Chef Eric’s Culinary Classroom

I highly recommend you completely avoid this company. I bought a course for a family member as a Christmas gift. When they were feeling under the weather they tried to reschedule and Chef Eric acted like an arrogant jerk. He refused to let them reschedule and refused to let them attend the class. I attempted to speak with him myself and I was shocked at how unprofessional he and his management staff were. Some reviewers may have had good experiences but if your looking for a professional company with good sense about customer service this is not the place.

A few weeks ago I signed up for Chef Eric’s «Knife Skills» class… was super excited about it as it’s my one weak point in the kitchen. To make a long story short, I badly cut my finger the morning of the class… nearly sliced the end of my finger off on a foil cutter. It was bleeding for nearly an hour and throbbing. I didn’t want to take the class when I was A) actively bleeding, B) in pain, and C) unable to perform at the best of my ability. I emailed Eric a few hours before to tell him what happened and ask if I could please rain check for a future class. I assumed this would be fine. Well, guess what… he responds that there is a 48-​hour cancellation policy and too bad for me. Are you kidding? No exceptions for a HAND INJURY? I was pissed. I was even more pissed when I came on Unilocal and read several negative reviews about Chef Eric himself CANCELLING CLASSES without notice. Unbelievable.
Oh, and if I enjoyed that class I was going to enroll in the Master Baking Certificate Program. I’ll be going elsewhere now. I have some suggestions for what Chef Eric can do with my $ 95.
UPDATE: I just want to be clear that I told Chef Eric exactly how badly I was hurt that morning, in the same language I used here, and that his shift in attitude is only due to the fact that I posted on Unilocal.He showed no concern for my injury whatsoever and had the audacity to tell me to put a band-​aid on it. I have no interest in taking his class now or in the future. I have also checked my credit card and bank statements and see no credit from them.

I attended one of Chef’s Eric’s cooking class with a team for a Corporate Event. Everyone had a great time! Chef Eric and his team were great in the kitchen — Chef had a great energy level that kept everyone engaged. I would hold an event here again!

Took the Couples class last night.
It was fun, relaxing and we got a great dinner out of it.
Chef Eric gets 6-​stars for being laid back and enthusiastic, clear, concise, well-​organized and well-​planned.
I wouldn’t say I learned a lot about cooking — more like just a few minor tips, but then again, I didn’t expect a lot of education in a 2 hour «date night» class.
I would recommend the date night class without hesitation for anyone that wants a fun date that’s a little different.

Just about to finish up the 18 week master program. I’ve learned a TON and it has been worth every penny. Looking in to taking more classes with him. He’s incredibly knowledgeable and helpful. I’d recommend this to anyone.

I’m taking the 18 weeks master chef program and I love it. Chef Erik is an awesome teacher and a very good person!

As someone who longs to have the culinary prowess to create great dishes I have finally found the way! Chef Eric’s Culinary Classroom is exactly what I needed. With zero background in the kitchen I needed to start from scratch. I needed a class where I could learn the basics about everything necessary to become a competent Chef. Chef Eric fit the bill and I have not been disappointed yet.
The Culinary Classroom provides a great learning environment where I am able to feel comfortable and learn through Chef Eric’s interactive teaching. Every class is easy to follow with brief lectures and demonstrations followed by hands-​on prep and cooking. I am having a blast and I feel like I am developing a solid foundation for my culinary future. I am learning about the Grand Sauces, knife skills, food/​prep safety and I am only 3 weeks into the 18 week program. Each class allows us to prepare and cook a variety of dishes and recipes. The support staff in the kitchen make learning easy and pain free. I am having a great time and I can hardly wait for the next class.
If you have ever dreamed about learning, I mean truly learning the essence of great cooking, I would highly recommend Chef Eric and the Master Chef Program. If you’re not ready to commit to 18 weeks, try one of his 4-​week classes where you will learn how to prepare some great dishes and get a tiny sample of what the Master Chef program consists of. The class is great and everyone in the class has a blast. I am having so much fun I couldn’t wait to write something. I will write again once I have that certificate in hand! Bön Appetit!

