Zwilling (parent company of Henckels) offers cooking classes at their new HQ in Pleasantville. They’re a bit pricey (to me) at $90-100 but are hands-on so hopefully worth it. I’ve known about them for a while (posted about it on the other board) but never booked a class until now. I am going to New American Cuisine this Friday night because I really like the menu.
Seared Salmon, Fennel, Radish, Avocado and Crunchy Quinoa
House Smoked Duck Breast, Mushrooms, Roasted Carrots, Faro and Frisee
Grilled Peaches, White Chocolate Mousse and Raspberry Coulis
Upcoming classes include a Pleasantville Farmers Market “Black Box Class” ($95, 9/14) where you’ll meet at the farmer’s market and buy stuff and then go back and prepare meals based on what was purchased in small groups. They also have Ron Gallo from The Inn at Pound Ridge ($100, 9/12) but the menu for that is posted. That one was what got me to go to their site yesterday when I saw it mentioned on Instagram.
Here’s the full schedule. Has anyone done a class there?
I’ve heard good things about their classes but never done one myself. I did get to go to a cooking party there a couple of years ago–with the patient and generous supervision of their staff, we made all the food and then got to eat it. It was a lot of fun. Let us know how the class goes!
So, my class was supposed to be today. I had some other stuff to do in White Plains and Yonkers (I live in Yorktown) so I went down there early and got to Zwilling around 5:30. I was sitting in the parking lot and decided to check my email for the confirmation to see where I was supposed to enter. I found an email from yesterday morning saying that they were cancelling the class because I was the only one registered (I guess a Friday night in late August isn’t popular for cooking classes). Amazingly, they did not issue a refund, they just issued a credit to my account there, although I was told that I would get a free apron when I came back, for my trouble. They will be offering this class again but not until December.
Needless to say this did not make me happy so I sent a reply. I pointed out that a) since I was the only person registered, it would not have been a lot of work for them to actually CALL me so they made sure I got the info as as quickly as possible, and b) a “store credit” was not acceptable and I did not believe that it was part of their terms (If I were to have cancelled, that is what I would have gotten but they say nothing about what happens when they cancel). I told them that I want a refund and that the appropriate thing would have been to offer me a credit on my next class.
Got an OOO email saying that the person is out next week so it will have to wait until after Labor Day, although I could email their main email at the cooking school.
Their website is super confusing – registration is very difficult. Be sure to note when your class is, as no one will send a confirmation. And the policy is no refunds. Absolutely no refunds. It doesn’t matter why. No refunds.
I wish we could have experienced the class so I could review it, but we did not. When we asked if any consideration could be made for us, given our circumstances, the response we got from their Executive Chef included the following: “I think it’s bit strange that you are trying to blame us for the results of a mistake YOU made.”
So, don’t be surprised if you get similar snarkiness in class.
