Appetite for Seduction

Highly recommend signing up for a class! The instructors were friendly, the food was delicious, and the wine never stopped flowing. The setting was cozy and made spending time with other couples truly enjoyable. Highly recommend for any couples that want to get out of their comfort zone a bit, meet new people, learn basic cooking skills, and have a blast! Best part: blind taste tests

Kristen was great! Class was really laid back and perfect for date night. Really recommend it for any couple looking to learn a couple dishes and drink plenty of wine!

This review is based on the customer service experience I had with this company.
Unfortunately, I had to cancel due to an emergency (I am 8 months pregnant and had to schedule an emergency visit to the doctors). First of all, they apparently do not monitor their email inbox regularly as they either take two days to respond or don’t respond at all. Secondly, when I was called by one of their staff, she hung up on me while I was in the middle of a sentence. Seems she only cares about the money she was collecting with me cancelling. They have a horrendous cancellation policy, where if you cannot make it, you have to pay $ 100 (on top of the $ 260 already paid for the reservation) to reschedule. I understand it’s a business and they need to ensure they aren’t getting no-​shows, but that is just the most absurd cancellation policy. Especially since the «cooking class» is hosted in an apartment. You would think they would be more flexible.
I cannot comment on the actual cooking class itself, but I recommend not making any reservations unless you are 110% sure you will be able to make it.

This review is long over due. I went to this class last year in April as a «first date» with my now girlfriend. We lived 3,000 miles apart (I’m in California she’s lived in NY) and so naturally planning a date has to be careful, I only get one shot a month lol. I spent a 4 day weekend in NY and the highlight for us both was this class. Gosh I wish I could remember the instructor (I’m sure my girlfriend would) but she was so nice and the class was just amazing. It was Mexican night so we made since delicious tacos, guac and a crème brûlée sort of dessert. It wasn’t actually crème brûlée but similar to it if I reminder correctly. We had plenty of wine, especially when a couple didn’t want there bottle, so the night was even more excellent ;-). I will say whether you’ve been married for years or just dating, no matter what stage of your relationship you’re in that doing this class is a fantastic thing to do as a couple. If I ever go back to NY again with my love I definitely will be hitting these guys up!

Our cooking instructor Kristen was so awesome! She’s a great cook but even more importantly, a patient and effective teacher. Sometimes when you add wine into this equation, the cooking students can get a little distracted (drunk) and don’t always stop talking when it’s time to actually learn how to cook what you’re there to cook. Kristen was patient and funny and kept the pace rolling as best she could, though our class of people was certainly distracted and lagging a bit.
The cooking/​food itself was great! We did the Italian class and I’ve never made pasta so good. The crostini recipe is unbeatable! Kristen had a few skills to show us involving how to use a knife and some other kitchen tricks you might not know even if you regularly watch the Food Network.
All in all, a wonderful time. My husband and I had a blast!

