Natural Gourmet Institute

My friend had told me about this place in the summer and I recently rediscovered it after learning that Chef Chloe was trained here. They host these awesome Friday night dinners for $ 45 using local, seasonal, organic, and vegetarian (mostly or all vegan, some gluten-​free and raw). The ambience is actually really cozy as well — it feels like an intimate dinner party with nice touches like string lights and table dressings. You get to see the menu before buying your ticket and you can request to be seated with specific people, but there were several people who came solo.
Everyone was friendly and it’s nice to meet new people. It’s also BYOB and they’ll chill your wine for you, so you get a nice gourmet dinner without spending a fortune. They also bring out the crew of chefs at the end and let you ask questions. It gives you a deeper appreciation for the love that went into creating the food, and you might learn something too! I highly recommend coming here for dinner. I’m not sure how the classes are, but the end result is certainly impressive!

Went to one of their Friday night #seasonal dinners. For $ 45 three large courses it was excellent value. The dishes were delicious. They were complex without being fussy or fiddly. BYOB. Set in the classrooms, the tables were cute with a small bouquet of had cut flowers. Servers were professional and friendly. Highly recommend

If I could give them zeros stars I would! The staff is extremely rude and not understanding. Due to a sick family member I had to cancel class last minute and they would not refund a penny. I understand in certain circumstances but I would would think they would have the decency to understand family comes first and that I would not attend. I offered to pay a penalty fee for the food and they were unwilling to budge. Only purchase these classes if you know 200% that nothing will get in your way to cancel because they are awful when it comes to customer service.

After living here for about 10 years, there are still new discoveries every day and that’s why I love this city. Never a dull moment.
I was lucky enough to be my friend’s date for Friday night dinner here. On Friday nights, NGI opens their doors to the public, they set the tables, light the candles and put their chefs in training to work and creating a unique, intimate family dinner that is usually vegan and/​or gluten-​free. Dinner is BYOB, and costs only $ 45 for a high-​quality, local and fresh 3-​course meal. And wow, I got to try this all for free. It really pays to have good friends.
We came here on Friday, Jan 16 for a Japanese New Year dinner. prepared by Chef Hideyo Yamada and her students. For the appetizer, we started with ozoni and brown rich mochi, vegetables and Japanese mitsuba herb, watercress-​avocado salad with ginger shiso dressing and «kikka-​kabu» flower turnip. The mochi soup was tasty and fresh. Vegetables and salad light and went well with the soup.
For the entrée, we were served skewered tofu loaf paired with simmered bamboo shoots, lotus root, carrots and snow peas. It was also served with burdock root with tamari and mirin; broccoli rabe and green amaranth with spinach sauce. Oh, how I love lotus and burdock root! Probably two of my most favorite veggies the world over. Needless to say, I was so so happy to see these two items on the menu, and both vegetables well-​made, expertly executed.
And for dessert? Parfait with green tea and vanilla ice cream, mochi and red beans and chocolate tuille. Now that’s a lot of mochi for the night, but one can never have enough mochi right?
This was one of the best dinners I’ve had in so long. I left filled with yummy food in my belly and not too overly stuffed. And my brain was definitely pickled in a few glasses of Cannonau.
Definitely a great date spot and be forewarned, you will fall in love with the food, the venue, all the veggies and that special someone you bring here to experience such a delightful food journey…

Love that they utilize natural grown ingredients in their meals. Had a wonderful vegan dinner on Friday night. Will return again

My daughter and I had a wonderful time with the other students watching the very entertaining Chef demo the assortment (like 7) vegan gf desserts.
After demo she split us up into groups and with the very eager, amazing assist of the sous chefs (like 5) we set out to cook. They had set up stations to ease in organization!
The space is large but we are a lot of people (like10) and its so surprising to see how a flow of energy and movement occurs with such ease.
Chef was so knowledgable in her recipes and how to execute and I learned several tips on best ways to go about getting the best of your ingredients.
We all then sat together with tea /​water and enjoyed our Just (awesome) Desserts.
For fun or for serious cooks, you will love this place as a source of wholesome inspiration and good vibes.

Amazing experience, very inspiring, tons of knowledge to take home.

