Technique

After no less than 3 different occasions spread throughout the last year of discussing with my best friend that we had to try Technique STAT, I tried this place last Friday night with a group of 6 for a catch-​up couples dinner. I actually tried to make a reservation for 8 which is the maximum for this establishment, but opentable told me that they only had room for 6, so I had to do the awkward invite-​take-​back where you invite too many people to dinner and don’t have enough spots in your reservation. Or maybe I just made it awkward. Tomato, tomato. Upon arrival, you have to go by the security desk of Le Cordon Bleu and you feel kind of like you’re not supposed to be there but they quickly point you in the direction of the restaurant.
Actually a much nicer ambiance than I was expecting after reading about the open kitchen/​student style set up, but I would say about ²⁄₃ of the tables remained empty throughout our entire visit. Sorry friends #7 and #8. They have raised their prices (I feel bad even calling it that because it’s still a steal) to 3 courses for $ 16 as your only option of course numbers.
One student appears to be assigned as the bartender for the night and greeted us along with the waitress with a list of (I assume created by her) drink recipes as specials for the day. They all sounded very inventive and delicious, but we were in a wine mood for the night. The manager also doubles as the closest thing they have to a sommelier and was AMAZING. You could tell he truly loved his job and gave us all multiple samples — we settled on a bottle of a Texas red and a pinot noir as well as a glass of the cab sav, all who’s names escape me at the moment.
I’ll try and be briefer. It won’t work.
Appetizer course:
Highs — the soup of the day (chicken tortilla) and the boyfriend’s shrimp scampi with the tastiest sauce to sop the accompanying bread in. Also, the pesto flavored butter that is apparently made in house.
Ehh — the salads (we had caesar and I want to say a fruit and nut based salad) and the clam chowder — but perhaps I’m just a clam chowder snob.
Entrées: (It’s typically my pet peeve when two people order the same thing, but I caved as the menu was slightly limited)
Myself and the bestie’s bf had the Beef Bourguinon. This was very tasty and closer to a pot roast texture and seasoning with pearl onions served on some clearly handmade pasta. The pasta wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but I absolutely give them props for making it in house.
My boyfriend and friend’s husband both had the steak frites. The presentation looked a bit like something you would cook at home, but was really good and the student chef that night definitely knew their steak temps as the BF’s was a perfect medium rare.
My other two girlfriends had the salmon. I had a bite and it was pretty good, however I make salmon a lot at home and I feel like it was almost comparable but perhaps a better quality filet.
Portions were HUGE however, so you are definitely not left wanting. Not even dessert… however, we powered through.
I’ll preface with the fact that Dessert is my least favorite meal and I never order it, but due to the 3 course set up… yeah. The ladies all had the take on an apple pie a la mode. Our waitress apparently thought up this dessert on her own and it was truly delicious. Beautiful presentation served in a cored out apple and the pie crust latticed across the top. The boys all had «cookies and ice» which was… well, a few different cookies and vanilla ice cream. They really liked it though.
To sum up my novel (this is my first Unilocal review okay! I’ll get better at being more succinct in the future :), I believe pre-​tip including wine, the checks ran about $ 60 a couple which is equivalent to what we’d normally spend on an average meal, but much cheaper than we would spend on a 3-​course meal plus a bottle of wine so we were happy. The service is quite slow, but this was expected and the friendliness and unique concept made up for it. Great place to catch up over a long meal and the manager was truly great! More of a 3.5 stars, but will give it 4 due to the fact that it’s a cooking school.

Another reviewer described Technique as a giant classroom with a kitchen attached, and I think that’s fair. But if that’s what you’re expecting, then you won’t be disappointed by the slightly odd atmosphere.
I love being able to watch the student chefs and instructors in the open kitchen! Both times I’ve been here for lunch, the food was fantastic! They make their own butter every day. They buy fresh food every day, so when they run out of salmon, you have to wait until tomorrow. I’m totally OK with that, because I’m a fan of fresh food!
The first time I went with folks from work, we were a party of six with a reservation for noon. Our server was untrained, unsure, and thankfully assisted by a more experienced person. But even with help, the service was painfully slow. The food, however, was delicious.
A smaller group of us went back for a goodbye lunch for the coworker whose idea it was to try it the first time, and the experience was totally different! The service was exactly the caliber of the food. That day they didn’t have flavored butter, but they had some crazy-​delicious fresh brewed flavored tea. I could not get enough of it.
I had blackened chicken with finger potatoes and green beans for my entrée. The desserts are also really great.
I recommend it to anyone! Just remember that it’s a school, and you’ll be cool.
Edited to add: The students run the kitchen AND serve in the dining room. So their level of comfort and confidence builds over time, you know? I had lunch here again today, and this class has only been running Technique for two days. Our server was awesome and adorable, but the student chef also on the floor was (rightfully) clueless and insecure. There was another group having lunch who, despite the fact that they were rude and mean to their server and other guests, had a more frustrating experience with the new student chef assigned to serve them. I add this to reiterate that when you go, you’ll have an awesome experience if you keep in mind that it’s a school.

