San Francisco Cooking School

Amazing farmers market experience. How fortunate we were to be able to create a wonderful «farm to table» lunch straight from the farmers market at the ferry building. An incredible culinary adventure. The enthusiasm of chef Nicole elevated our desire to learn and experience new ingredients straight from the market. We learned about the different farms and their true love for our delicious sustainable ingredients. Thank you SFCS for this special treat!!!

I did a lot of research on cooking schools in San Francisco and I decided on SFCS because of the facility, location, and great reviews. Unilocalers were spot on in their reviews. We took the Ottolenghi «Cook the Book» class, which is a great way to learn how to cook out of certain cook books that you own or would like to own, or just to learn from. We had a big class that was divided into two with about 14 per teacher + 3 – 4 assistants, who were cooking school grads or students. Our lead teacher (Nicole) was fantastic, giving us background on the author’s cooking philosophy and style, being hands on and hands off at the same time. The assistants were knowledgeable and helpful. The equipment and ingredients were top notch. The food turned out beautiful and delicious. We all got to sit down and devour all the food we had just made. We are already planning a return for another class and have told all our friends about our great experience.

While the classes are a bit pricey, they are truly excellent. I have taken several wine education classes here (Wines of Spain and Bubbles), and the Morrocan Tagine cooking class. The instructors have been professional and knowledgable, and I’ve learned a lot, while having fun! My favorite part of the cooking classes is getting to eat what you’ve made — with a complimentary glass of wine, of course. Bring some tupperware if you want to take leftovers home!

To date I have taken 3 classes with SF Cooking School and each class was a great experience! We started our courses with them by taking knife skills, we then jumped into sauce making, and then we did steamed buns. The instructors did a great job of not only working with us to follow through the recipes, but to also assist us in understanding what we were doing and why we were doing it. They were all extremely friendly and wanted to answer any questions we had along with suggesting other ways to go about the recipes we covered in the classes. It has been months since my first class and I still remember and use the skills I learned. They also provide you with all the recipes to take home.
I am nothing more than a home cook, but the courses seem to be setup to teach to people of all cooking levels (in all of my classes there were people that were well above and below my skill level). The courses are a bit pricey, but they are definitely worth the price. Keep in mind you are not only learning how to cook, but you are eating everything you and your class learn to make, there is beer and wine available throughout almost all of each class, and it has been a great way to meet other people. In addition, we took food home upon the conclusion of each class.
The classes seem to fill up rather fast, so be sure to sign up as early as possible. I can’t wait to take my pizza making class later this month!

Just finished Cooking Fundamentals, Part II for 5 days this week. The 2 courses have taught me so much, sauces, vinagrettes, stocks, boning, trimming and preparing fish and meat. Made my first soufflé (Part I), learned to appreciate pan searing over using the grill, and most of all the importance of «mise en place». David and Jodi, you are awesome!

I love to cook and entertain and thought it would be fun to take some classes, learn some new skills and meet new people. The Fundamentals Series is a great place to start, as you learn the basics, from knife skills to stocks and soups to eggs, etc.
David was an exceptional instructor and very well organized, given there were 16 people in the class all tasked with preparing different dishes or various parts of the dishes for each class. It was amazing that each class seamlessly ended with a meal we all prepared accompanied with great conversation and wine to share.
The money you spend is well worth the knowledge you gain and fun you have during the 6 week series. In fact, I signed up for Fundamentals II because of my experience. Bring on the butchery!

I took a knife skills class. I brought my teenage niece. I’ve taken two other knife skills classes elsewhere.
This was the most professional, with the fanciest space, and most detailed lecture, from the most experienced teacher. In sum, at least for knife skills, the knife shops that do it are good but this place is a level above. I have not taken a cooking class there, but the space is on par with the establishments that do corporate clients and have a big business, versus caterers doing it on the side.
The only downside, I suppose, is there is as much individual attention as you would expect in a class with twenty people. That is, there is only a little bit of personalized feedback.
Definitely worthwhile.

My daughter is going to be a senior in High School. She loves cooking. We went to the open house they held and were very impressed. The people that own/​run the school are wonderful. The location and facility are beautiful. You can see they put their heart and soul into it. I was a bit sad they can not have High School students in the program. Love the place. Seriously considering it for after High School. Awesome!

Super amazing! We just did their knife skills class and even though I am relatively good in slicing and dicing we had ton of fun! Will definitely be back, awesome for date nights;)

I bought a one-​pot cooking workshop as a gift from my boyfriend. He reported that the teacher was extremely nice, but that the class was a bit disorganized and the recipes produced decidedly mixed results. I did really love the shortbread he brought home.