I took a French class with my hubby last night and it was a blast ! I had an immense amount of fun meeting new couples, cooking fun and just relaxing in a company of good people !
Our instructor was Kristen and she was sweet, kind and made a whole night feel warm and fuzzy.
I talked over with my hubby and overall our thoughts on the evening are:
Food: Very healthy and deconstructed style menu — With french food being heavy on sauces and fatty stuff, I liked the fact that it was basic like protein, greens, carbs so you knew exactly what you were eating and if you were into that could eyeball your macros for the night. With that being said, it really isn’t that «French» per se, if you cook routinely, you probably make all these dishes all the time. It would have been nice to have slightly more traditional French recipes ! With that being said, I went in expecting just to have some fun and good time and not learn something spectacular and in that sense class delivered !
Bottom line on food: Healthy, very basic, but very very tasty ! If you don’t cook at home — you’ll feel very comfortable with the class level, if you are a home chef — this is basic but you’ll enjoy yourself because the event if focused on the ambiance and not preparing an 11 course meal with hidden recipes from the hidden South of France.
Ambiance: Great ! You meet other people for the night, so in the sense this is a perfect event for couples and newlyweds to just have other «coupley» fun.
The only marketing suggestion — please take this as a positive (!) constructive criticism I would offer to the owner when it comes to the ambiance– is to have you and Kristen up-​play your /​her own cooking skills. We were a bit disappointed to find out that neither you nor Kristen have any formal culinary training, nor worked as chefs. Which is fine — that’s the idea of small business that you don’t need education in the area to start a business. It might help however and excite people much more, if you have Kristen talk briefly but very passionately about your bio or her own bio that led her to become an instructor — like Shani never had any formal training as a chef, but she grew up in a household where each meal was treated as a special occasion and the focus was on preparing tasty healthy food around the clock blah blah blah. Something that explains the roadmap that lead you to starting a business called «Appetite for Seduction» vs. the way it came across was a bit generic like some random person just started this business because she could. But what’s the story behind that ?
The only reason I am taking the star off of this otherwise stellar experience — The Wine. The wine was pretty bad. I am not a wine snob by any means but I do like wine. I understand you have to cater to the masses — but a huge amount of cheap wine is not the best a way to go. I haven’t drunk Trader Joe’s wine since my poorest days of graduate school so while I was happy and nostalgic seeing the old familiar bottles smirking at me like old pals, the taste brought back the memories as well.
I am a one nice glass/​night drinker — so having multiple bottles of bad wine was wasted on me. Nice is subjective I understand — because a 2 euro bottle of wine in a South of Spain might be better than a 50 $ bottle of wine here in US, but generally anything in the realm of 15 $/​glass is drinkable. As a suggestion, maybe add an option for people who want better wine like instead of 2 bottles of TJ wine per couple — have ½ bottle of nicer wine per couple instead for quality vs. quantity ?
That’s the only thing that took away from what otherwise would have been a solid 5 star experience ! So go for the ambiance, enjoy the cooking and mingling with other people, have fun eating the tasty healthy food, but maybe bring your own bottle of wine for the meal to make it perfect !

My boyfriend got us a cooking class at appetite for seduction as a Christmas present for me. It was great! We loved our instructor. She was encouraging and helpful, and also funny. She helped us all to feel comfortable cooking and being flirtatious with our partners. The food was delicious too! Our instructor walked us through everything step-​by-​step, so it was easy to put together and it all turned out really well. We both highly recommend it, and we’d definitely go back again for a different cuisine class!

Could not recommend this highly enough. Went with my girlfriend to the Mucho Mexicano night after getting this for her as a Christmas gift. It was about 4 hours of drinking wine, cooking amazing food, and having a ton of fun. Shani was an excellent host and I’ll be back for another one!

I had my bachelorette party here this past Sunday. Bonnie was an amazing, knowledgeable and fun chef to lead our party! We played 2 games that were absolutely hysterical and made delicious food– asparagus with hollandaise, fish and an amazing lava cake. It was a terrific night!

Shani and Joel are hysterical. I have been two two of their classes: one for my birthday party and one for a friend’s bachelorette party. Each session was different and informative. You can tell that both instructors know what they are doing, have a ton of fun, and care about us having a great time. And the food/​wine was delicious. Highly recommend!

I took the Insatiable Italian Class on ¹¹⁄₀₆ with my boyfriend and our newlywed friends. We were really disappointed with the class overall as we had high expectations going into the class since our friends had taken the same class a couple years ago and raved about how much they loved it. We also had thoroughly reviewed the website which reinforced how reputable this class was.
First, for how much we paid for our class as well as for our friends, as this was our wedding gift to them, we didn’t expect to have Trader Joe’s $ 2 chuck for wine.
Second, we thought that this would be a cooking class where we would actually learn how to cook and participate throughout the 3 course meal preparation. However, we only chopped a few vegetables for the first course and then our instructor basically took over the rest of the courses and cooked everything. Additionally the pasta had WAY too much oil and cream in it and the fact that the $ 2 chuck was poured into the sauce didn’t make it any better. We didn’t feel very well upon eating it.
Finally, we thought this would be more of an interactive and fun night where we played multiple games and our instructor engaged all of us through intimate discussion; however, we only played a blindfold game for a few minutes.
We were really hoping for a fun and special night with our friends and we were embarrassed that we treated our friends to this class as a wedding gift. I would not take this class or any class offered here again.

