CulinAerie

Be warned that the following individuals are not welcome at Culinaerie classes:
–Pregnant and nursing mothers
–Recovering alcoholics
–Muslims
–Mormons
–Designated drivers
I did not find this out until I showed up for a class, so it is possible that this list is not complete. I would recommend calling before registering to find out whether you are among the groups they choose not to serve.

This is great group outing or team building event. Went as a customer appreciation event with approx 30ppl and were there for 3 hours over lunch. They are very passionate and make it super simple. I was not a big fan of the lecture portion, but I guess seeing someone do it first is helpful. The lecture went through all 3 dishes and you could see her prepare, answer questions, and give tips. We felt very successful and had a great meal to enjoy at the end. Enjoy!

This was a great experience. My wife and I took a 3 hour class on a Sunday afternoon. The instructor, Amanda Greene, was thorough, patient with questions, helpful, and just overall made it a great time. The techniques were easy to implement and the food quality was very good. This is a very good value for the money.

Had a fantastic time last night at couples Spanish tapas class. My husband and I joined one other couple and couldn’t have had a better experience. The chef was great, explaining each dish prior to us attempting it. Ingredients were pre-​measured, ready to go. Each couple had a hot place to cook with. Wine flowed plentifully. The dishes were creative and delicious. I will be going again!

I have been in two classes with Chef Wendi James. Macarons and Summer Steak dinner. both were excellent. Not only does Wendi know what she is talking about but she has a sense of humor and breaks everything down making it look easy — and it is! CulinAerie is a great location and set up. Easy to get there and plenty of seating including TV screens to see Wendi’s demos no matter where you sit. Great assistants who help throughout the class — including wine depending on your class. All you have to do is show up and have some fun. It’s a great opportunity for friends, couples or groups. Highly recommend!

We took the Sushi class with Kaimana Chee and it was amazing! My boyfriend and I both love sushi and thought this would be a fun class. We weren’t disappointed. Kaimana was so friendly and really funny. The wine was flowing and we learned to make some passable rolls! You don’t eat until about 8pm but it’s well worth it. I’d definitely recommend this class!

Went here with my boyfriend for a couples cooking class with a moulin rouge theme. Amazing time. The instructor was so sweet and charming, gave great history around the food and useful tips to use in the kitchen and made the class so fun! The food was spectacular and had lots of wine included along the way :) will definitely be going back!

I’ve gone to three classes at CulinAerie now — Beginners Series 2, Dumplings, and Knife Skills
Just two quick notes in case you don’t feel like reading the rest of my review. 1. bring a pen to take notes in class!, 2. if you have any food allergies or special diet considerations, look at the menu that they tell you that you will prepare — and then email them. They are pretty flexible as long as they know ahead of time (for example — in the dumplings class they substituted chicken instead of pork).
My boyfriend got me the Beginner’s Series 2 cooking class (he came too!) with Wendi. The format of the class is as follows: you are paired with a person (this is when it’s nice to bring a buddy or a significant other) and Wendi shows you how to make a dish, then you make the dish. She walks around to help you out, and point out when things aren’t as they should be. A note for all of the classes — you should bring a pen. There are lots of helpful tips throughout that aren’t on the recipe sheet. My boyfriend and I both LOVED Wendi.
Since we came into the Series 2 cooking class, we missed out on the knife skills class. So, we took the knife skills class with Susan (the owner). I really enjoyed the class — this is another class that it’s a good idea to bring a pen to take notes. The first part of the class is going over knives as well as some other kitchen utensils. Next is the application. My only complaint is that there were way more people than any of my other classes, and the personal attention wasn’t as good as the other two classes. When I had a question, I had to actively seek out Susan.
Last, but certainly not least, I took the dumplings class with my friend, and we had a blast. Kaimanee Chee is amazing. He’s hilarious, and keeps the class fun. Brush up on your trivia before you come, as he has trivia questions to «win» what he makes, as he makes it (he makes the food first to show you how to make it, then you make it).

This was such a fun date night (surf and turf with Wendi James)! Free flowing wine, delicious food, awesome assistants, and great instructors! I would absolutely recommend this and will be back for another class!

CulinAerie makes cooking fun and easy. We took a class with Kaimanee Chee and had a blast! He is engaging, organized, and allows us to be flexible. The kitchen is spacious and clean but intimate enough for group interactions.
We were really impressed with how organized the class was set up. Each workstation had all the ingredients laid out and pre-​measured. The recipes were easy to follow and introduced us to ingredients that we normally did not use. Kaimanee kept the class fun and upbeat but still focused on safety.
K went back for a knife skills class and found it to be extremely useful.
Prices are on the high side but you do get a 3 course meal and enough wine to leave you smiling. Overall, I’m really happy with my experience here.

