I was going to include one photo from our cooking class at Hudson Table in my first Diary post, but then I started to write a quick blurb and realized that I wanted to say a lot more. So, I’m dedicating a full post to it. Technically, this is pretty Hoboken and maybe NYC based, but I’m hoping it inspires you to find a similar class near you.
Originally, we had planned on doing this as a double date with our friends Maddie and Ryan. But at the last minute my boyfriend couldn’t come and then the friend who was going to fill in couldn’t come either, so I was the third wheel. The three of us had a BLAST and we all can’t wait to do it again.
I’ve done quite a few cooking classes over the years. For a while it was a trendy blogger “event” that brands would put together, I’ve also done a few at Sur La Table, and then I’ve done a few one-off classes in NYC for specific bakeries. I’ve always enjoyed them, but this class was by and far the best one I’ve ever done. Like leaps and bounds, can’t even compare it to the other ones. Hence why I felt compelled to do a full post about it! I loved it so much, in fact, that I would recommend people from NYC come out to Hoboken for it. It’s worth the hike, I promise.
The particular class we did was based on Matty Matheson’s cookbook. We made lobster pie, pork chops, fried cauliflower, and a berry cake. They had premade some cheesy bread for us to snack on while we cooked. There were 15 people there and we divided into three groups of four and then our group was just the three of us. All the ingredients were premeasured and waiting for us on trays. But all the chopping, dicing, and cooking was up to us.
The class was $90 a person and I can’t begin to tell you how worth it the class was. The ingredients alone were incredibly high quality– the lobster for lobster pie, for example, filled a huge bowl. (Maddie and I kept saying how we could skip everything else and sit down to eat the lobster by itself and feel like we got our money’s worth, lol.) The instruction was also amazing. It was the perfect balance of “here’s what to do, have fun!” and “okay, let me help you with that.” The chefs and the assistants were always right there if you needed them, but it never felt like they were hovering. We loved all of them!! And for the most part, we did literally everything, start to finish.
I’m pretty sure I accidentally burned that spoon somehow.
In other classes I’ve gone to, the meal is split up between groups so you only end up having your hands on one dish. Not at Hudson Table. We actually had to keep the pace up to stay on track and not fall behind. (It didn’t help that we were down a person, but somehow we ended up finishing before anyone else.) One of us had to be at the stove while someone else was dicing and another person was chopping. It was a true team effort and I may or may not have broken into a little bit of a sweat.
Now, the class was not a competition, but everyone was kind of sizing up the different groups in a joking way. Everyone seemed to be having a great deal of fun.
This was just our servings of food!
The best part was that once everything was ready, they dimmed the lights and switched the tables over from work stations to one big family-style table. Everyone served themselves and we got to sit down to a nice dinner– that we cooked ourselves! The portions were huge and we took home a lot of extra food. Going out to a fancy dinner can really add up cost wise, which is why I thought this was so worth the money. We had a three-hour activity plus a meal and leftovers and we walked away with new skills.
I was thinking this would be so fun for a bachelorette party or a team bonding event for coworkers. You could also totally do something similar (minus) the instruction with another couple and cook a meal together before sitting down to enjoy it.
What are other fun double date ideas you guys have?
