The Wooden Spoon

Great time at couples cooking! Josh was fantastic. Enthusiastic, knowledgable, personable. Great night and even better food. Would recommend to all

We had a cooking class here. Josh and Jasmine are great at what they do — very personable, and take time to individually connect with customers. Josh is a person who truly takes pride in his craft.

Changed things up a bit as far as «date night» goes and took a cooking class with my boyfriend last weekend. We had a blast! The evening was very well organized, the recipes were delicious and the atmosphere was laid back. We seemed to be one of the younger couples there although we certainly weren’t youngest ones. I’d say the age range was 22 – 40. Some people were married, had kids, engaged or dating. Each couple was assigned to a cooking station with the intention that everyone be exposed to cooking a little bit of everything on the menu. Except, we never got rotated to the «meat/​steak» station and my boyfriend was sorta bummed about. Another minor thing we didn’t necessarily like was that we were paired up with another couple for the entire class which sort of took away from our «bonding» experience, if you will, that we were hoping for when we initially bought our tickets. Nonetheless, the couple that we were paired up with was adorable and I think we all had a great time– lots of laughs, drinks are byob which is a huge plus. Chief Josh and Jasmine were tremendous hosts (thank you!) We hope to go again soon and next time, for a grilling class!

I went here for a team building event in 2015. Everyone really enjoyed it and was very engaged. I’ll totally go here again and suggest it to other people.

We had an office party here! It was a total blast, the food was great and josh and jasmine were the perfect teachers/​hosts. We don’t cook much and this was really helpful to get us on a good path towards home coming. And we get all the recipes to take home! This is a really special find.

Great class yesterday. Pasta is my new main meal! Class size was perfect, we all got hands on for the recipes and came home with samples.

Our family took the Pasta from Scratch class from Josh this morning. It was outstanding!
Josh was an excellent instructor. He gave very clear instructions. Megan was a great helper as well. The class had just the right amount of information, hands on learning and fun. We made spinach ravioli, fettuccini and angel hair pasta as well as roasted tomato, tomato basil and Alfredo sauces. Each was better than the last! We are very beginner cooks and had no trouble
We highly recommend this class and will look for other classes to take!

My wife and I took a cooking class to celebrate our anniversary, it was so much fun. I highly reccomend taking a class here.
Everyone was very personable, especially the instructor and owner. The instructor was awesome and shared so many tips.
Each person in the class is assigned parts of the recipe, and everyone works together to make it. It is a great way to socialize and learn to make great food.

My daughter gave me the best birthday gift today! We attended Best of Chicago: Brunch and were taught how to prepare Chilaquiles with Eggs, Red Wine Poached Eggs with Greens and Hollandaise, Crunchy Challah French Toast, Lemon Ricotta Pancakes and Shrimp and Cheesy Grits with Asparagus. Chef Josh was amazing as he calmly taught ten students how to prepare the five dishes mentioned above. The whole experience was so much fun and everything we prepared tasted delicious!

Chef Josh and crew put on a fabulous «Best of Chicago Brunch» class today. Spicy chilaquiles, sweet ricotta lemon pancakes and poached eggs with prosciutto and greens on sourdough toasts were nom-​nom. Learned some new knife skills AND how to poach an egg. Definitely will be back!

I went into this class thinking it would be like other cooking classes I’ve taken in the past where everyone is cooking the same thing and eating the food they themselves are making. This class was done in a station sort of way where each pair was split up to prep a dish and then we all rotated and actually did the method part of the recipe. If you have any qualms with other people touching your food-​this is not the place for you. I also wish they would say how long the class is actually going to be. In the FAQ section on their website it says 2 – 3 hours, but noting that on each class would be helpful. The store is cute and the staff was very friendly though.

My wife and I came to the wooden spoon from a gift certificate we received for our anniversary. Both of us know our way around a kitchen so we didn’t have high expectations of this class. It was, in fact, great. Not only did we learn quite a bit, but we also had a terrific time. The BYOB option is great, the neighborhood is a lot of fun, and the store is extremely charming. The chef instructor, Scott Allred, did a fantastic job of keeping the whole class engaged on each course but still making it fun. and we really enjoyed the quality of the food. We also bought a a Global knife that normally I would have had to pay more for. Very reasonable prices!