Really nice lunch prepared by the students and instructors.
Three course meal, salad, main dish, and dessert for $ 13, tea $ 2.
I had special fruit salad and poached salmon with homemade
ice cream for dessert. The salmon was done just right — tend and
moist. I’ll try to upload a photo. Would be a good place for work day lunch.
I sat near the open kitchen so I could watch the students. Everyone
seemed to know their job and worked together. I talked to the
waiter about some of the tasks and food preparation. I got the
feeling that they were interested in their job and enjoyed working
there. One of the instructors came by for a chat. Atmosphere was
charming but I would go back just for the food.
The only minor issue was that I felt under dressed — faded jeans.
Next time I’ll dress up more.

I am going to start from the end of my experience: the dinner.
I had a large group, we were all seated on time. I was part of the last ones to be seated so we did not have the choice of a 5 course dinner because it was late (7:30p so get yourself an earlier reservation if you want that!). Our «waitress» — actually a cook graduating that day– took our orders of food and forgot the drinks. She was a bit overwhelmed. Also forgot the bread but we reminded her and everything was fine. Was very interesting to learn about her expectations and future employement opportunities! Reminded me of my old days in college, when we were all excited choosing which hotel we would go for an internship. She was very proud she got a temp job at one of the best restaurants in town– we were all happy for her!
The food was very good, with choices of lamb or filet etc. Everything was delicious! So nice to have French food… French desserts!!! They ran out of some items offered on the menu but no big deal. You can order wine too and it is also inexpensive.
Service is very much «in a box” — the entire table need to choose the same numbers of courses, either 4 or 5. It will never happen in a real restaurant but since it is a school and not for waiters it is understandable. So you are not having «issues» with service because you are not paying much. It is just that they are not being trained to be waiters, that’s all.
The «problem»… It is almost impossible to reach them to talk about a special request (in my case, to accomodate a group). If you are lucky you will get the restaurant direct number to leave a message but they won’t return your call. I was puzzled by the lack of customer service in a school context! There is no excuse for that– it is plain wrong and unnaceptable. So I went there and after talking to 3 people I finally got my reservation. It was bizarre. I guess it works well if you book for small parties at
.

It’s inside the Le Cordon Blue Institute and it is a little charming restaurant which the meals are cooked by the students of the institute. I went to have dinner and they have three courses, well crafted and so tasteful. The price is so affordable that it is ridiculous. I am already making plans to come back there!

My boyfriend and I have been going here for months. I think he summed it up best after we went our first time: 4 star meal, 3 star atmosphere… for a 2 star price.
Food:
When we first started going, it was a 5 course dinner for $ 15 (appetizer, soup, salad, entrée, dessert). Then they changed to 4 courses for $ 15 (choice of 2 appetizers/​soups/​salads, entrée, dessert). I was initially disappointed because of the loss in value, but to be honest, you’re not going home hungry. They also now offer a flatbread or pizza option as an appetizer and I’ve enjoyed some very unusual flatbread/​pizza combinations.
The food has always been excellent and if it’s not, they’ll gladly fix it for you. The menu changes occasionally; a favorite for us and our friends has always been the filet.
We usually go on Fridays and they’re almost always out of something. Luckily their menu has enough tempting things, it’s never been a problem to find something else. Our most recent visit was on a Wednesday, though, and we were pleased to find they had everything we ordered. We’re not sure if it’s because we went earlier in the week.
Drinks:
They have a wine list, which we found to be reasonable compared to other restaurants we visited. While they still have a wine markup, I’d guess that their bottles run ½ — ²⁄₃ the price of similar restaurants. Our last visit they offered a limited mixed drink menu; however, after trying a couple they were very bland and not too strong. I’ll stick to the wine.
Atmosphere:
Very basic with white table cloths and small candles. There is an open kitchen, which can be interesting.
Service:
The wait staff can be fairly weak; the emphasis here is on the food and not the service. Everyone is very nice, but not necessarily attentive to things like needing a new fork for a new course. Plan extra time for your dinner, as it can take a while to get through the courses — even longer than other 4 course meals.
Overall I definitely recommend it, but know what you’re getting going in. If you’re flexible and open minded, you’ll get an unbeatable value. They have some limitations in that they won’t seat groups larger than 8 and their seating times are M-​F for a few hours each.
Reservations are pretty much mandatory and if you want a Friday reservation, you’ll probably have to book a few weeks in advance. Weekday reservations are usually easier to come by and may have more last-​minute availability.

