Taste Buds Kitchen NYC

I’ve booked many off site team building activities over the years, and I have to say this was one of the easiest to book and most well received.
The best parts about the experience:
— A ton of different classes to choose from. We went with the taste of Italy which included risotto, eggplant parm, and cannolis, but there were so many other amazing sounding options, including pasta making, sushi, and cupcake classes!
— It’s BYOB! And not only that, they let you order bottles directly to their location so you don’t have to lug them all around town. They’ll even chill them for you!
— The price is definitely right! I looked into a lot of different cooking classes and this was by far the most affordable for a two hour class.
— The instructors were patient, funny, and friendly. They were attentive but also cool with the group chatting and bonding amongst ourselves. The whole point of the event was to bond with the group, after all, so it was nice to have a balance of learning but also just hangtime.
— The kitchen is immaculate, spacious, and super professional looking. I’ve been to cooking classes that are essentially in someone’s home, which can be cozy and fun, but I liked the room to spread out here at Taste Buds.
— The risotto and eggplant parm were amazing. The cannoli left a little to be desired, but I think that’s because they focused on using quick and easy recipes that we could do at home, so they cut some corners. Overall though, we loved the food!

I booked a group taste of Italy class for my girlfriends birthday. We had an incredible time and will hopefully come back again soon. The meals we made were delicious, the instructors were nice and I loved that it was BYOB. Great job!

Did a bachelorette party cooking class at Taste Buds and had a wonderful time. The price for a three course guided Italian meal was very reasonable and the night was planned out perfectly by Taste Buds for our party and bride. Chef Nicole and team were very accommodating and pleasant to work with, and the atmosphere was great too. We had fun listening to some tunes while we cooked and drank our BYOB wine. It was also great that the chef went step-​by-​step with each ingredient, yet we were also able to not take ourselves too seriously. Plus, we got to take the recipes home! I would definitely recommend Taste Buds for similar events and/​or just for their regular cooking classes. I’ve seen they also have pizza making classes, sushi classes, and other events for both kids and adults, and I would definitely try another class or event here.

Last night I attended a make your own pasta class and had a great time. The teacher was really friendly and helpful, the recipes were delicious, and it was an overall good experience for friends or a date night. My only reason for giving it 4 instead of 5 stars is that since I was with only 1 other, we shared a table with 2 strangers. They were really nice and fun, but next time I will do a class with 3 others so we can have our own table for just our group.

We had a great time at the NY Pizza BYOB class. Our group was 8 people, so we split up into two tables. Chef Nicole was excellent. My sister and I were very impressed with well how she handled teaching chatty adults. As teachers of kids, we have no patience for that!!! All three pizzas that we made came out delicious, and we had a great time. The two hours flew by! The only thing that I wish was better was the sheet we were given as we were leaving with instructions for how to re-​create what we had made in class. The directions were confusing, and basic parts of the recipe were missing (aka oven temp.)

Really fun class and very nice instructors. Kept everything clean and very fun that it is BYOB!

I took the pizza making class with Melinda and my friends and I had an amazing time! The recipes were fast, easy, and delicious. I will 100% make pizza in my apartment after the clear instructions we got during class. Thanks to Melinda to making it enjoyable for everyone!

Perfect date night! Did the steak night class.
The staff was super friendly and helpful. The atmosphere was inviting and fun. Would do again with more friends next time!

I had such an amazing time learning how to make sushi while enjoy some wine! It was the first time my wife and I tried a cooking class and we loved it! The staff was friendly and helpful. We finished our wine 20 minutes into the class and one of the staff members informed me of the liquor store on the corner!!!

Tastes buds kitchen is something everyone should experience. It was fun the staff was wonderful our instructor was hilarious I would definitely do this again

I was worried that the class was going to be too slow and instructional for someone like myself who cooks the occasional scrambled egg breakfast and chicken stirfry dinner but I was pleasantly wrong. I booked the class for my girlfriend and I as a gift for her and it quickly became apparent that it was going to be a fun night for both of us.
We really liked that we got paired up with another couple at a table and that made the experience even more fun as we teamed together to make our dinner.
The lead chef instructor was super friendly and did a great job of keeping the instructional demos down to a minute or two and not boring the crowd with the minute details. They made it so easy to follow directions and measured everything out so that we didn’t have to do that part of the recipe. I don’t want to say it was idiot proof but it would have been very difficult to screw up badly! This was important because it let us focus on having fun and not worrying about the tedium of cooking.
The BYOB was a great addition as the night got more and more fun and relaxing as we downed our two bottles of red wine. Most important of all, the food was great! We had spanish meatballs, butternut squash empanadas and potatas bravas.

My 12 year old son attended the urban foodies class on Election Day. He had an amazing time. He really liked the instructor Allie, who took the group of 6 to artichoke pizza, Fairway and then back to the kitchen to make pizza in teams. It is hard to find activities for tweens and this was perfect. He will go back!

I took an amazing class here recently! Best date spot, highly recommend it. Nicole was so helpful and sweet, plus I actually learned a lot!