Last night my BF surprised me with a «Couples Cooking Class» at Chef Eric’s Culinary Classroom; it was a great night filled with tasty food and fun. The entire evening was well organized which gave couples the opportunity for one on one instruction from Chef Eric. I learned lots of tips and tricks to help me in my home kitchen, Eric was friendly and informative always wanting the class to ask questions. The menu we prepared consisted of pasta, fish, and beef dishes; each one was fun to prepare and even more fun to eat! I would for sure recommend coming to Chef Eric’s for a special occasion or date night.
Cheers!
PS — The classroom is BYOB so be sure to bring a bottle to enjoy/​w dinner :)

I took the Healthy Cooking Series at Chef Eric’s Culinary Classroom, which was Mondays from 7 – 9:30PM for 4 weeks. Normally costs $ 350, but I got a $ 50 discount because I signed up last minute (the day of the first class). When I signed up, I was excited because it said that each night we would be learning to make 4 – 5 different exotic and complex dishes. See menu listed below for each class. I thought I would be learning how to make ALL of the dishes by myself, but boy was I wrong. Chef Eric does a good job of teaching the class, and I probably would have given him a better review if he had been more upfront on his website and in his newsletters about what the classes entail.
Chef Eric’s classes are definitely for BEGINNERS. He makes cooking so easy. All of the ingredients are already measured out for you, and set up in a way that makes it so simple to prepare a complex dish. I definitely recommend his classes for high school age, and for people who are beginners and just starting to get into cooking. His class will make you feel more comfortable in the kitchen, and with trying new recipes.
Class #1
— Herb-​Coated Pan-​Roasted Chicken with Champagne Swiss Chard and Scallion-​Cilantro Barley Pilaf
— Whole Roasted Fish, Bombay Style with Stir-​Fried Cauliflower with Green Peas and Ginger
— Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic and Basil Oil
— Oaxacan-​Style Grilled Chicken Breasts with Rice Pilaf with Pico De Gallo
Roasted Corn with Jalapenos, Garlic, Lime and Cilantro
Class #2
— Grilled Portobello Mushrooms stuffed with Black Beans, Tomatoes, Roasted Corn and Chilies
— Wheat Crepes with Wild Mushrooms and Chile Cream Sauce
— Roasted Eggplant with Beluga Lentils, Garlic, Ginger, Curry Leaves, and Turmeric Root
— Home Made Whole Wheat Fettuccine with Roasted Corn, Chiles and Cilantro
Class #3
— Tagine of Fish with Preserved Lemons, Olives and Chermoula
— Quinoa Pilaf
— Citrus-​Braised Flank Steak with Vegetables
— Wheat Polenta
— Hot and Spicy Vegetables with Ginger, Garlic, Chili Sauce and Sesame Oil
— Stir-​Fried Barley Pilaf with Red Bell Pepper, Shallot, Carrot, Celery, and Olive Oil
Class #4
— Thai-​Style Stir-​Fried Chicken with Basil and Chiles
— Sugar Snap Peas with Mixed Wild Mushrooms
— Brown Rice Pilaf with Oyster Mushrooms
— Whole Fish — Deep Fried (Trout, Rock Cod or Catfish) with Ginger, Sake, Soy Sauce and Lemon Juice
— Roasted Asparagus with Lime Ponzu Sauce
— Phyllo Dough Spring Rolls with Mushrooms and Chile-​Peanut Coconut Sauce
After reading this amazing list of dishes, I was so excited to sign up. Unfortunately, I feel very mislead. No you don’t make everything listed for each class. You only make 1 dish, but you don’t even make the entire dish yourself, you have a partner who does a lot of the work, and Chef Eric always steps in to do a majority of the cooking for you, so that leaves you barely cooking anything at all for your 1 dish. For example, in the last class my partner and I had the Whole Fish — Deep Fried (Trout, Rock Cod or Catfish) with Ginger, Sake, Soy Sauce and Lemon Juice. The ONLY part of this plate that I helped make during the 3 hour class is the soy sauce! Chef Eric did the fish entirely himself, while my partner and I just waited around while he cooked it.
If you are thinking about taking a class here, I recommend just signing up for 1, that way you can get a feel for it, and take a class whenever you feel like it every once in awhile. 4 weeks in a row was too much for me, I was over-​it by the last class.

