Sur La Table

Great store with cooking supplies and also a space where they provide cooking classes. Took one and is very well organized, good logistics and great results. They open every day of the week and the calendar of the lessons gets updated every so often, the only problem was the AC wasn’t working and was really hot inside.

My husband wanted a cooking class for Father’s Day, but he has so many food allergies and I thought instead it would be good to take a knife skills class as a basic foundation in order to cook any recipes more easily. We brought our daughter along, who will be needing to cook more for herself as she will be going off to grad school in a few months. I wanted to gain more efficiency in the kitchen as well. We all enjoyed the class taught by Elaine. She was firm as far as safety precautions—which is what you want for a knife skills class—but was also very knowledgeable, pleasant, and easy to talk to.

I had a very disappointing experience at this store while trying to purchase a mini food processor. The website showed the item in stock, so I visited the store hoping to see it in person before buying. When I arrived, I went directly to the appropriate aisle, but there were no staff members around to assist. Because my baby doesn’t like going to store I had to rush through the process. I brought the item up to the front to ask if they had a new one in the box. Instead of simply checking, the cashier remarked, “I’m surprised you took it off the shelf — we usually keep everything locked,” in a tone that made me feel as if I was doing something wrong or trying to steal it. This was confusing and upsetting, especially since I later saw that multiple food processors were openly displayed on the shelf — nothing was locked. After checking, the staff brought out a food processor that was completely different in design and size from the one I was looking for. When I pointed this out, I was told, “That’s all we have.” Another staff member then jumped in to say they can’t sell display models and the website isn’t accurate but could order it online — something I could have done from home if I wanted to. What made this experience worse was the noticeable difference in how I was treated compared to other customers around me. While I was spoken to with a dead serious tone, I saw the same staff members greet and assist other customers — who happened to be Caucasian — with smiles and friendly conversation. As an Asian customer, this disparity made me feel unwelcome.

Blake is extremely knowledgeable and informed about it what he does. He walked me through everything to look for when it comes to making coffee, grinding beans, and the different products offered. I never felt like he was trying to sell me on anything, or as if he had any agenda, and that really made me trust him a lot more too. I’ll definitely be returning for all my kitchen needs!

I love the store but especially wanted to mention Blake, who is THE most customer centric employee at this organization. Thank you for going out of your way to ensure customer satisfaction. I really appreciate it.

Booked a cooking class explicitly named “Date Night: Latin American Dining.” We got there at 4pm and the kitchen staff and chef were running a little late with the set up. No biggie. There were 3 couples and the room was cramped at all (it was July 4, so I’m sure people had other plans). So all six of us were VERY confused when we were told that one coupled had to split up, so that we could form 2 groups of 3. Sorry, but no situation makes this make sense. If we book a class with a partner or friend, much less a “DATE NIGHT,” why would we be expected to split up from a bonding experience? Plus we paid almost $100 EACH PERSON for this!!! When we brought up this fact and asked to keep it as three groups, Chef Marla seemed pretty passive aggressive and annoyed that we wanted to stay with the people we brought (????). She said “oh well usually we split it up and people are cool with it” are they actually cool with it, or are they just too scared to speak up lol. The actual cooking was fine. She messed up the ingredients on one of the steps, so her and the sous chef ended up redoing the recipe from scratch for us. That particular recipe, the empanadas, were the worst tasting ones. The strange thing is is that she kept saying we were running short on time but class finished 30 minutes early.

Jennifer & Stephanie at the Palo Alto store were super helpful! Jennifer helped me sign up for a cooking class. Stephanie handled a very complicated transaction, which involved both a gift card and a separate discount code, with patience. She also advised me on different silicone mats and cutting boards.

Had the best date night experience learning how to cook (grill) at Sur La Table… highly recommend. We learned, we laughed, we ate. 10/10🫶🏼 Thank you chef Elaine for such a wonderful experience.