FAQ

How do your Groups work?

Do all classes require participation in groups? Will I be in a group with people I don’t know?

Joining classes at Le Gourmet Culinary is never a private thing (unless you book a private class). If you don’t enjoy mingling with other people, you may want to look for a different place. All of our classes are taught in groups or three or four. We always try our hardest to keep friends who come to class together all in the same group. Depending on the number of your friends who come to class with you, we may split one or two of you off to join another group. But… they’ll be standing right next to you. Most of our students see this as a fun way to meet new people. It’s sort of the core of what makes Le Gourmet Culinary what it is. There have been countless times that adding two separate groups of friends together has resulted in all of these folks going out somewhere else together after class to continue the party. Then we see all of those same people reserving the same classes together in the future. It’s pretty cool. If you are uneasy joining groups with other people, please consider gathering a slightly larger group of friends and booking a private class with us. If you are in a group and things aren’t going the way you like, please speak with the Chef or an assistant right away. We’ll see if we can make it better for you. We’ll do everything we can to help you have an enjoyable time.

Kids / Children?

Can we bring more than one adult to a Mommy (Daddy) and Me class?

Of course you can! Please contact us so we can help you make arrangements. We’ll program a way to do that on your own at some point soon.

Can parents hang out and observe their children in kid’s classes?

Generally, kids attend kid’s classes without their parents. Kid’s classes are designed allow kids to be kids, to not be under pressure, and to have a great time interacting with other children. Depending on the number of kids enrolled in the class, and especially due to Covid, we must restrict the total number of people allowed in the room.

If you have a special situation you’d like to speak with us about, please feel free to get in touch.

 

Can kids attend regular classes by themselves?

We strongly recommend that kids attending on their own in regular classes be 15 or older. Our regular classes are where adults do adult things. It’s fun, but we’re not the most straight-laced folks around, and we prefer to let people have a good time as much as possible.

Every one of us probably believes that our children are the most mature ones around. Please use good judgement when sending your kids to attend one of our classes without family supervision.

We are not babysitters, but we are happy to have kids who are mature attend.

If you are at all concerned, please choose Mommy (Daddy) and Me classes, or our special kid’s classes when we run them. (Generally during holiday seasons).

 

Can Kids/Children attend your regular classes with their parents or with other responsible adults?

Yes, if the kids are mature and able to keep up. Please understand that in our regular classes, there is alcohol being consumed and sometimes mature language may be used.

Account Credit? Gift Certificates? Coupons?

– – Account Credit

I believe I have an account credit. Where do I see it on your website?

You can see how much credit you have available by going into your account, and clicking “My Credits”.

I canceled my class more than 48-hours in advance. Now what happens? What happens with the money I paid?

Your account with us will be credited. These credits will never expire and can be used towards any class or product that we offer going forward.

Do my account credits ever expire?

Account credits never expire, and will be good until you use them.

– – Coupons

My coupon is expiring soon. Can I get an extension?

If your coupon is expiring or has expired, please contact us. We may be able to extend it depending on the circumstances.

How do I use my coupon?

Choose the class you prefer. As soon as you click on the “Register Now” button, you will see a box where you can enter your code, and then click, the “Apply Code” button.

Private Events & Parties? Special Request (non-private) Classes? Team Building Events?

Special Request (non-private) Classes

Do you have a small group that would like to take a certain class we teach now or have taught in the past? Do you have a specific date in mind? Are you okay with other people also signing up for the class?

Contact us with what you’d like and we can try to schedule it for you if we can fit it into our calendar.

Team-building or Corporate Events

Yes. We’d love to arrange a team-building or corporate with you.

Events must have 6 people minimum. Our classroom holds 12 students maximum, but we can set up teaching/learning stations in the kitchen showrooms. We have accommodated groups of 50-60 people this way, with everyone rotating and taking turns at each cooking station.

If you’d like alcohol to be served, we contract with an excellent bar caterer that you can pay directly.

Contact us to discuss details, or to make the arrangements smoother, please send:

  • Preferred date(s)
  • Number of guests expected
  • Type of event (team-building, product roll-out, sales event, fundraiser, etc.)
  • What are your main goals/objectives for the event?
  • Is there any defined format you have in mind? (cooking competition, recipe design exercise, etc.)
  • Would you like the class to follow the menu from one of our existing classes? If you’d like something else, please let us know what you have in mind.
  • Would you like your guests to be able to participate in the cooking, or just to observe demonstrations?
  • Please send your cell number and email address, and/or any other fabulous ways to reach you.