I was so excited to attend this class, as it was a gift, and I am a notoriously bad cook who was looking forward to learning something new. This should not be advertised as a cooking class, as it is more of a social event where there is an implied learning curve. Chef Scott’s attitude was horrible to say the least; he rolled his eyes when I read the directions, showed clear favoritism towards those with more experience, and made me feel uncomfortable when I asked a question. My fiancé and I both felt belittled and in turn uncomfortable, which completely turned us off to the rest of the experience. Fortunately, we have another class scheduled with a different chef and are hoping our negative experience can be a thing of the past.

Signed up the boyfriend and I for the Surf and Turf class last night, March 26. The instructor was lively, personable, and made everyone break out of their shells. Picked up some new chopping and cooking techniques and ate some good food. Thanks for a fun night doing something different.

I was really looking forward to this class but was disappointed with my first experience. It was fun to cook in a group and interact with everyone who attended however our meal was sub-​par as was the instruction by our chef. However, there is more than one chef so a class with another may be better.
Sean, the owner did reach out regarding my concerns; it’s clear that he cares about the experience the customers have and wants to provide the best product. For this reason, I will give the Wooden Spoon another chance as my first experience does not seem to be representative of the Wooden Spoon.

Had a cooking class here tonight and had the honor to be in Nick’s cooking class. Not only was he entertaining and fun but a wonderful teacher and chef. Being from upstate New York I knew I would like him, he was so insightful and knowledgable not just on food but life in general. We will definitely be back again!!! :) thanks nick!

Took the sushi making class last night with Chef Alix and it was amazing! It was such a fun way to learn how to make sushi, drink wine, meet new people and eat some awesome food.
Pros:
–Alix made the experience fun and she was extremely knowledgeable. She answered so many questions from the group. I’m extremely conscious of safe cooking and she was able to give advice on what fish to buy, how to store it, etc.
–there was a TON of food; we couldn’t eat it all
–BYOB. Awesome.
–clean cooking space
–great variety of sushi rolls to make
–class was well organized and efficient. We were there for 3 hours, which some would say is a really long time, but it went by quickly and we were busy cooking and eating the entire time, so there were no lulls in the class.
We had a blast and will be back. Thanks!

I’ve wanted to give this place the benefit of the doubt so many times, and have considered signing up for a class or giving them as gifts, but I really just can’t.
Every time of the three times I’ve come here to shop in the store, I’ve not been spoken to by any associates. Just today, the store had three customers and (I believe) four associates (and no classes going on) and yet I was completely ignored again, even after spending 5 – 10 minutes in the store, looking for a specific brand of spatulas/​spoons. I’m in the market for a $ 15 spatula, I’d be nice to at least be acknowledged. Another sale lost to shopping online instead of local.

Scott was an excellent instructor and I had a blast! I would definitely recommended The Wooden Spoon cooking classes, especially with Scott!
Yeah, they give you a recipe card to measure out the ingredients, but Scott also explained each preparation in front of the class and I learned sone great new tricks!
I will definitely be back.
My only gripe would be with Scott’s assistant who was helping to clean up. She made it very apparent that she was there to bitchily wash dishes and eat the food.
I really can’t emphasize enough how great Scott was with giving direction and dealing with some of the people who were a little clumsy in the kitchen! :)

I’d be lying if I said my group and I didn’t have fun at this «cooking class,» but we all left feeling as if some recipe cards were thrown our way and we just did the «cooking.» In other words, very little instruction or «class.»
Like others have reported, our class divided up the recipes and each pair or trio worked on each one. More disappointingly, the chef (who was very nice and fun) really only facilitated the class and we didn’t get to absorb any expert techniques.
The food we prepared was great, and I’m glad I have the recipes, but I guess I look at that aspect and feel I could Google some recipes and cook them at home. Again, lack of instruction and knowledge sharing in the kitchen is really what knocked off the stars on this review.
If you want to go prepare a meal in somebody else’s kitchen (they do all the cleaning, so that’s nice!) and bring a bottle of wine, it can be a fun experience. But if your class is like mine, you won’t learn much.
I should also add that all of the staff was very pleasant and accommodating.