Alchemy of the Hearth

Alchemy of the Hearth provides an amazing cooking experience. You’ll learn everything you need to now to create an amazing dish that will wow your spouse, partner, family, and friends. The staff are very knowledgeable & helpful.
I took what I learned and made my wife a special pasta dinner for valentines day. I have also taken my wife to Tapas and wine tasting here and it was a lot of fun. We made some sangria, and had a blast. I strongly suggest that if you’re looking to take classes in the North county San Diego area you check them out. They have a wide selection of available classes.

I had bought a Daily Deal for the Basic Knife Skills class and I was really excited to take it! I originally tried to sign up for the October 12 course but was informed that the class was cancelled due to a lack of participants but that a small group was scheduled for October 18. Heck yes! Sign me up! However, on the day of the course, I was greeted at the office by several work emergencies so I regrettably called at 8:30am to reschedule. I soon received an email from Alchemy of the Hearth explaining that while my cancellation message was appreciated it was not done so within the 5-​day cancellation period; therefore, my coupon was forfeited and it could not be used toward a future class. I had tried to explain the extenuating circumstances that directed me to cancel the class but their response was «…had you arrived at our kitchen this morning, you would have found that the class was to be a private session focused upon you and the development of your skills with the knife.»
First, I was never told that this was a private session when I booked the class. Second, with the exception of a footnote at the bottom of their website, their cancellation policy was not written on the deal terms nor was it summarized in any of the follow up confirmation emails. Plus, they never explained that a cancellation would result in a forfeiture of the deal altogether.
What a disappointment. Their actions clearly suggest that customer satisfaction is not a primary business objective. From what I could gather, there was no sympathy, understanding, or exceptions to their rules. Plus I lost out on $ 25! I would NOT recommend this business to anyone.

This is a very, very, very small «kitchen» in a so so industrial park in San Marcos. There is actually only one stove. Generally that stove is shared by two to three students. Everyone else cooks on a propane hot plate. It is overcrowded and you will spend hours standing. «Interns» will come by and drop your premeasured ingredients. You will spend much of your time in line to wash your utensils and pans in the ONE small sink. My real problem with the class I took is that the recipes we «cooked» were taken from cooking light and other websites. Our handout was nothing but a collection of printouts. I can do this myself and read a recipe for far less than 70.00 and it least it would be food I was interested in making! There are no recipes listed in the class description. The food we made was disappointing and did not fit the title of the class.

Have taken many classes here, and the results have never been disappointing.

We did take a class here and agree that it would have been helpful if there had been a listing of what dishes would be made during the class.
It was also bit surprising and disappointing that we had to stay until everything was cleaned up! Not that I am lazy, but there were many helpers (interns?) who also ate what had been prepared and at other cooking classes (Kitchen Witch and Sur La Table – both wonderful experiences!), the helpers complete the clean up. grrrrrrr…
I was also disappointed that an extra service charge was added for using a credit card. Had I been alerted, I would have paid with a check or cash. Consider this your warning if you decide to take a class here.

I have no doubt this is a good school, based on other reviews. But, I have yet to take a class here because the school only lists a «title» for each class and a vague description. It would be EXTREMELY HELPFUL if the director would list the dishes that will be made – sort of a menu – so that students can decide which classes to sign up for. I called once for more info and the director said she and the instructors had not yet decided which dishes to make for classes already listed on the calendar-​hmm. Sort of the cart before the horse. I have attended several cooking schools and every single one has listed a tantalizing class description PLUS specific dishes.