Why it’s worth it: Every Friday night, Natural Gourmet Institute is transformed into an intimate dining room, in which the Chef’s Training Program students and instructors prepare a three-​course vegan Friday Night Dinner. The meals are innovative, delectable and exquisitely prepared. Last Friday night, I was fortunate enough to be invited to this wonderful culinary experience and the menu for our fabulous dinner was created by Chef Barbara Rich.
Vibe/​layout: The cozy, candlelit dining room houses several communal tables that foster friendly conversation and culinary appreciation. Don’t come here to be antisocial; come here to embrace wonderful food with wonderful company.
Tip: The curriculum is based off of the founder’s seven core principles: the food should be seasonal, local, whole, traditional, balanced, fresh and delicious. And that’s just what it is.
After dinner, Chef Barbara and the culinary students who prepared the meal came out for a post-​dinner Q&A. Overall, I was very impressed by the deliciousness of the vegetarian meals that seamed so complex but used such simple ingredients. Not to mention that the white balsamic vinaigrette and the chocolate terrine blew me away!
With that said, if you are looking for something different to do on a Friday night in NYC, especially if you have a vegetarian friend or family member, we highly recommend checking out the Friday Night Dinners at Natural Gourmet Institute. The menus change from week to week, based on the ingredients that are in season. Not to mention… 10% of the proceeds from each dinner are donated to a charity.

Friday Night Vegan Dinners… it’s awesome. A great experience that I highly recommend for those that a) like vegetarian/​vegan food; b) can sit next to strangers; c) enjoy meeting randoms; or d) enjoy being taken out of their comfort zone.
I loved the puttanesca. I’m sure some of the menus are either a hit or miss but it’s a great experience to have the staff and chef come out and explain what they made and how they made it. I tried to get specifics, but that wasn’t happening. Tips: BYOB (bring a twist off, it makes life easier), and the bigger the group the merrier.

In one week we went to the Friday Night dinner and also attended a knife skills class. I would recommend both, but the knife skills class was definitely my favorite!
The dinner was delicious, tried some new things that I’d never heard of. At the end of the dinner, the students talked a little bit and told us about how they’d made everything.
The knife skills class was so much fun! It was a 3 ½ hour class, but the time just flew by. The instructor Barb was great, gave everyone individual pointers and did really entertaining demonstrations. Students from the NGI cooked up everything we chopped and at the end of the night we feasted on delicious food made from all the ingredients we had practiced chopping, mincing, and dicing.

I recently took a knife skills class here and absolutely loved it. I feel the class was very well organized, contained lots of useful information, and offered many opportunities to test out the skills in class. At first, I thought the price was a bit high (about $ 120), but I then saw how much work goes into the class. At that price point, I likely won’t take too many other classes, but I have a great appreciation for the class and I absolutely loved that the class included a meal made out of the veggies we chopped. Not only was the meal delicious, but it was all vegan — excellent!

Friday night dinner February 15^th was one of the best vegan meals I’ve eaten. The atmosphere was cozy and the service was attentive. I loved the joy in the room when the chef and his students were introduced at the end of the night. It’s always good when your food is prepared with happiness. Most definitely going back.

Friday night dinners is one of my favourite things about NGI, and New York in general.
Teaching people how to cook, doing it primarily all vegan and stuff — how much better does it get?

Went there a few years ago while I was in NYC to tour their facility as I was considering a culinary career back then. Found out about their Friday night dinner where they make the classroom into a restaurant and the student chefs prepare a dinner menu that’s a full 4-​course meal. I expressed my interest of attending that night as it was a Friday. They gave me a discount so I only had to pay $ 25 and was signed up for the dinner. I came alone on time for the dinner and all the tables were assigned as everyone needs to make reservation ahead of time. I was seated with some students from the culinary program and their friends. Everyone was friendly and the meal was fantastic! I was very impressed with the presentation of the dishes and ingredients they use and the flavor. Everything was great and the food was vegetarian and gluten and dairy free. I didn’t miss meat at all after the meal.
This school has become prestigeous in natural food cooking and many of their graduates became successful in the healthy food restaurant sceen. I wish I live close to them so I can at least take their amateur classes which are offered in the evenings and on the weekends. I especially want to attend their vegan cupcake making class and wish we had similar class here in the Bay Area!