We took the Knife Skills class here with David this past weekend and it was fantastic! It was exactly what we wanted it to be — basics from the beginning (who knew I’d been holding a knife wrong all these years?) with lots of practice on different vegetables (onions, leeks, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, zucchini). David came around and observed everyone and gave feedback if you were doing things incorrectly, or if there was a way to be more efficient or more comfortable when slicing, dicing, and chopping.
At the end of class David demonstrated how to cut apples and oranges, and took questions on how to cut various other fruits and veggies. He also talked about basic knife care, gave tips on keeping knives sharp, and showed us his collection of cooking knives and explained what each one was used for. We walked away feeling like we’d learned a lot.
Since there were two of us we had a HUGE amount of veggies we brought home. They send you home with a recipe to make Minestrone soup and fresh pesto. I was worried the soup was going to be sort of bland when I tasted it during cooking, but when you add the pesto it is quite delicious. It’s a lot of soup for two people, so I froze ²⁄₃ of it and we’re eating the rest for dinner several nights this week (and I’m taking it to work for lunch). Tip for the pesto — buy more ingredients than the recipe calls for. I bought just enough basil and we finished off all the pesto the first dinner. I need to go back to the store today to pick-​up more basil.
Location is good. We had no trouble finding parking on a Sunday morning, and noticed plenty of street parking when we left at 1pm. It’s close to BART and several parking garages, so I imagine most times parking wouldn’t be too much of a problem.
Would definitely take another class from The San Francisco Cooking School and would recommend to others.

I just took the Vegetarian cooking class. The instructor was really great and I learned a bunch of tips. One of the recipes will probably become one of my go-​tos.
Only issue I had was that there were 16 of us in the smaller back kitchen and that wasn’t really enough space to get around and cook… definitely too many cooks in the kitchen! Would’ve been better with a class half that size. The front part of the space is a lot nicer with a ton of space. Would rather know which space the class is in so I can choose more wisely next time.

I recently took the Pastry Fundamental series. The first week was puff pastry, the second week pies and tarts and the final week cakes and cupcakes. My only complaint is that this class didn’t last longer!
The class is designed for all skill levels of baking. I bake at home very frequently, but was able to take away lots of little tips that are going to help me so much. It was also the first time I had the chance to work with such a large variety of equipment and in a professional kitchen. Our instructor Kim was simply the best… I am going to go buy all of her cook books! She gave demos before each thing we made and was very attentive along the way. Overall, I had a fantastic time and will definitely be back to take more classes!

I recently took the Fish & Shellfish Fundamentals class at SF Cooking School. The class was fun, I learned a lot from the awesome instructor, David, and it was super fun! I am now comfortable preparing fish I never imagined even attempting, like squid, whole fish and my favorite, smoked fish.
I will definitely take other classes here! I recommend you do the same…

Had a blast! Took the pizza making class with Kirsten and was enthralled with her knowledge and energy. By the end there was a lot of food and wine and we even had some recipes to take with us. The price seems high, and it kind of is, but when you consider the price of paying the instructors, paying the TA’s, paying the dishwashers, paying for all the ingredients and wine and rent and marketing… you get the point. If i was to make one suggestion it would be that they offer a wider variety of topping choices to choose from to create a greater combination of flavors on the pizzas. Overall, excellent class, literally cannot wait to take another one (I stare at the different classes everyday on the website trying to figure out which one i want to take.)
Thanks again!

Had a great time with David and Diane! Today’s cooking lesson was based on Moroccan style dishes. Food was amazing once cooked! But I have to say David and Diane made the experience worth wild with their knowledge and patience. I would definitely take another class and recommend people to try a cooking courses here!

I took the knife skills class here and just loved it! The instructor, David, was very patient and explained/​demonstrated every technique for us. They sent us home with a recipe for minestrone soup and all of the veggies we chopped. I didn’t have to prep anything at home for a week!
Parking is easy to find and make sure you wear very comfy shoes because you will be on your feet for a few hours.