I went here yesterday for a private sushi class to celebrate my fiancé’s 30^th birthday party. What a great experience. Everything was easy and smooth: from the emails with Jennie to set-​up the event all the way to leaving yesterday evening.
Chef Eric is great. Very personable, knowledgeable, and a great instructor. The private sushi class was SO much fun. We learned everything from making sushi rice to cutting a whole fish! It was so cool to be able to watch that. I also loved that one of the assistants was able to take my camera and captured so many great photos. It was so relaxing to be able to just enjoy the class instead of constantly stopping to take photos.
I loved the constant attention to detail. The package includes some alcoholic beverage and it was so great to see that it was themed to the meal (Sapporo and Sake!) instead of just some random beer. I also appreciated getting all the recipes neatly printed and shared with us at the end of the class.
Everyone left saying how much fun they had and the fiancé was THRILLED. I can’t wait to make sushi at home now!
Thank you to Chef Eric, Cat, Cameron, and Jennie for making our day great.

Upon completion of the 18-​week professional master chef program with Chef Eric, I can say that taking this course was one of the most memorable, most fun, and undoubtedly useful experiences I’ve had in my life.
I had been looking for a cooking school to broaden my knowledge of the kitchen as it relates to the hospitality industry. Le Cordon Bleu was the most obvious choice, but decided against it because the school would have cost upwards of $ 20k, with an unnecessarily arduous schedule ending at 11pm every day.
Further research led me to Chef Eric’s Culinary Classroom, which was one of the first hits on Google after searching for culinary instruction in the Los Angeles area. I found that the cost of the master chef program was indeed just a mere fraction of the tuition at Le Cordon Bleu, so naturally I was skeptical yet elated at this opportunity.
Each day in class is designed to explore specific modules in cookery, starting with the basic meal preparations, ending with full course meals. Each class began with an hour of lecture, followed by approximately 3 hours of kitchen time. Chef Eric is engaging, and keeps everyone on their toes by throwing out questions to review materials from reading assignments and past lectures. When coupled with a group that is eager to learn and has a real passion for cooking, the environment is high-​energy and interesting, and feels less like a class.
All ingredients and cooking equipment are included in the cost of taking this course. In addition, a nifty chef’s jacket and an apron is provided for weekly use (laundry on own).
The biggest takeaway from this experience was the boost in confidence as a cook. Cooking with recipes and paying more attention to measuring and portioning forced me to think of food preparation as a science, which allowed me to see exactly where I can play with variables to create my own unique dish. Realizing this is a tremendous power to wield in the kitchen, and it gives rise to ideas and new flavors.
The caveat of taking this 18-​week course is that it is designed more as a crash-​course, rather than an extensive schooling that Le Cordon Bleu would have been. However, culinary arts is forgiving in that it is a field where the experience is what you make of it. You can pay $ 20k to be forced to stand at a counter cooking for 4 consecutive hours 5x per week, or you can pay 10% of that to learn the basics and practice on your own time.
This class allowed me to explore a passion for cooking that had lain dormant over years of working a full time job and being «too tired» or «too lazy» to cook. I realize now that with a fresh outlook and renewed confidence in my skills, this is the start of something new and exciting. I hope it could be for you as well.
Highly recommend Chef Eric’s instruction without reservation. I will be back to take his baking course next year.