I have been dying to take a cooking class at the Natural Gourmet Institute and haven’t been able to carve out the time, so I did the next best thing. Some friends and I attended the Friday Night Dinner. The food was delicious and they presented a Q&A with the chefs after the meal.
The menu was entirely vegan, soy and gluten free!
~ Appetizer — 1^st Course ~
Watercress + Endive muffelata salad
sweet potato chips, pine nut purée
~ Entrée — 2^nd Course ~
Leek + kasha loaf, mushroom sauce, fried sage leaf
Butternut squash + Marrow beans
Braised mustard greens
Pickled red cabbage
~ Dessert — 3^rd Course ~
Pear sorbet
Wine soaked prunes, poppy seed tuile
Candied walnuts + Licorice syrup

I wish I could give this place a million stars! I don’t know where to begin describing this school. My girlfriend and I wanted to take the chef training courses, but we don’t live in ny, so we did second best, we’re attending the two week summer intensive course.
Integrity, passion, the most knowledgeable chef staff I could have ever hoped for. They have blown so far past my expectations, I can’t think of anything else I want to do with my life, other than attend the full time chef program and somehow begin a career with what I will learn.
Not only are we learning the truth about food and how terrible refined foods are for you, I am living it as well. Every day, we begin by a little lecture, then we learn knife skills and other cooking school activities, we begin to assist the chef in preparing our organic lunch. A fully balanced meal, containing a variety of color, textures, sweet, sour and salty etc… After we eat, I feel fantastic! Since beginning this, I am so full of energy and feel wonderful. I can already feel the difference in my body, and it’s only been a week.
I am so inspired by this bunch of people, I can’t wait to get home to California to begin experimenting in my own kitchen with the new ingredients i have learned to work with! I also can’t wait to get home to figure out a way to attend the full chef program. I already know I’m going to cry last day of class. :)
If you want to experience what kinds of food you will learn, I highly recommend going to the Friday night dinner. It’s a great way to sample and meet other people who love this place.
They also offer classes for those who just want to take one here and there.
The natural gourmet institute will change your life!

I went for a class last night, the Unique & Elegant Vegan Hors D’oeuvres with chef Louisa Shafia. I was very excited about this class and it was great. Chef Louisa was also amazing, she interacted well with the class and you can tell she takes pride in what shes cooking and teacher her students.
My only issue was, for the amount of money spent I thought I was going to be able to make everything that was on the menu for that night. Rather, you are divided up into groups and everyone works on a certain part of the meal. While I understand its for time constraints, I wish I could have made it all!
Even though you don’t get to make each part of the meal you certainly get to eat it all! The food was amazing. My two favorite things on the menu were the black bean sliders and the green tea tofu cheesecake. I will be making those again ASAP!
Overall great experience, met some great people and learned some new techniques and got some great recipes! Yay food!

The teachers here are amazing! It’s a small school so it has a tight, close-​knit sort of feeling around here.
Every teacher I’ve come across has extensive experience in the food industry — be it in a restaurant kitchen, as a private chef /​caterer /​cookbook author /​etc. So they know what they’re talking about and turn out delicious food. But the edge that this school has over others is that the teachers know all about the health aspect of food.

I took the same cupcake making class with Fran, that Ronald S. mentioned below…
While the flavors, and recipes were delicious and the experience of working in a kitchen like this was interesting, we really expected a lot more.
It was definitely a class targeted more at people who knew very little about vegan baking. My husband and I could have taught this class ourselves, with probably a lot less attitude than Fran. I was really disappointed in her treatment of both the students, as well as her assistance. Within the first ten minutes she completely took the fun out of the experience for me.
I’d love to take another class in the future, but will make sure it’s on a topic I know little about, and with an instructor with a bit more patience.

We took a vegan cupcake baking class here last month with Fran Costigan and it was super-​informative and hands-​on, by the end of class our groups had made about a dozen dozen vegan cupcakes in all different shapes and flavors to split up and take home; all were exceptional and all the recipes we have tried at home have been a great success. we will definitely be back to the Natural Gourmet Institute soon! hopefully next time we can make it for the Friday dinner service too!
from their website list — this is what we made that day. just typing this review makes me want to go bake some more!!-
Fluffy Chocolate Cream Soy-​Free Cupcakes; Gluten-​Free Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Water Glaze; ‘Buttermilk’ Cupcakes with Pink Icing; and Moist Carrot-​Coconut Cupcakes with Magic Coconut Cream & Marzipan Designs. The Cream-​Filled Cupcakes: Boston Cream Pie Cupcakes; Hostess with the Mostess; Chocolate Pudding Filled, Swirly Cream-​Topped Chocolate Chip Cupcakes; and Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cranberry Coulis Filling & Orange Glaze.
mmmm YUM! vegan and delicious!