The Chef Upstairs Reviews

The best interactive dining experience in the city! Can't wait to go back.

Had such a good time at The Chef Upstairs! The Thai cooking class was fun and informative. I learned some great new kitchen skills. Even though you don't get a chance to work on every dish, I like that everyone works together as a group to create delicious meals. Chef Pierre and Dave were incredibly helpful and friendly. Would recommend a class to someone looking to learn new skills and cook interesting dishes.

We had a great time doing a virtual cooking class with Chef Lisa this weekend! It was fun and different food from what we'd typically make ourselves, and a nice change to our lockdown activities. The class is long, which we expected, but felt slightly longer because we did all the recommended prep beforehand but the class was structured in case you hadn't - so there is no need to prepare as much as is recommended. That said, we were able to relax and enjoy some wine while doing it!

I took cooking classes at the Chef Upstairs for a few months and it was such a fun time! Would definately recommend to beginner chefs. The food is fantastic and it greatly improved my confidence in cooking.

Got a gift certificate as a wedding present. Tried the spanish tapas class. Was a lot of work (not sure how I would have been able to keep up with the class if I was cooking solo) but it was well worth it. Made delicious meals and learned some nice tips. Will be signing up for another class soon!

Such a great team building experience we made it our tradition! Chef Julian and his team really took great care of our party! And amazing food!

Re: Kid`s Summer Cooking Camp
While the instructors may know something about how to cook they know nothing about how to interact with children. To forbid a nine-year old from asking questions because you think they ask too many is contemptible. I will never send my child back here and neither should you.

My boyfriend and I did the Mediterranean grilling class and had a wonderful time. The chef, Pierre, was very knowledgeable and personable. The food was absolutely delicious and we were able to get involved in all steps of the meal - basically whatever we were interested in learning. I really liked that! The one criticism; there were 1-2 people in the 10 person class that had dietary restrictions (gluten-free and dairy-free). The chef decided to alter everyone's meals to be gluten & dairy free, rather than only modify the meals for the people with the restrictions. I was looking forward to feta cheese in my salad and homemade baklava, however, instead i received dairy-free cheese which tasted like cardboard and a different dessert entirely (which was still very delicious). Learning to make baklava was actually a big reason why we chose that class so it was very disappointing. I would definitely do another class, but I would suggest, going forward, you only modify the meals for the people with food restrictions as it ruins the experience a bit for everyone else. Overall we did have a great time.

My wife and I had such an amazing experience for the Valentine's Day Tasting Menu. The chefs were very friendly and personable, the food, wine and service all excellent. A great night out. Highly recommend. We will be back!

We had a wonderful evening with Chef Pierre on a Zoom telecast. He was very informative and energetic with his presentation. Well laid out menu which resulted in an excellent tasting meal and an enjoyable evening. Hope to do it again.

Such a fun date night! Food was absolutely amazing with a nice cozy atmosphere.

Amazing! Alexandra is great chef and our corporate event was perfect. Thank you for great evening and amazing food that we cooked together! Highly recommend!

On April 26, for my birthday I invited 16 couples to join me in an online cooking class. We did Hawaiian cuisine and the food was great. But more importantly with the stay at home virus issue, we did it online! Using zoom, chef Julian guided us thru 4 courses. My friends were scattered all across Florida from coast to coast.

I was excited to take the Canadian Winter Comforts class, with Chef Pierre Beaumier. On the menu: a spiced squash and ginger soup, cornish hen with maple-glazed root vegetables and kale, and maple-whiskey butter tarts.

All skill levels are made to feel comfortable right from the beginning. Before we started working with the very sharp knives, Chef Pierre gave us a thorough tutorial. We began with the basics like how to hold the knife properly to have the best control over what you re doing. This was news to me, apparently I've been holding the handle too far back for years. No one was sent off to do a new task without support and guidance from the Chef. I m actually glad we were placed on the soup team because we got to see our dish through to the end and learned tips on plating as well!

The large family style kitchen is reminiscent of a cooking show, with ample seating around the counter. Drinks are available to purchase before the class to enjoy as you cook and eat. Before the cooking begins, Chef goes over the menu, ingredients we ll be using and demonstrates useful techniques. Then we re divided up into teams to work on the various courses at the same time. Chef does an incredible job guiding a large group through the activity while empowering you to take initiative and make the recipe your own.

I genuinely enjoyed the experience and would definitely attend another cooking class with the Chef Upstairs. I learned a lot of useful skills that I ve already starting implementing in my own kitchen. It was a fresh take on recipes I was familiar with and since I usually lean towards a sweater flavour profile when I cook, it was nice to experience savoury recipes I can use to switch things up at home. Chef Pierre was a great instructor! I was amazed by his multitasking skills and uncanny ability to seemingly be able to be exactly where he was needed at any given time.

Perfect gift idea for your mom or partner. The best part about this class is how interactive it is. I've done LCBO cooking classes where you watch a chef prepare the meal, but in this class it's all you and your classmates - really adds to the whole experience.

