Sur La Table — Local services in Viera

I recently attended a cooking class at Sur La Table, and while it had potential, the experience fell short of expectations, especially given the $100/person price tag. For that cost, I assumed each couple would have their own station to maximize the learning experience, but instead, we were grouped with strangers, sharing one station among four people. This setup made it difficult to fully engage or learn as we constantly rotated tasks, leaving little time for hands-on instruction.

The instructor lacked their own demo station, which could have been helpful for teaching techniques. A lively and knowledgeable chef with clear guidance would have greatly improved the experience.

On the positive side, you can bring wine, which I highly recommend—it helps ease the awkwardness of sharing an entire meal with strangers and figuring out roles in the kitchen. The meal we prepared was good, but not amazing, and certainly not worth $200 for a couple. At most, this experience feels like it should cost $60 per person.

This could easily become a 5-star experience if Sur La Table implemented a few key changes:

Provide each couple with their own station for a more intimate and hands-on experience. Ensure the instructor is engaging, gregarious, and equipped with a dedicated demo station to showcase techniques and offer valuable cooking tips. Foster a more welcoming environment that feels less transactional and more educational. Thankfully, we had a good group, which salvaged some of the experience. However, as it stands, I can't recommend this for the current price. I hope Sur La Table takes this feedback into account and makes changes to create a more enjoyable and worthwhile experience...

Never again! I booked a Valentines Day “”Steak and Wine Date night” to share with my wife. I was excited for the experience. I expected at the price ($200 per couple) it would be exceptional, but I was so wrong. The cooking area is set up in four sections for cooking, so you would expect four couples. Wrong … they stuck two couples at each station, so we were not cooking together. Rather we shared the cooking with a another couple (we did not know) on our “romantic” Valentines Day date. We were literally packed in like sardines. The chef was a replacement for the scheduled chef and although at times he acted a bit like Gordon Ramsey (yelling at us to shut up), it appeared as if he had never cooked this meal before. He spent much time constantly reviewing the recipe. The “steak” was a fatty, extremely thin cut of meat, hardly not what one would expect for a $100 meal. If you wanted a glass of wine, you better have brung your own. I believe it was advertised as a three course meal. Apparently the chef missed that part of the menu. The chef gave a 10 minute break to go shopping while our food got cold on the counter. Finally, we got to stand while we wolfed down our cold meal. It reminded me of my single days eating over the kitchen sink. On the website they claim they have 24 five star reviews. I cannot honestly believe anyone who was not drunk from drinking their own wine would have found this meal to be wonderful. My advice is to take your date to Outback, splurge on your meal as you relax at your table. You will have a great night plus a $100 in your pocket. You won’t spend the ride home complaining about the meal and you won’t feel ripped off. Learn...

I bought my spouse an in-store creative croissant class for Christmas. The students aren't taught steps in order, how to laminate the dough, which is the main part of croissant making. The dough was already made prior to the "class". The butter and dough were too warm for properly rolling out and making croissants. At the very end of the "class" the students quickly make more dough for the next group of people in the next class. When my spouse got home and I asked how it was, I got a thumbs down, and that it wasn't a full class of how to make croissants from start to finish.

From the SLT website, this is the class description:

"What you will learn - Cooking Class Description: Croissants get a tasty upgrade in this baking class! Learn all the traditional techniques of creating flaky croissants—mixing and laminating dough, shaping, proofing and baking—as well as two new flavors! You’ll make Chocolate Hazelnut Cream and Cheddar Croissants with Everything Bagel Seasoning for some fresh-from-the-oven flaky goodness."

To say my spouse was very disappointed would be putting it mildly. Even if you aren't an experienced cook, what they teach is not how to make croissants, because the first steps should be how to make the dough, proof it, and learning about the gluten structure and what to look for in your dough to make sure it's right.

I was misled in the class description and feel embarrassed about a crappy gift.

For Sur La Table to be marketing themselves as such an upscale, classy establishment and then offer a subpar, misleading experience is...