CulinAerie is a great concept and a great school. So much fun!
I received this class as a gift (as I don’t think I would have signed up otherwise) and I highly recommend taking classes for group, couple, or individual fun and learning. As a vegetarian, I took a veggie-​focused class (Bold Vegetarian Cooking with Ken Charney) and not only did I get some new recipes and try out things I probably wouldn’t have cooked, I picked up a few cooking and chopping tips, too.
The CulinAerie set up is really cool and inviting. You arrive and go into a studio where the teaching chef and assistants have already set up stations with recipes, utensils, and ingredients. You watch everything being made during the demo portion (which is so cool, because you feel like you are on the set of a cooking show) and then you start to make the recipes. Chef Charney and the 2 assistants were very helpful and were checking in on us as we laughed, drank wine, and made a few new dishes. The best part was eating the meal as we made it. One of the assistants even told us about other classes, her cooking interests, etc.
In my class, we made a white bean and fennel soup, a roasted radicchio and endive salad, lentil fritters, and a yummy berry wine sauce over ice cream. Frankly, I probably would have only made the soup before taking the class (and I like to think I cook a lot). I was pleased to be introduced to a salad using more bitter flavors; I don’t think I’ve ever bought radicchio or endives before. The lentil cakes were really good, like, why am I not making these all the time good, and I learned how easy it is to make a wine and berry sauce that everyone will think is waaaaay fancier and more complicated than it really is.
Considering that you go out to eat and have a drink or two and an app and it costs like 50 bucks around here, the course cost is well worth 1) the fun of learning new recipes and techniques; 2) meeting other people interested in cooking; 3) the nerd-​out factor of feeling like you’re on the Food Network; 4) eating an awesome meal and enjoying wine while doing it; and 5) the satisfaction of having made the meal yourself. It also was 3 hours of activity!
I would love to see more veggie-​focused/​plant-​powered meals for vegetarian and vegan cooks. Many of us taking the class were vegetarians. I’m grateful that there are classes available and more would be awesome. Perhaps a knife skills class that doesn’t involve cutting up a chicken? In any case, a big shout out to CulinAerie. I loved my experience. Thank you!

I organized a work event here for about 20 people. We went with their «Iron Chef Competition» package, and it was amazing! They block off three hours for you. Generally, you enjoy dinner and drinks for the first hour, prepared for by the fine staff at CulinAerie. Then, everyone splits up into teams and receives the «secret» ingredient and the competition begins. The judging happens at the end and then you enjoy dessert.
Everyone was incredibly helpful and the food was amazing. It was a night to remember! I would definitely return to CulinAerie for an event like this in the future.

My wife and I had a really fun couples cooking class here! We attended the vegetarian Mexican class (specific to Oaxaca) and everything was delicious! Everything you need is there when you arrive — I suggest arriving a little early to get your pick of seats, because the class did fill to capacity. Definitely don’t take it too seriously and have fun with your partner — take pictures, drink wine (the pours are frequent) and enjoy your creations! We’d love to take another class and are awaiting the addition of another vegan or vegetarian one!

Had a blast here. Have been here twice. Did the seasonal Autumn Steakhouse class with Chef Wendi. Did that on a double date! Then did the sushi class with Chef Kaimana. Now I make the best spicy tuna roll. Highly recommend this place!

My boyfriend and I took Couples Cooking: April in Paris with Susan Holt and it was fabulous. We made Spring pea soup with parmesan tuile; Roast poussins with mushrooms~ new potatoes~ and lardons; Crepes Suzette. The food turned out awesome, we both learned fun things we didn’t know, despite being seasoned cooks. Though a little pricey, we both thought it was worth it. One word of advice, don’t drive — there’s lots of wine being poured and for most of the time, you’re not eating, so the alcohol sneaks up on you.
I wish Susan Holt would teach more classes! I also wish there was a to filter upcoming classes by instructor — can’t wait to take another class!