I took Chef Eric’s 4 week Vegan and Vegetarian cooking series recently… and loved it! I enrolled because I’m considering attending culinary school and I wanted to get a feel for a professional kitchen and see how it «felt». I’m newly vegetarian (1 year) and I’m interested in health supportive cooking so this series was perfect! Chef had us prepare a variety of dishes from varying cuisines, most of which I hadn’t heard of — which I loved. I was thankful the dishes were challenging yet approachable. We made everything from aloo gohbi to naan bread to cashew cheese. Chef would do a demo at the beginning of class then we would jump into the kitchen and get to work in small teams. I learned a ton, we got to eat an amazing meal afterward and even take some home to the hubby. Highly recommended! And, I’m applying to culinary school!

This was the perfect venue in which to host a small corporate team-​building event! Our group of about 12 got to mince, sautee, whip, and chop for a couple of hours and ultimately take credit for a meal which was probably only pulled off due to the stellar staff at Chef Eric’s Culinary Classroom.
This event came at the mid-​point of a long week of training and was a welcome diversion for all in our group. We got to relax, drink a bunch of wine, and listen to Chef Eric talk about the dishes, methods of preparation, and tips and tricks for getting the result you want. It was highly engaging, although due to the size of our group, none of us did more than 2 or 3 things — which resulted in the perfect ratio between cooking, drinking wine, and chatting with our fellow group members.
Eric and Jennie run a standout operation and I’d love to go back for another class soon!

I took the 10 week master baking program and I loved it!
I was worried at first that the classes would be too basic and that I wouldn’t learn anything, boy was I wrong!
Even though I had made a lot of the stuff before, Chef Eric was able to teach the class how to properly make everything like a real pro!
Before each class, Chef Eric would take you through the menu of the day giving you helpful hints and notes.
We made everything from ice cream to cakes, tarts, pies, soufflés and bread.

One thing this class has done for me is made me much more confident in the kitchen and has boosted my skills to the next level.
Whether you are a rookie or a skilled chef this class really has something for everyone.

I just completed the Master Baking Professional Program and loved every minute of it! Chef Eric is a great teacher. He cares about giving you proper instruction that is clear and easy to follow. The environment of the Culinary Classroom is fun and inviting, not intimidating at all! I have learned so much from this experience and have broadened my baking skills so much farther than I would have baking on my own. I look forward to taking some of the recreational classes just to broaden my home cooking skills. I would highly recommend Chef Eric’s Culinary Classroom to anyone. Whatever your need or desire to learn is, there is something for everyone at Chef Eric’s.

I took the basic culinary series and the master chef program there. Chef Eric’s culinary classroom is really awesome.
I didn’t know anything about cooking before I took his class, but I learned a lot from A to Z. Now, I can make everything from scratch: different stocks, sauces, pasta,…I know various cooking methods: pan fry, deep fry, poaching, steaming, broiling, roasting, etc… I gained culinary knowledge: various ingredients and herbs, cooking equipments and tools, storage methods, dangerous zone temperature, danger of food borne illness, and etc…
Tuition fee is reasonable, location is convenient, and classroom atmosphere is very friendly. Chef Eric makes it simple and easy, so that anybody from different culinary background understands. Chef Eric’s culinary classroom is highly recommended.

I took 2 of Chef Eric’s classes — the 4 class Basic Cooking Series and the 4 class Healthy Cooking Series. I didn’t know anything about cooking beforehand and had to start to cook for myself for health reasons. (Let’s face it, eating out all the time is expensive and can be unhealthy!)
His classes were exactly what I was looking for — I learned about about how to cook and food in general. Cooking is a lot more than just following a recipe — there are a lot of tips and tricks that you can only learn from doing and from watching an experienced practitioner. In his classes, I learned how to handle different kitchen utensils, as well as about the ingredients themselves. I learned about where ingredients came from, how they can be used, where to buy them, and how long they can last in storage. Chef Eric is very knowledgeable about food in general and was a great teacher. I asked a lot of questions in the beginning and no question was too stupid — he welcomed all of them.
The format of each of his classes was first an introduction to what we were going to be doing in the class, then partnering up with a fellow student in his class to cook a few of the dishes for the class. His kitchen facilities were very nice and I swear Chef Eric has eyes on the back of his head — he seemed to know everything that was going on in his kitchen, even with his back turned and all the way across the room. I learned a lot of things, from how to prepare vegetables, to how to score fish, to how to make fresh pasta, to how to steam, deep fry, roast, & stir fry. The best part of each class was eating each of our creations at the end of class!
I’m by no means an expert chef at this point, but I do know enough of the basics and of the fundamental theories behind cooking at this point to be able to fend for myself & survive my own cooking. Would definitely recommend his school to others!
Also, I took his Sunday classes (each class started at 10am in the morning and was 3 hours long), so plenty of free street parking. Not sure about where to park other days though.