I took a Pasta Making class at SF Cooking School in May, and can’t rave enough about the facility, the instructor, and the format.
This class was HANDS DOWN the best cooking class I have ever taken. The experience was so hands-​on, the instructor so knowledgeable (and fun to cook with), and I got exposure to a lot of dishes that I’m confident I’ll try again.
We learned to make two kinds of pasta dough: an egg-​based dough, and a semolina dough. As we each worked up our own doughs, we got to watch and touch a range of other doughs as well to understand the consistency we were striving for.
With these doughs we made several kinds of pasta. We rolled out dough with a pasta machine to later create tagliatelle, hand-​cut pappardelle, and tortelloni. We hand-​rolled out the semolina to create orecchiette.
And together we worked on several sauces that showcased these fresh doughs. It was a bonus that I learned to make several of my favorite dishes! (Linguini alle vongole, spaghetti alla carbonara, and tagliatelle in a mushroom-​cream sauce, among others).
The format was extremely interactive and we each got to personally work on several types of pasta and several sauces. The instructor, Kirsten, was structured and knowledgeable and extremely responsive to questions — in addition to covering the class agenda she also provided great advice on topics from proper technique, to fixing mistakes in the kitchen, to where to shop locally for specific items. On top of all this — she made the experience super fun.
I can’t wait to take another class (or classes) at SF Cooking School. I’m a better home cook because of this class, and also a happier and more knowledgeable eater! :-)

This review is for The Perfect Steak class that my boyfriend and I just recently took at the SF Cooking School under the instruction of the lovely Maria and David.
This visit was a gift from my little sister, and we decided to use the gift towards the steak class so that we could better prepare for when we had company and wanted to prepare some delicious steak. We really just wanted to learn anything and everything we could in this class to incorporate into our cooking back at home.
We had class on a Friday evening from 6−10pm. Driving in was a breeze, and we parked in a nearby garage for $ 20 for the evening (it was valet). We walked across the street and there it was– SF Cooking School! You can’t miss it as it has those pretty orange awnings.
David was standing in the kitchen and he gave us a warm greeting. He showed us where to hang our jackets and put my purse. As we settled in, we looked around the kitchen and saw LOTS of Le Creuset products… obsessed! There were several stations set up around the kitchen, and fresh ingredients laid out on the table. There was a huge platter of different cuts of meat that were «taking a nap» before we prepared them.
There were some tables set for dinner, and everybody trickled in and took a seat at whichever spot they chose. At our seats were printed menus and lot’s of helpful information that pertained to the class that evening (information about cows, cuts of meat, sanitation, preparation, etc.) We filled out name tags for ourselves, and put our SF Cooking School aprons on (sadly you won’t get to take these beauties home).
Class began and David was excited and very engaging as he explained our agenda for the evening. He was such a lovely teacher and his patience and professionalism were consistent throughout the evening. Maria was his assistant and also a current student at SF Cooking School. She, too, was super helpful and a joy to be around. The two of them together allowed for a night full of fantastic learning experiences and hands-​on training that taught us all a little something new.
We were divided into groups and everybody was assigned different recipes. Everybody got to it and helped each other out along the way. We made new friends, shared some laughs, and had a blast working as a team in the kitchen. It truly was such a fun experience. Once all meals were prepared, we would sit down and share it together; making notes of different flavors and discussing different techniques that were used during preparation. And yes, there was wine.
It took the entire class session plus a little extra to commence preparation for all of the meals, but we did it! And each and every meal was beautifully done. The flavors were bursting, and every cut of steak had it’s own uniqueness. It was so interesting to learn how to prepare each one, and then see for ourselves how they contrast in different entrees.
We closed with some homemade crème brulee. This was probably one of the best parts for me because I am in love with crème brulee and could eat it until I die. We each sat down to enjoy dessert and took notes about our «trials» and shared advice for how we could prepare each plate in it’s greatest capacity.
We left with full tummies, lot’s of gained knowledge, new friends, and a determination to go home and make The Perfect Steak.
Thank you David and Maria!

I took classes with my brother here initially as a birthday present to him but ended up having so much fun that we’re both enrolled in the Cooking Fundamentals I class. This class alone has made me hate Mondays so much less. I actually kind of look forward to them.
Every class is so well structured with every detail explained that it’s impossible not to learn and have fun. The added bonus is that you get to eat everything you cook that day. Some classes like the cooking fundamentals have so many dishes cooked in each class that it’s impossible for everyone to cook everything but Jodi does a great job at pointing out the key elements and pivotal moments in the process of each dish to everyone so that even if you’re not the one cooking it, you have a good idea of how to if you wanted to.
Speaking of Jodi, she’s a great instructor and has a huge depth of knowledge about cooking. If you have the privilege of taking a class with her, take comfort in knowing that you’re being taught by a professional. She also has a great personality.
All the equipment is amazing but it’s all different versions of things that you’d have it home so it’s not like you can’t take what you learn in class and apply it to home cooking.
Last thing… it may seem pricey, but the experience, people you meet, and exposure to the culinary world makes taking classes here worth far more than the monetary cost to enroll.