Sur La Table

Took a sushi making class here and it was surprisingly fun and fairly informative and well taught. I wanna try some other classes, like the french macaron class. They are pretty pricey but sometimes they have sales.
They have a large selection of kitchen supplies. They have a ton of different spatulas, whisks, cookie cutters, etc. Its fairly expensive but comparable to other high end kitchen stores but they seem to have a larger selection of stuff then other places.

This review is only for the cooking classes, not the store more generally (which is actually a delight).
I took the Thai cooking class at Sur La Table this week, which advertised instruction for pad thai, chicken curry, pork larb, and mango rice pudding. Overall, the class was underwhelming, rather boring, and not terribly informative. ‘Cooking’ is a generous description for what actually happened. The class was about 11 people with 3 prep stations and 2 stove burners, which was too crowded to get any hands on experience. As a result, most of the class consisted of standing and watching other group members simmer pre-​chopped and pre-​measured ingredients in a pot. While we ate portions from all 4 meals, as individuals we only prepared about ¹⁄₃ of the final product. It would have been more interesting and way more informative to spend the money on ingredients and bumble my way through this at home. I have taken a Thai cooking class in the past, and this was pretty bad in comparison.
While the class overall took about 2.5 hours, a large majority was spent focused on shopping-​related information. There was a sizable break in the middle for shopping and the teacher spent much of the class talking about products (i.e. knives, mortar & pestles), rather than talking about the actual process of cooking. The instructions that were given were vague and complicated to understand.
Overall, not a huge fan of a class with this breadth and size. Before booking check and see what the total class enrollment is. Similarly, I think a class with fewer foods being prepared may be more worthwhile.

I’m a big fan of Sur La Table and have been eagerly awaiting their Madison opening! This is a great little kitchen shop, with a range of products from very affordable to more high end. Their cookware line is fantastic — I have an 8″ non-​stick sauté pan which cooks up perfect eggs with no oil or fat needed and washes up clean.
They frequently have sales, so if there’s a big ticket item you want — watch for specials!