Taste Buds Kitchen is great for group activities and corporate events. Bring plenty of wine and beer, and it’ll be a ball in no time. However, we did feel that there was limited cooking involved. more so just assembling pre-​prepared foods. The tapas class, while an interesting option, created mediocre meatballs and squash empanadas, and tomatoey potatoes. Most of the group left hungry. The host and assistant hosts were incredibly nice and seemed genuinely excited to be part of the establishment. Very much enjoyed learning from them.

My sister and I did another class here, this time the Let’s Brunch one. It was another great experience! The instructor was so nice and personable. We made really delicious dishes, including bacon, eggs florentine, and french toast sticks. Truth be told, I’ve never been a fan of any of those foods but the way we made it in this class, I was loving all of it. And I know how to poach an egg now! They make the atmosphere so fun too; they provided pitchers of OJ and encouraged everyone to bring champagne. There was some fun music playing the whole class. Everyone was drinking and having a great time. I can’t wait to do another class with Taste Buds.

Lapin and I came here for the BYOB pasta making class. We were the first to arrive and the employees were generous enough to let us sit in the back while the tidy and prep the room for the class to begin. We made marinara sauce, 2 types of raviolis (sweet potato and ricotta with spinach, if I am not mistaken) and fettuccine. They also had olive oil and a bit of pita chips to snack on when the class started. They also ask you to wash your hands before the class starts and they do keep bottles of hand sanitizer around which is cool.
At first, we thought we would have our own table and be able to make our own meal. But, you share the table, food and equipment with another couple or if you are really unlucky with 2 other couples. It could be a fun way to bond with other people, but sometimes, you just want to be silly with your partner. Overall, we did have fun and the cooking class was a bit more hands on than others, (they prep most of the ingredients — but you actually do get to run the pasta through a KitchenAid Mixer and create the pasta sauce from scratch) but we might look into taking other classes elsewhere to mix it up a bit.

I planned a bachelorette party dinner here, and it was perfect from beginning to end. The menus are great, prices are reasonable, and unlike many private cooking schools in the city, it’s BYOB. It’s also just a quick cab ride to the clubs (yikes), so a really fun and unique way to get the night started!
The space is gorgeous — high ceilings with nice, bright colors and, of course, quality kitchen supplies. They had set up the room with a nice sign for our bachelorette, a table, glasses, and openers for the not insubstantial amount of wine we brought, and great music playing in the background.
Everyone at Taste Buds was incredibly nice and helpful, and Ally was a fantastic instructor. All the ingredients are pre-​measured (helpful — remember, it’s BYOB), but the cooking process is hands-​on all the way through. Our large group was divided into three separate tables, each with its own cutlery and cooktop, so everyone got to help out with every stage of the process. We picked the Italian class — eggplant parmesan, mushroom risotto with peas and truffle oil, and cannoli — and the meal came out really, really great. One small critique — being primarily a kids’ place, all the chairs are tiny, so we had to eat standing up. After cooking in heels for an hour, a few folding stools would go a long way!
Everyone had a great time, a great dinner, and picked up some cooking skills along the way. Success!

I took my 5 year old for his first Easter cupcake making class last Saturday that was taught by Leah and Natalie, two very cheerful and welcoming instructors. The instructors kept the kids engaged and focused on the tasks. My son had a great time mixing the dry and wet ingredients and then pouring the batter into the cupcake pans. I think it was a great idea to incorporate some additional learning when the instructors asked the kids to smell the vanilla extract before pouring it into the batter. The kids was asked what they thought it smell like. When the cupcakes were ready, the instructors coached the kids on how to decorate them step by step (icing, then jelly bean eyes, whiskers, marshmallow ears, pink sugar and then using the icing pen).
We will definitely be back for other toddler cooking classes. Heck, I might even sign up for one of the adult classes!

I came here for a Steakhouse class and it was extremely fun and educational. The instructor, Cait, was smart, attentive, and helpful. I’ll be honest, I’m usually the ‘toss it in the microwave’ kind of guy, so I’m glad we were taught some basic knife skills and chopping techniques (along with some fancy French words like «mise en place»).
As for the food, we made a savory wedge salad, mashed potatoes infused with truffle oil, and a delightful steak topped with a delicious red wine reduction. This was surely an upgrade from the bland microwaveable chicken nuggets in my daily diet. By the end of the night, I was absolutely stuffed and a little bit tipsy (it’s BYOB!).
I would highly recommend Taste Buds Kitchen for a group of friends looking to have some fun together or even a couple looking to enjoy the night together. I’ve done two classes at Sur La Table in midtown NYC before and this was a thousand times better. I’ll definitely be coming again.

We just had our younger daughter’s 10^th birthday party with Taste Buds and it was fabulous! Our daughter and her 4^th grade friends thoroughly enjoyed making pasta, canolis, and, garlic bread. The fact that they actually enjoyed eating their own cooking was great!
The kitchen staff was great. The kids were separated into two tables of five each with their own instructor to guide them through the preparation process. Their instructors were friendly and got the kids totally into the fun. This was the second children’s birthday party we hosted with Taste Buds and we would not hesitate to recommend them to friends and family.