The evening was terrific. Everybody enjoyed and the food was awesome that we made

I got the virtual private class as a gift for my father. I liked their group classes which are more affordable, but for my father I wanted specifically the private class. I was super happy with it, they responded very quickly, explained their services well, it was easy to connect virtually, and they were very flexible and accommodating for special requests to fit my family s culinary interests & skills
This is what my non-tech dad wanted to contribute to the review:

The Thai menu course with Chef Pierre was a great experience and Virtually allowed me to share this learning opportunity with my kids. Pierre was very entertaining and patient in giving us useful tips on techniques for preparing the ingredients and cooking the meal which was absolutely delicious. I would not hesitate to recommend their classes. It s a pleasure for me to support a Canadian business that has developed a modern approach to delivering a service that is so useful nowadays: learning how to cook beyond the usual routine and exploring new areas of international cuisine. Thank you for this opportunity.

The food was really great and the chef and helper were just awesome. Good energy and fun drinks!

I have taken their classes and I am really happy with the way they teach you .
You could learn a lot of new things and tasty dishes to cook for you and your family .
I definitely recommend them for all the beginners who wants to get their hand into cooking!

We participated in the virtual Valentines Day dinner with Chef Julian. This was our first experience with The Chef Upstairs and we can't wait to do it again. The food was very good and we learned some very interesting tips. The entertainment was also very enjoyable! Well done guys!

What an awesome experience, the art of fine cuisine in a warm clean environment with the friendliest of hosts! Definitely worth a shot, no experience required!

I signed up for 3 lessons.
I very much enjoyed the lessons. I picked up some new skills and recipes. There is a nice casual atmosphere and people enjoying a drink. There is a good bit going on at the same time, people working in parallel and the chef giving instruction so naturally you won't hear all tips and instructions. The chef and staff were lovely people. 90% of the class were couples which might be a bit off putting for some people.

Experience was a bit soured though. I could not attend the last lesson. I requested to switch to another day. NOTE: The same class was running the next two days and had free spaces which weren't filled.

I was told I could not switch dates so $140 down the drain. They were well within their rights as there policy is to give 7 days notice(I gave 2). But seemed very unreasonable to me, would have been little effort and no cost to them.

A great experience! A cozy space to learn how to cook a fantastic meal. Chef Gaetano was a wonderful host and very knowledgeable, getting all 12 of us involved in prepping, cooking and plating our meal. We would definitely do it again!

We were given a gift certificate as a Christmas Gift and booked a class. Got the flu and contacted Chef Upstairs 2 days prior to rebook. Advised we could send someone in our place but could not rebook because they require 7 days notice. We do not have someone to send in our place nor would we want too. It was a gift for us to enjoy. I would suggest reading the cancellation policy very carefully before booking a class or purchasing as a gift. The flu doesn't give 7 days notice and even if I was feeling well enough to leave the house, the last thing I hope anyone would do is attend a cooking class and potentially infect other people.
Chef Upstairs response: "Our cancellation policy must be agreed to prior to booking any class on our website and is re-stated in the confirmation email sent at the time of booking. If you cannot make it on Saturday, I hope you can join us for a future class"

What an amazing night with a great team !
Chef Julien is a great chef and teacher!
It was fun and the food was delicious
I highly recommend if you are looking for a
different team building fun/food fest!

Chef Cherry was a treat! She was patient and informative, yet still managed to make the evening a ton of fun. I will definitely do this again. Thank you so much!!

Fantastic experience! Went for my brother s birthday for a group cooking class and it was a great time. Food was delicious, hosts were super kind, and we learned a lot of neat tricks. Will do again!

I got this as a Christmas gift and I thought it was great. We did the adult virtual cooking class. The food was absolutely delicious. The chef however moved very fast so I would suggest prepping more in advance. Overall awesome experience it s definitely something great to do during this pandemic.

Had a bachelorette party here, Chef Julien was great and kept the meal moving

I bought this as a birthday gift for my mum and we LOVED it! Chef Pierre was a blast and made it super interactive over Zoom. The instructions were clear and the food was delicious! The only thing I would suggest would be, if possible, to start the class even a half hour earlier, as it did feel like the class ran a little late. Also with all the delicious food I wasn't quite sure I needed the dessert. But all in all, it was a great time and I would happily do one again!

Attended a Kids birthday party where they cooked amazing dessert treats. Couldn t say more nice things about the staff here, they were very patient accommodating an absolutely fun. Keep note that it does get rather warm in there due to the ovens/stoves, So dress appropriately! For our particular event even though the kids were cooking they had sandwiches snacks and treats available for the rest of the adults. FYI washrooms on site, and a very clean place

My Family and I did an online cooking class with Chef Pierre for a Mother s Day brunch! The food was delicious and he made the class so much fun! His excitement and energy for cooking kept was interested and having fun the whole time! Thank you Chef Pierre! It was wonderful

We were here for a couples cooking class that was a gift. The atmosphere was fun and it was very hands on. We cooked Thai and had the most amazing mango rice dessert! The chicken curry with vermicellli was just OK; the shrimp coconut soup was pretty good. Overall a fun couples night but be prepared to cook not just watch!

This was an amazing experience. We were all friends booked for this event so we had the space to ourselves, and it was AMAZING time. Chef Anni is so energetic, fun and social as well as knowledgeable. Taught us some tricks as well as planned an amazing middle eastern dish for us. It was very hands on and it was just fun time with friends. Danielle the manager/owner is very professional as well and lovely to speak to on the phone. Our server was amazing too and very attentive as you can have some drinks and wine while cooking. Over all amazing place and will be back!