i came here for lunch recently and i’m pretty happy with that decision.
although there were some miscues. i guess for the cheap price you’re paying. some of those problems can be forgiven.
i had the grilled fruit and arugala salad. this was a fantastic combination of savory and sweet flavors which meshed well with the vinaigrette.
my halibut was a touch overcooked and needed to be salted a bit more.
as for dessert. i had the salted caramel pot de crème. the flavor is quite good. however the consistency was a touch runny.
overall. i’d definitely come back for 10 dollar lunch or 15 dollar dinner.

We had a four course meal for 4 for $ 65 (including drinks). I had been somewhat skeptical since we were basically the «lab rats» for the students so I was expecting to have a few flaws but dinner was great. There are some quirky things you have to deal with — everyone has to get the same number of courses — and there are no substitutions or changes so if you hate peas, they will be on your plate, but at the prices you are paying for the quality of food you are getting, it’s well worth it. I will be back again for sure.

If you’re looking for champagne taste on a beer budget, this is your place! Reservations are mandatory, at least a couple of weeks in advance. Read on to see why.
This night we had a 4-​course dinner, including 2 glasses of wine each, for a total bill of $ 57.00 — unbelievable for a two-​party tab. And the food was GREAT, maybe second only to the French Room at the Adolphus in quality.
In fact, the ONLY reason I’m not giving them 5 stars is that they frequently run out of stuff. For example, on our most recent visit the first thing our waiter said was, «We’re out of the lamb, the pork, the pizza (appetizer) and the vanilla crème (dessert).» That’s like ¹⁄₃ of the menu!
Oh well, you have to remember it is a teaching restaurant at the Le Cordon Bleu chef’s school and the kitchen and dining room are staffed by the students, so one should not expect everything to go right on a given night. But the food is so damn good that you can overlook that little nuisance.
After three visits, we’re convinced this is a GREAT way to save lots of money and have wonderful cuisine simultaneously — where else in Dallas are you going to find that???

Ok, so even though I’m a student at Le Cordon Bleu, i was still hesitate to eat at our restaurant. Not because the food is bad, or because i’ve seen or heard anything negative. Maybe because I’m becoming what all chefs become, a little synical toward other chefs’ cooking, along with a little bit arrogant toward my own cooking.
However, our experience was fantastic. We went in not letting anyone know we booked a table, using the opentable website. And we didn’t alert any of the servers that i was a student. Of course, the chef did notice eventually, but that was close to the end of our meal.
We ended up ordering the 4 course dinner, and the only slight disappointment was my grilled fruit salad wasn’t very grilled.
FYI: at dinner, there are two different options, either a 3 course dinner at $ 10 each, or the 4 course at $ 15 each. We didn’t realize the entire table had to decide on the same amount of courses at first. but once we were informed we immediiately picked the 4 course, it was too good a price to pass up.
Between the Shrimp Risotto, the Lamb Tenderloins, Chicken Pizza, Caesar Salad (with actual anchovies!), and the Salted Caramel Brulee, man, we were in heaven!
Thanks fellow students!!!

I am a fan. It is kind of a disjointed place but it is fun, different, has good food and is a deal. I went for lunch and it was $ 10 for three courses. You chose between 2 soups and a salad to start. There were a number of different sandwiches, pizzas, larger salads and traditional entrees to choose from for the main course and they you got your choice of a couple desserts.
It is the teaching restaurant for the Cordon Bleu school which obviously makes it feel different than a traditional restaurant but I really liked it and will definitely go back.
Be careful when you plan to go because since they are a school they are closed when school is out either for holiday or vacations, etc.

