Sur La Table — Local services in Niles Township

My friend and I signed up for a Homemade Pasta Workshop at the Old Orchard location on 11/29/23 at 7pm. We chose the class based on the recipes, how anyone chooses a cooking class, and were really looking forward to it. We've taken cooking classes with The Chopping Block and were prepared for a fun and educational evening after work. Unfortunately, the class was a complete mess for the following reasons:

Chef had very poor time management skills. The class was supposed to be until 9pm/9:30pm. Typically, that extra 30 min is for finishing touches and eating your meal. At 9pm, we had not even started cooking. The class lasted until past 10pm. While this may have been fine for a Friday night, we are both nurses and have to be up at 5am for morning shifts. Quite simply, we would have never signed up for a class that ended past 10pm during a weekday.

The recipes we had chosen to learn and eat were not the recipes that were prepped or taught in the class. We signed up to learn how to make Pappardelle with Tuscan Sausage and Caramelized Onion Ragu, Farafalle with Walnut Pesto, Lemon and Goat Cheese and Limoncello Gelato. Sounds delicious right? We thought so too! That's why we signed up for the class. Unfortunately, what was waiting for us were recipes we had not chosen, and quite frankly would not have chosen to make or eat. Instead, we were told we would be making Silky Spaghetti Carbonara and Orecchiette with Sausage and Sweet Peppers. Disappointment again.

Even the substituted recipes were not made correctly. The Orecchiette with Sausage and Sweet Peppers was missing the sweet peppers, we had bell peppers instead. There were no crushed red pepper flakes and no basil leaves. The sherry vinegar was completely forgotten about until a student asked about it AFTER the dish had been completed. Chef was taken by surprise. Onion was prepped and added to the dish for no reason since it wasn't included in the recipe and we were already using shallots. The worst part? The whole thing was practically inedible as the pasta was completely hard and raw once we bit into the "finished" meal. After not eating since lunch and finally getting to eat past 9pm, this was a complete and utter disappointment.

We were barely hands on for the second meal. The class was running very much behind. The chefs took it upon themselves to prep the whole second meal. They very briefly explained what they had done before we were told to cook the second meal aka saute bacon and boil pasta. We saw the chef use jarred chopped garlic which is something no self respecting chef would ever do. We had already prepped fresh garlic and if I wanted to whip together a fast pasta meal with jarred garlic, I would have stayed home in my pajamas and done so.

The dessert was forgotten. When someone mentioned the limoncello gelato, the sous chef was able to quickly make it for us to enjoy after our meal, but we got absolutely zero instruction, explanation and hands on experience. We were really excited to learn how to make gelato, it was one of the reasons we chose this class, it was a huge disappointment.

We left the class stressed and hungry. The exact opposite of what we should have been feeling after a cooking class. Also the exact opposite of how we felt after leaving a Chopping Block cooking class.

I have contacted sur la table customer service and have gotten no response at all. If you want a fun cooking class, pay a bit extra and make the trip into the city for the Chopping Block, it’s worth it and won’t be a...

My husband and I went to a cooking class at the Old Orchard location in Skokie, IL. We were very disappointed by the cooking class. When we arrived we weren’t greeted nicely by the staff leading the class. We also had to wait past 4pm to start our class because the staff wasn’t prepared. When we were inside the cooking space, we noticed several flies that were all over the kitchen. We finally started the class and we only got to sear the meat. That’s it. We didn’t get to cook or do anything else. We didn’t get to prepare the potatoes, Brussel Sprouts or the sticky toffee pudding. We went to a cooking class to learn something and we only got to sear meat?!?! It was ridiculous. On top of that, there was a staff member that was preparing food without her hair pulled back, and she continued to play with it during the whole class. She also continually touched her face and was picking her nails during the time she was assisting with cooking the things that we should’ve been allowed to cook. I will never go to another class at this location. It was not a good experience. This was not worth the money that we payed...

My husband took four knives to be sharpened while we window shopped at the mall, enjoying the nice weather with the kids. When we got home, I looked at the knives and there were large chunks of steel missing near all four blade shanks. There were also nicks along the blade. These guys absolutely ruined our knives. When my husband brought this up to the associate, she denied any wrong doing and even tried to say that the knives were in that condition when they were brought in. Complete BS.

My husband called to speak with the manager the next morning and they were defensive and demanded that we bring the knives back in person. We showed went back that evening and the general manager, Will, kept saying that it was his first day and dissolved himself if any issues or ownership. We ended up getting a refund of $5/knife for the sharpening cost, and we're still left with ruined knives. This is by far the worst customer service we've ever dealt with, and we will never shop at Sur La Table again.

Buyer beware, just because they offer knife sharpening doesn't mean they are trained to do it, nor will they...