Just what I was looking for! I took the macroon making class and loved the way it was taught. The class was taught by pastry chef Wendi James. She is very accomplished in her life and experiences and teaches that in the class to. Offers all those tidbits of information that would take a lot of trial and error to figure out. I felt like I was back in my college culinary classes but for me that is the type of training that I want. The courses are not cheap but I do feel like I got my money’s worth between the Wendi’s experience and the many helpers you have, you are taken care of. I am excited to sign up for the next class

I went back for a second class, Holiday Desserts with Wendi James on 11/​10, and was very disappointed compared to my last experience.
The class was a LOT of talking. Wendi is not the most charismatic speaker and was difficult to understand at times because she mumbles and her microphone was cutting in and out. She was also jumping from recipe to recipe on her demo.
About 30 minutes in, I just about tuned out and started checking my phone. I saw that others were tuning out and getting bored as well. It went on for about a full hour of constant talking/​instruction. It didn’t seem very organized and we just jumped around the recipe booklet she passed out. I had to constantly whisper to my neighbors to find out what recipe we were on, and no one ever knew!
Wendi and her assistants had premade a lot of the pieces of the recipe I would have been interested in learning how to make. I would suggest Wendi talk less, and we cook more.
The assistants seemed a little overwhelmed. Unlike my previous class, we didn’t get wine until about ½ way through the class, and towards the end of the class had to ask for a second small glass of wine. In the other class, we got wine right away and they kept it flowing.
I left the class feeling I did not learn a single thing.

3.5 stars — it was fun but had more hiccups than a class for $ 85 a person should.
We went for a sushi making class with Kimani Chee. The wine was flowing, and we definitely started feeling it before long. The end product was delicious, but I don’t feel like I learned anything about making sushi, which is why I signed up in the first place. For one, they made the spicy tuna in advance and just gave it to us in a big bowl to scoop onto our pre-​rolled rice. Also, when rolling the bad boys up, amateurs can definitely use some pro-​tips to help cultivate the form, but we didn’t get any here. Kimani didn’t provide useful advice about what to do, and when we asked, he just laughed and wouldn’t help! Not sure what that’s about. Then, of course it came out ugly and sloppy, and he just walked by and said, «well, what matters is how it tastes.» I didn’t care so much about the comment, though my date wasn’t so pleased — that’s why we asked for help!
Getting to cut and fry shrimp was fun, and the one thing I did learn was how to cut the tendons and stretch the shrimp out for rolling up. That’s not enough to make me interested in coming again, though.

On a recent office team-​building exercise, my coworkers and I headed over to CulinAerie for our own little supervised Iron Chef competition. Not only was I shocked at what awesome cooks my coworkers are, but how smoothly and fun the whole experience went. And even before starting the competition led by Susan Holt (cofounder), we were fully satiated ourselves with a delicious meal prepared by the resident chefs… and probably unlike many of the amateurs that walk through that kitchen, you can tell they know what they’re doing.
For amateurs like myself, the opportunity to cook in a full on restaurant-​level kitchen was exciting. And with access to pantry full of ingredients, the cooking was made extremely simple; leaving the only challenging portion of the day to the judges who had to pick a winner between all the deliciousness that was put in front of them.
I know this type of private, corporate experience may not be applicable to most, but I know that this experience definitely piqued my curiosity and desire to come back and take a few classes of my own. So here’s to my next CulinAerie experience.

This may come as a surprise to you guys, but I took a class here to learn to cook bacon and pork belly. Shocking.
You have no idea how happy I am to have this cooking school right in DC. First of all, everything about this place is sleek and new. Shiny granite counters, big flat screens above every other row of tables, and the newest and best in kitchen appliances and utensils, except for the knives (I agree with Norry, they were thick and dull) and hand blenders.
As you get situated you immediately pour you a glass of wine, and somehow that wine keeps getting filled without you knowing throughout the lesson. Due to the free flowing wine policy, they quickly give the tutorial (if you did not take their knives class) on how not to chop your appendages and off you go with your tablemates. The instructor offers demos which can clearly be seen on the TVs. Wendi James, was our instructor, and she’s relatively new to the school. I found her class to be lively, engaging and fun. Her assistants were helpful and fun to talk to.
Back to the food though, our menu was as follows:
–Seared Scallops with Bacon Corn Relish
–Braised Pork Belly on a Carrot Emulsion
–Bacon Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Shake
This was perhaps the best meal these little itty bitty hands have prepared. This is not to say that everything went swimmingly. We did have some mishaps, we tried making candied bacon, which came out as burned candied bacon brittle. We still ate it though.
The portions we made for ourselves were huge (I had a piece of pork belly the size of my head). Based on what we ate, and the quality, I am guessing a meal like this is way more expensive in a restaurant.
At the conclusion of the three and a half hour class, Wendi stuck around to answer our questions, and gave us some good tips like:
–It’s easier to chop frozen bacon
–To reduce bacon splatter, start off with a cold bacon in a cold pan on medium heat, turning often. This also keeps the bacon from curling.
–Baking bacon in the oven, which is how most restaurants/​large chain hotels do it, causes bacon to be really flat.
Once my cholesterol returns to normal levels, I plan on recreating every dish I made here at home.