Claremont Chefs Academy

My kids love their Monday night class with Maria :)
It a bit of a drive for me but I’m happy to bring them because they are getting so much out of it. Each class they get their materials to work with, cook, bake or grill something and then they get to eat it. Their favorite thing to make so far is pretzel buns. They’ve made them twice already at home. Honestly, I cannot believe how good they are. My kids even cleaned up the kitchen after themselves — thank you Maria for teaching the kids to be neat and clean after working in the kitchen ;)
The pricing is reasonable and they get an apron, backpack, and binder to keep their recipes in. They also have a different theme for what they cook each month. Great place to bring your budding little chef !

My kids took classes from January-​May 2016. I always stayed to observe each class, so I’ve noticed many things, most parents just drop off. I will give my honest review, based on months of my unbiased observations. The only reason we stayed through May is it was prepaid through our charter school.
My kids, age 8 & 10 were excited for class, eager to learn and try new things and always did the homework. Over the course of 5 months, they helped prep many items that were cooked for them. Unfortunately, they would like a class that is more hands on, rather than being given a piece of onion, meat, veggie, etc to chop up or an item to measure. While the instructors give information on how things are cooked or prepared, the children really only get to cut, measure, add or stir, which may be okay for a little one but for older children or adults, it’s quite disappointing. One reason this may be so, they have not stove tops in their kitchen, only crock pots, electric griddle or oven.
On to the instruction, while Chef Leslie tends to be more upbeat with the younger children, I’ve definitely witnessed her snap at them on more than just a few occasions. On one occasion, «Weren’t you listening when I said to scrape your ice cream scooper on the side of the container to flatten it? We need to have enough for our next class!» We all pay good money for the class and there should be more than enough ingredients with the 12 plus children in each class, or they should be scooping for them if that’s the case. On other occasions, she’s scolded for spilling a small amount of ingredient on the floor (which should be expected with kids). She has directly said, «Chef Leslie doesn’t like to clean the floor!» (Other reviews have noted the cleanliness and there is some validity to their claims). Other times, while explaining an onion’s structure, she related the top to the North Pole and bottom to the South Pole, then asked, «Who lives at the North Pole?» She was upset when one child started in with Santa not being in existence. Poor child was set up! I’ve heard, «This is Hoisin (hoy-​sin) not to be confused with poison.» Me, «It’s actually pronounced hoy-​seen.» She also had rules on how often they were allowed to wash their hands. Sometimes they would be sticky and smelly with garlic but weren’t allowed to wash. Kids were also scolded for speaking to each other when no instruction was going on but the chef had her back turned to the class cooking. The kids were instructed to run their finger down the knife to clean off the stick ingredients. This is not a good practice. These are just a few examples.
I’d like to add, we very rarely miss class, (2 times during the 5 mos. due to school testing). We cleared this in advance with Robert and he stated it would be no problem to take a make up class if we let him know the week of. About 3 months in, a note was stapled to the kid’s papers saying they changed their policy and would no longer offer make ups. I asked since I had cleared these for May when we signed up. Leslie said it wouldn’t be a problem since we cleared it ahead. When it came to the week of, she told us sorry, there’s nothing available.
All in all, my kids who are adventurous eaters of all things, with great palettes, they were very disappointed that the recipes they cooked in class weren’t authentic and didn’t taste like they should (especially the Asian foods), everything lacked flavor. They didn’t learn anything but food prep, stirring, and ingredient rationing, which you don’t need a class for. There is definitely room for improvement; revise your recipes, add flavor, let the kids do more hands on and actual cooking and please, please clean your kitchens. Chef Chris seems really nice and the kids said the food taste improved while he taught. I wish him the best of luck! If you want to learn from a real chef, try Le Gourmet Culinary in Orange.
P. S. If you are trying to instill healthy eating habits, please don’t offer a candy dish for kids who try new things or do their homework. It’s counterproductive!

Today we celebrated my special needs daughter’s 18^th birthday here. And her friends had an absolute ball at this facility. The staff was fantastic and the location is perfect. I highly recommend this store. Special thank you to the staff for putting on a wonderful party for my daughter thank you.

I love this place! Leslie and Rob are professionals that take a lot of pride in their business. I fully support what they do and how they do it!

If you ever had the passion to cook or just wanted to learn the basics, then Chefs academy is the place to fulfill your needs. We have had many great experiences with outstanding services. Our children love engaging in the hands on cooking activities they plan along with a great sense of humor from the chefs. As adults learning to cook, they offer a great variety of classes. If given in advance notice they will accommodate dietary needs. Being gluten free or dairy sensitive they can teach you how to tweak the recipe for your needs. I would highly recommend Chefs Academy for all ages. Money well spent. Can’t wait to go back!