I came here for a team lunch. We booked the entire restaurant, and we had around 30 people.
This is a teaching school restaurant, but I was expecting a lot more from the restaurant, since they are the future chefs. There were a lot of waiters and chefs working that day…
Service:
Service was rather slow and unfriendly. Our waiter was not enthusiast about bring us our drinks. First, I ordered a Dr. Pepper, the Dr. Pepper had no flavor, just color and the carbonated water… I informed the waiter about the drink. But he didn’t care if the DP didn’t have any taste, so I asked for an ice tea instead.
Food:
It was a 3-​course meal.
1.) House Salad with fried Goat Cheese. I’ve never had Goat Cheese before, fried part is good. but not the cheese itself. Not a fan.
2.) pan seared chicken. First bite was very good, any subsequent bites were a little salty for my taste. The Chicken was served on top of mash potato (noting special) and steamed asparagus. The chicken portion was too little. I’m a tiny person, but I was still hungry…
3.) dessert — flat out disgusting. no idea what it was… it looks like a Cinnamon roll with some pecan … didn’t taste good to me. Others seem to enjoy it.
Overall experience:
I didn’t pay for the meal. But, I was expecting more from the service and the quality of the food, as well as a bigger portion would be nice.
I give it a 2 star because nothing meets my expectations on that day.

I admit I had such high hopes for my first visit to Technique that I fully expected to give it 5 stars before the food even hit my pallet. You’ll see that I only gave it 3 stars… perhaps I’m being stingy, but we’ll let you decide.
I learned about this restaurant during a MasterChef audition and got really excited. An instructor at Cordon Bleu told me about it, said it was $ 15 for a 5 course dinner, and said you could even bring your own wine… a BIG plus, because my party LOVES their wine, and at restaurant markups, we can blow through $ 100 worth of very mediocre wine very fast.
So in my head I’m thinking…5 courses of haute cuisine and all the wine I want to drink from my own collection… and the bill is going to be $ 15? SIGN ME UP!
The dining room has ZERO atmosphere, though one corner had the lighting dimmed and there was a tea candle on each table. This is not a restaurant, it is a classroom with a giant commercial kitchen to one side. The kitchen IS open, which is something I love in a restaurant, and you can see the student-​chefs working. Waiters are also students and generally have some practical knowledge about how each dish is presented, so if you’re a total foodie, that can be a plus.
The room filled fairly full by the 7pm reservation time, which was pleasantly surprising. It’s creepy to eat in a restaurant when you’re the only party there.
Our first visit from the waiter was disappointing, as we learned YOU CANNOT BRING YOUR OWN WINE any longer. They have a full liquor license and have a wine list now… and the wines look to be priced in such a way as to make up for the bargain price of your food. A few bottles in the $ 20 range, most in the $ 30 and $ 40 range. (Attention Technique: people are coming here because your price is $ 15 for dinner, not because you’re one of the finer restaurants in town! Wine should be priced accordingly. Bad move to spring for the expensive liquor license when your previous BYOW setup was far superior and better matched the spirit of your establishment.)
So we begrudgingly ordered a couple of very over-​priced bottles and gave the waiter our dinner order.
After a reasonable time lapse, the soup course arrived…3 onion soup in the French style. It did not bode well for the rest of the night… greasy and offensively under-​seasoned. It tasted like thin gravy that had been sitting on the back burner of a truck stop café for a few weeks. The croûton, however, was buttery and delicious, and the cheese was excellent.
We were nervous about the next course as it arrived… mine was a salad of frisee, lobster, and duck confit with a sweet vinaigrette. One taste and I forgave them their trespasses against the French onion soup. This salad was superb. My tablemates ordered crispy mozarella, which was a little ball of fresh mozz with a crispy tempura-​style batter served over a delicious tomato sauce with some olive tapenade on the side. Superb, as well.
Next came the salad course, and I had ordered a spinach salad with beets and pears and candied walnuts, a poached egg, and a warm pancetta dressing. Absolutely stupendous… one of the best salads I’ve ever eaten. Tablemates ordered the Technique salad, which was good, but not life-​altering like my spinach salad.
For the main course I ordered a poached cod which was perfectly cooked in a peppery yet delicate broth, served with some small potatoes. One tablemate ordered filet mignon with Bernaise, and it was cooked EXACTLY like he specified… halfway between rare and medium rare. Delicious. The other two tablemates ordered salmon, which was also perfectly cooked (thank God).
Dessert for me was pumpkin crème brûlée, and it was perfect. Most definitely the best crème brûlée I’ve ever had. The rest of the table ordered poached pears with a scoop of butter pecan ice cream (chocolate ice cream actually came out on the plate) and the presentation was truly impressive on theirs. (Though the pears could have been poached a bit longer…)
We finished it off with a 10-​year tawny, which was acceptably priced (compared to the overpriced wine) and generously poured. They were happy to split the bill for our table, but they could not split the wine bottles, so be aware that you’ll not only be paying more than you should for wine, each bottle will have to be stuck singularly on someone’s tab.
As they NOW have their liquor license, it’s not the bargain it used to be, but I will return sporadically.

