Sur La Table — Local services in Troy

Cooking classes are not worth the cost of admission. My wife and I decided to try the "Date Night Grilled Flank Steak" class with a gift cards we received (THANK GOD we had gift cards). They over book the classes so my wife and I were paired up with another couple who took over half of the cooking duties and would also touch everything we would be eating (not to say they were unsanitary). Due to this, it felt as if we just stood at our station for roughly 40 minutes doing nothing, before we ate a somewhat decent sized portion of the food we created, yet once again, we shared it with our partners since we created it with our partners. This is a roughly $80 class and it was over the weekend. Don't expect a glass of wine or even a drink or water to be offered to you and do not go with a couple of drinks in you, you will fall asleep! If I were to grade the "Chef", a D would be kind. She did not keep the class interesting, she would talk to one side of the class so the other side could not hear anything (although it could be that the class was too loud due to how large the classes are). Your stations are on a U style table and the Chef will perform what you need to do in the very middle of the U so those of us on the side of the table can't see the presentation. I think I learned one thing that I did not already know and I learned it from our partners since my wife and I could not see the demonstration. The food was subpar at best and not as good as something I could make at home, alone. I am no "Chef" but I can at least follow a recipe online that will provide better tasting food, where we can have a glass of wine and will allow my wife and I to have a date night together without being forced to share it with a couple we don't know. If you are reading this, or any of the other 1-2 star reviews, you should go to any other location for cooking classes. Expect to be waiting to go home from the second you step in the class, if you go to a class with Sur La Table. I don't typically write essays about companies but this was a particularly...

This place is such a joke, in particular the Somerset location. They charge $70+ for a class and usually rush you, portion everything like it's coming out of their paychecks and are rude. The chefs act like they are Wolf Gang Puck or something. I have been to several classes here and they are just organized so poorly for the price you pay, (ie a group reservation for 4 people are split in to two tables on opposite sides of the room with strangers instead of sitting together). They make you mix things with strangers (like a sushi class where a table of 4 strangers soaks their hands in the same bowl?! Disgusting!). Their main concern is pushing the sale of their tools in the store. Today was an exceptionally unpleasant experience since we didn't even get to take the class! My husband got us this class for christmas for us to make croissants before our trip to Europe. Our kids are older but not 18 and they manager/chef Shelley wouldn't let us take the class saying that "the other people in the class would be upset that there were children there". Well you know what? my kids have taken your "kids classes" and they are horrible! They basically are $100 and let the kids put sprinkles on a frosted cake. Not to mention they only have kids classes during spring break or summer time. My kids are very mature and would not have caused any problems. They have taken several advanced cooking classes with adults prior to this Sur La Table class. I guess you guys must be doing pretty well since you don't want our $280!

Not that I thought your classes were very great before but now I definitely will not be returning there again! Also thinking about canceling the group class we have scheduled for our company there.

Do yourself a favor and look into other local classes that are less expensive, more inclusive, cleanly, and the instructors...

My wife and I thought it would be a nice date idea to attend a cooking class at Sur La Table. The excitement and experienced was immediately dampened when they paired us with two strangers to share the food preparation and cooking with. The two ladies touted to be regulars and were very pushy. I explained to them I didn’t want red pepper flakes in my meal, and she said “how about a little” and sprinkled them in anyways. Another time, the lady wasn’t satisfied with how much lemon juice I squeezed out of the lemon press so she reached in front me, grabbed the press, and scraped the pulp out of the back of it with her finger nails and threw it in our dressing prep. 🤢 As if I wasn’t feeling very anxious already, I lost it when one of them coughed into her closed fist during the food preparation. I immediately confronted her about it just for her to look me in my face and deny it. After that, I lost my interest in the experience and appetite, and didn’t even want to eat any part of meal that we were preparing. The experience was ruined.

Taking an objective view outside of our date intruders, I feel the experience could have potential. I felt a little rushed at times, but I get it as we were preparing an entire meal and dessert within a two/two and a half hour time frame. On a positive side, our chef, Victor, was great! He attempted to address our concerns during the break by secretly remaking the vinaigrette. The attached store does have many nice cooking supplies and gadgets at reasonable prices. If you do decide to book, make sure you have enough in your party to have your own group or request being your own...