Went to the Mucho Mexicano class and had an AWESOME time. Shani was great at leading the class and the other couples there were a lot of fun as well. Definitely recommend, great date idea and reasonably priced when you consider what you’re getting!

This experience could not have been more fun. The wife and I enjoyed the Italian cooking class which we strongly recommend. The host was beyond nice and the diverse group of couples were a pleasure to dine with. Surprisingly, we spent 4 hours at the event! We cooked bruschetta, a chicken pasta and spicy chocolate as dessert. Learned cutting skills and history along the way.
The best part was dinner with the couples
and host. Plenty of laughs during story time :-)

This was a great class! My boyfriend and I took «From France With Love» and had an amazing time. Our teacher, Bonnie, was really cool and very informative. The class was casual and small and we learned a lot about aphrodisiacs! Each course was delicious and there was plenty of wine to go around. Definitely a worthwhile experience. This is a great way to learn how to make a delicious meal in a fun and sexy way.

Had a great experience for a one-​year anniversary present! We had the best time learning some new tricks for the kitchen, drinking wine, eating delicious food, and making some new friends! Shani was a great hostess and instructor-​so friendly and informative with funny stories along the way. Thank you for a great time! Highly recommend to anyone looking for a great date or girls night out! :)

Wonderful evening of fun, romance and great tasty food! We were not sure what to expect, but the hostess was fantastic! She kept everyone very comfortable and has created a very easy going atmosphere with a lot of laughter. The food we cooked was great, and little games were very entertaining! We might do it again! Great idea to give as a gift to a couple!

We went for the «insatiable Italian» class, and it was a fantastic way to spend the evening.
Shani creates a very welcoming and fun atmosphere, and we had a lot of fun joking around with all the other couples and playing the games while we were waiting for things to finish cooking.
This is a great option for date night, highly recommended.

Came here for a friend’s Bachelorette party and really enjoyed it! A great atmosphere, attention to details, and overall vibe. Would highly recommend it for all kinds of events and something interesting to do as a couple! The food was delicious:)

My sister and girlfriends treated me to an absolutely amazing bachelorette experience here. I cook on a pretty regular basis and watch cooking TV, but I learned a lot and so did everyone else, who were across all levels of comfort with cooking.
Bonnie was so welcoming and an amazing teacher. She really spoke to our interests in health, vitality, and enjoyment of life and food. I can’t say enough great things about her and how much we enjoyed her class.
There was a fun «blindfold test» where we tested each other on different textures, tastes, and scents of food, and really punctuating the ‘sensual’ nature of food. She quickly sent out the recipes and instructions about a week later, and I look forward to making them for a class reunion with my friends and family, and them at home with the hubby-​to-​be.
If I could change anything, I would make the class even more hands-​on, make the ice cream too (it was store-​bought), and lower the price– as others have mentioned, $ 900 is kinda steep for a very small apartment-​sized kitchen and $ 2 Chucks from Trader Joe’s.
That said, I can absolutely recommend this place as very fun and informative — just superb for a group of people and couples who already know each other.
Thank you, Bonnie!

Can’t believe it’s taken me this long to leave a review. My boyfriend and I treated each other to this for Valentine’s Day and it was such a blast! Shani was a warm and welcoming and made everyone feel comfortable immediately.
I would consider this class to be more about how food and flavors affect how you experience food and cooking together as a couple, rather than about learning specific skills. We did learn some useful tips and tricks, but what I found to be the best part was the experience of cooking together and getting to know the other people in the group. It was kind of like going to a dinner party where no one knows each other, but you’re all in the same boat and the thing you all have in common to talk about is food.
I would recommend this to everyone and can’t wait to go again myself!