Well, I really shouldn’t give it 5 stars because it is so good, I want to keep it all to myself ! This was our first visit and we went for dinner. The atmosphere was better than I expected for a school. The food was VERY inexpensive for what you get. You get 3 courses for $ 12 or 5 courses for $ 15. I had the Caesar salad which was delicious, and for an entrée, had the filet mignon, which was small in size, but was cooked perfectly and was tender, and juicy. For dessert, I had the roasted pear with butter pecan ice cream and chocolate sauce. It was also yummy! The have a limited menu selection, of about 3 items in each category and they do serve wine (around $ 8 a glass). The entrée portion sizes were just a little bit small, but we were all full when we left. We will definitely be going back !

I went for lunch on Wednesday. When I asked they said the menu is up to the chef and the ingredients on hand each day. Normally consisting of a lamb, chicken, and pasta dish.
My wife and I like to get different items so we can taste more, or do the eat half and switch dinner. She ordered the kale potato soup and lamb chops, so I ordered the pan seared chicken (even though I am not usually impressed by chicken) and salad. We finished the meal with crème brûlée just because the menu was so cheap and portioned correctly. The portions may be less than the McRestaurant Super-​Plates people are used to, but we thought they were perfect.
We were impressed with both our meals and our service. The kale soup had a good flavor to it. It took me a bit to realize what the wonderful flavor I was tasking in my salad was. It was truffle oil, it gave it a wonderful flavor kick. The entrees were well cooked, presented and tasted wonderful. My chicken had a nice crust on it, and was so well seasoned that I may have to re-​consider ordering it more often. All this for much less than you would expect.
There are two reasons I didn’t give this a 5-​star rating that I almost deserves. Hours, and ambiance. The hours are a bit short. Open for lunch, and an early dinner. Since it is located in a culinary school, it is more of a teaching restaurant. Even with great service, the large windows with people walking by, and the visibility into other students kitchens breaks down the ambiance. I didn’t mind it at all, but I would not try to come here for a romantic date.

This is a review of the student-​run restaurant Le Technique at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school. If you go for lunch, it’s an amazing deal! I believe it was $ 6 for a 1-​course meal, $ 10 for a 2-​course meal and $ 13 for a 3-​course meal. Drinks are $ 1.50 and included water, soft drinks, iced tea, lemonade, etc., but nothing alcoholic. If you want to bring your own wine, however, they’ll pour for free.
I know this is a lot of technical information, but I’d never heard of this place before and it was hard to find information on it online, so I hope this will be useful to other people as well.
The food was pretty good. The bread and butter were amazing, so good that once the bread was done, I kept sneaking tastes of butter by itself.
As our appetizers, we started off with a succulent, perfectly juicy scallop on a bed of risotto and seared tuna with soba noodles.
The entrees and desserts were less impressive. I got a seafood dish that had really good sauce, but the seafood itself was overcooked and tough. My sister had some kind of roast duck wrapped in prosciutto, which was slightly better than the seafood, but still not anything amazing.
For dessert, she tried the strawberry soup, which was basically a high-​quality smoothie, and I had the grilled lemon pound cake, which was way too dry.
The menus change daily, and it was definitely worth the price. I highly recommend Le Technique for all the bargain hunters out there, and I absolutely intend to return.