliver a great instructional experience. The lack of engagement and practical involvement was a major drawback.

The concept is great, but the execution needs significant improvement, especially...