Leslie is the best! Whether it’s a birthday party or a class, she’s always attentive and caring. Don’t miss out on this awesome opportunity! Please go and see for yourself :)

Love the place, love the people, and love the food. What a fun opportunity for young and old alike.

Chef Leslie is quite knowledgeable and this location is in a great spot. They have many different events for both kids and adults. The staff here is very courteous and friendly. I highly recommend this place and will come to another event, well worth the money spent on a great evening!!!

My daughter attended classes here for a year, multiple camps, and friends’ birthdays. I recommend them a lot to other parents.
My daughter would probably *still* want a camp day, if she had time.
Really appreciate their attention to all the kids, safety details, and upbeat demeanor.

We had my daughters 10^th birthday here and I couldn’t have been happier. She loves to cook and bake and being able to do it with friends was a blast. Great chefs lead the way and the owner was so welcoming. We will be back again.

too cute! my daughter was invited to a party here. The two young ladies that directed the class were funny and patient with the 10 year olds (not an easy task) while they made calzones. I will definitely be having a party here.

Have been here twice! Once for a bday party when the kids were little and they had a great time. Kids we now older and had a great time, but walked away feeling like they didn’t learn anything. Also portions are so small, literally ikea plates. So for the price, kids walked away hungry. Staff was very nice and great coffee place next door.

My husband bought us an enchilada cooking class for my birthday, thinking it would be a great date-​night activity… and it would have been! $ 50 for two types of enchiladas is kind of pricey, but it would have been worth it for the experience…
But…
–I called ahead of time to alert them to my lactose intolerance, and no one picked up or returned my call. When I told them right before the class started, they said that’s ok, I can just have the chicken enchilada… they hadn’t anticipated food allergies or planned for any alternatives (lactose intolerance isn’t rare, and it’s not difficult to get a little creative with dairy alternatives)
–everyone contributed to making two large pans of enchiladas… for $ 50, I expected that my husband and I would at least get to make our own small pan. Nope! We were all given small portions of onions, peppers, ect to chop and contribute to the sauce. I got a little skeeved out when I noticed a man across the table from me picking his nose.
–A large portion of the evening was spent mincing cheese, because they didn’t have a cheese grater. This is hardly a unique kitchen skill that I needed to practice, because I have a cheese grater. As does most of America. I think they were killing time, which is fair, but I don’t want to pay to mince cheese.
–at the end, everyone got one cheese enchilada and one chicken enchilada… Except me, because: no dairy. There weren’t any extra chicken enchiladas, so I got ONE chicken enchilada. For $ 50.
The kicker– the enchiladas didn’t even taste good. One of the sauces was incredibly bland and watery, and the other was so bitter it was completely unpalatable.
My husband and I are typically very «glass half-full”/“silver lining» people, but we couldn’t help but laugh at how bad this was. I hate leaving negative reviews, but I hope I can prevent other people from having a similar, pricey, disappointing evening.

It is an awesome I love it! It is so fun! The people are just so kind. The recipes are great. they are for everyone.

This is a great business run by 2 of the coolest people around. Rob and Leslie are the best! I used to work here and swear that it was the best job ever. The kids are always #1 and the recipes are perfectly tailored to the time and skill level of the kids. Fun for kids and adults!

My daughter started in there home school class here last week! What an awesome place! The chefs academy is super clean and the staff is super friendly! There is a place for parents to sit and watch their children. Highly recommend this place!

They are fabulous with kids. Lots of patience and the kids learn a lot and eat all the food they make. Highly recommend them!

My daughter and I took a gingerbread house making class today. Chef Rob was our instructor and he was really sweet. We look forward to taking more classes.

A gaggle of giggling girls, eyes aglow, focused on two good looking guys… this is the scene at Claremont Chef’s Academy.
Actually, these guys took it all in stride. This was obviously not their first girl’s birthday party at the academy.
One little girl, seated near the center, was the birthday girl. Her mom had arranged for a birthday party where the girls would come in and learn to make crepes. Aprons on, the guys (chefs/​instructors) asked the girls to wash their hair. The girls looked puzzled. Then the girls laughed. Hands. They meant hands. Still giggling, they marched single file to the sink.
The rest of the hour moved along with the instructors keeping the girls engaged in the cooking. Each girl had a chance to contribute to the recipe. In the end, they all got to eat what they made. It would have been even more fun if the girls were in smaller groups and got to be even more hands on. However, this was a short session, so perhaps the larger groups were necessary.
For a finale, the chef/​instructors brought around undecorated cupcakes and a few pastry bags of icing. Talk about getting the attention of this group of kiddos!
Mostly, this is a fun place for a party. They also offer kids cooking courses regularly, which must be tons of fun for the kids. There is even a class for adults, though Claremont is too far away for me to think about it.

What a great experience! What’s better then cooking together and not having to clean up!