My boyfriend and I did a couples’ dinner here just last weekend and had such a great time! Chef Eric did a great job and made us feel really welcome there. I am not much of an experienced cook so I had some silly questions and he was more than happy to answer them all. There was some socializing with the other couples which is nice, although we were younger than all the other couples there. We were able to take home the recipes we learned and plan on making them soon because they were so delicious. We didn’t expect the food to be amazing (since we were all making it) but knew that we would probably have a great time anyway (and we would have spent the same amount had we gone to dinner, and that’s not as fun!) but we were pleasantly surprised that the food was all so good! I don’t typically eat until I’m full/“stuffed” but I did this time haha. I highly recommend the class that we took for couples because it is really fun and a memorable experience.

i recently completed the 18 week professional master chef program and enjoyed it so much i actually miss going to class every sunday!
if you know the simonster, you know that i like to cook. usually, the more complicated, modernist, or gadget-​requiring the recipe is, the better. through lots of practice, comparing lots of recipes for each dish, and careful thought, i’ve been able to improve my success ratio over the years, but i’ve always known i lacked the fundamentals. if you stranded me on a deserted island without my chamber vacuum sealer, immersion blender, and an internet full of recipes and guidance, i would have been lost. LOST, i say, LOST!
i’ve tried taking recreational cooking classes, but found them too easy. the unfortunate reality is that unless you’re going to hire your own private instructor, the classes always need to cater to the lowest common denominator. in one of my classes, that lowest common denominator took the form of a lady named karen who stared at a leek like it was a teenage mutant ninja scallion and pretty much stayed in that state for the rest of the class. (O.o)
fast forward to the first day of the master chef program, and i was like a kid on the first day of school. new school bag, nervous, intimidated, and hoping the other kids liked me. most of the 10 or so other students had aspirations of working in the food service business, but several, like me, were just trying to improve our home cooking skills.
what i liked about the program is that you are started very slowly and gently, taking time to learn the fundamentals like knife skills, cuts, basic heating techniques, making stock, etc. you gradually work your way up to cooking entire dishes, first with a team, and then on your own, before finally being solely responsible for creating your own full meals, complete with protein, veg, and starch! with 10 other cooks all flying around trying to time and complete their dishes, it really does feel like a professional restaurant in the kitchen.
i actually liked how chef eric would walk around and critique each dish, offering constructive feedback. what’s great is that, since the program is 18 weeks of 3.5 hours per session, there is time for everyone to learn at their own pace. and if students happen to find themselves with extra time during a session because they finished their dishes early, chef always has extra prep or dishes you can work on to expand your learning. you will never get bored, regardless of your skill level.
as i was preparing for the final exam and re-​reading all of the notes and recipes that we’d learned over 18 weeks, i marveled at the amazing breadth and depth that we’d covered. chef eric and his staff are super patient and informative, but yet also instill a professionalism in their students. trust me. after taking this program, you’ll damn sure warm or cool your plates, maintain good standards of cleanliness, make clean cuts, season your food properly, finish to the proper doneness, and plate beautifully.
a great program. highly recommended if you want to learn proper french technique a whole lot faster than you could pick it up yourself. the quality of my cooking improved with the very first class!
thanks, chef!

Took the Healthy Cooking Series. Great instruction in a clean school. Had a great time cooking, eating, and hanging out with Chef Eric and fellow classmates. Highly recommend everyone to try it out. Nothing wrong with learning how to cook healthy meals.