Culinaire Of DC

Went here on for a corporate event and it was PERFECT! The week before I chose an appetizer, main course (I chose 2 — they’re accommodating) and a desert. The seven of us arrived at 6:00 and we were welcomed warmly, directed to the smaller kitchen, and the wine was poured. Sue Holt, the co-​owner and well-​credentialed chef, introduced the evening. She then spent the next 45 minutes or so teaching us how to make various items on the menu. We didn’t make everything because some items, such as the duck, required hours of preparation.
Then it was Go Time. We split into groups and attacked various dishes, laughing and having fun the entire time. Sue circulated among to keep us on track and ensure the final product was edible. Music in the background, more wine — we were all enjoying ourselves immensely.
Then came time to enjoy the fruit of our labors. We retreated to a table in the back and Sue and her assistant plated and served. Delicious! They are obviously thoughtful about choosing dishes that are tasty and can be prepared well by untrained cooks.
We sat, ate and talked for about an hour. Then I noticed that the other kitchen had emptied out (it was around 9:00 by this time) and I said «time to leave». Sue — a delightful hostess — insisted we could stay as long as we like. But the evening had come to an end and it was time to get home.
We all agreed it was among the best corporate outings any of us had ever done. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

What a fun evening out!
My daughter gave my guy and I this class as a Christmas gift knowing how much I love to cook and how much we both love DC. The facility was great — clean and well organized. All our tools and ingredients were ready when we arrived and our instructor walked us through our recipes before letting us loose to prepare our meal. There were 3 assistants handy the entire time as well to help out if we had question or just to keep our wine and water refilled.
We made drunken noodles, an asian salad with skirt steak and a green tea mousse for dessert. very yummy! I picked up a few new tips and concepts that I have already incorporated into my cooking at home and I can’t wait to make these dishes again.

I’ve been to Culinaire three times for corporate events, and thoroughly enjoyed myself each time. I will return. What an excellent alternative to going out for dinner! Making dinner with friends and then eating it, all in a nice, clean atmosphere, is great fun, and truly more rewarding than being served by a waiter. I would compare the final product, the meals you and your friends create, with any great meal you can get at a fine restaurant nearby. I made a soufle there once that people are still talking about months later! The evening is always fun and lively, with never a boring moment. This place is great, and I recommend going there some time instead of going to a restaurant.

I have attended two classes at Culinaire in Washington, D.C. and have been thrilled both times. The instruction is excellent. Susan Holt makes it fun, informative and completely do-​able. I’ve taken two of her Julia Child’s classes. I’ve never studied French cooking and didn’t really expect to make these dishes at home. However, after making them in class — much to my surprise — I’ve made them all and with great success. The facility is bright, cozy, super clean and allows all students to see cleary as the chef prepares and instructs by using excellent, large, clear monitors. The volunteer assistants are great and the wine flows freely! I’m planning the next two months of classes now.

With two full rooms of students and standing room only attendance, I can’t believe I am the only person to review the DC Culinaire so far.
My husband and I attended the «Curry in a Hurry» workshop.
It was a fun time and I think we learned some good basic techniques for making curries. The chef was friendly, comfortable and entertaining.
We would absolutely take another class.
These are the few technical things I would change to make the event more enjoyable.
1) Use the overhead camera to demonstrate technique or clarify information about ingredients. They have a nifty set up where a camera captures and projects what is happening on the chef’s station onto a viewer so folks in the back of the room (like my husband and I) can see. Our chef rarely used it which meant we had to guess at times what he was talking about.
2) Get better cutting boards that don’t immediately dull the knives or hand out knife sharpeners. The cutting boards are ample and easy to clean but brutal to the edge of a knife. Every knife was duller than the last one. This is frustrating if you are trying to chop anything well.
3) Start the class with basic info about the butane burners and organize the ingredients. Our burner ran out of butane and we almost blew up our table trying to put the refill in. Also. when there are about 12 – 15 ingredients that are ranges of brown and rust (as there would be in a curry class) it might be good to start by going through all of them and then ordering them so we know which is which. Much confusion ensued when coriander seeds were discussed and not distributed because fennel seeds look almost exactly the same.
For 80 bucks a class, with 6 recipe’s completed a couple of glasses of wine… it’s a nice way to spend an afternoon.
Personally, next time I’m bringing a knife, a couple containers for the left overs and maybe… a set of measuring spoons.