Do you do Private Events & Parties?

Yes. We’d love to arrange a private party with you.

Private parties must have 6 people minimum. Our classroom holds 12 students maximum, but we can set up teaching/learning stations in the kitchen showrooms. We have accommodated groups of 50-60 people this way, with everyone rotating and taking turns at each cooking station.

If you’d like alcohol to be served, we contract with an excellent bar caterer that you can pay directly.

 

To make the arrangements smoother, please send:

  • Preferred date(s)
  • Number of guests expected
  • Type of party (kids or adults, birthday party, engagement, quinceanera, anniversary, etc.)
  • Would you like the class to follow the menu from one of our existing classes? If you’d like something else, please let us know what you have in mind.
  • Would you like your guests to be able to participate in the cooking, or just to observe demonstrations?
  • Please send your cell number and email address, and/or any other fabulous ways to reach you.

When will more classes be added to the Calendar?

How far in advance do you post classes?

We try our best to post classes two months out, at the end of every month. For example, we will post April’s classes as February is ending.

If you see that we are behind, please feel free to nudge us.

Special Diets?

Kosher / Halal Diets

On a case-by-case basis, we may be able to accommodate kosher or halal requests, it really depends on the class and on how strictly you follow the laws.

Our facility cannot be made to strictly follow kosher guidelines, and we certainly can’t control what our other students who are next to you do.

 

Gluten-free Diet

We will try to accommodate gluten-free diets, but please call us so we can recommend classes that are more lend themselves towards a gluten-free experience.

The more notice you give us, the easier it is to bring in products and make arrangements.

Celiac Diet

We cannot currently accommodate the dietary requirements necessary to keep you safe.

Specific Food Allergies

Please let us know ahead of time what you are allergic to, and we will do our best to accommodate. The more notice you give us, the easier it is to come up with a great solution.

Vegan / Vegetarian Diets

All classes except steak-centered classes can be altered to accommodate vegan or vegetarian diets.

How does your Waitlist work?

How does your Waitlist work? What are my chances?

If a spot opens in a wait-listed class, an email alert goes out to all those on the waitlist.

There are frequently cancellations, but please react quickly, as once those seats open up, everyone on the list is instantly notified and any one of them can purchase those seats. Additionally, those seats become available for anyone searching on our calendar, on a first-come-first-served.

Our classes have 12 seats each. Sometimes half of them shift around with people canceling, sometimes no one cancels their seat. We have no way to know in advance if you will be able to get a seat once you are on the list, and no way to hold a seat for you. The best way to get added to a class is to notice when you receive an email notification and quickly purchase the class.

Office Hours?

When is someone in the office?

Our physical office is not always staffed, so you may not want to show up without making arrangements first as you may find that no one is there.

That said, we are usually around after 2pm on most days.

But, we work hard to return all calls and emails promptly. There may be delays during the times our chefs are teaching, or when they get hit by a bus or have some other horrific disaster.

We have found on many occasions (certainly more than we hope for) that after we reply, some students are not checking their voicemails and inboxes, yet call repeatedly saying that we are not getting back to them, and threaten to call out the dogs-of-war. Please don’t be one of those people. Please, please, check your voicemail box and spam folders etc., and make sure you give us the email address that you do use, instead of the one you never check, before you go off. We’re getting fairly good at online detective work, trying to track down alternate numbers, places of work, mother-in-laws, etc. so we can help those folks.

We are, however, human. And there are some rare times when we do make a mistake. Please, might you find a way to forgive us? We live to make all of you happy.

48-hour Class Cancellation?

I missed the 48-hour cancellation window and forgot to come to class. Can anything be done?

Please contact us, and we will see what can be done. Please note that this is on a case-by-case basis and is up to the discretion of the manager.

Please remember that we purchased food, and scheduled and paid staff based on your class purchase.

How can I tell if my class has been canceled?

We will send an email to the address on file in your account no later then 48 hrs before the class is about to start. If you change your email address, please change it in your account too, or you will not receive confirmation.

Please also use an email address that you check frequently, or one that forwards a notification to your phone.

Why do you have a 48-hour cancellation policy?

Classes are finalized when we can confirm we have enough students to fill the class. Once we know the class is going to happen for sure, we schedule an instructor and assistants, and purchase the food for that class. In this way, we can provide excellent service to all of our students. We also know that the class will have enough students to make for a more interesting and vibrant environment.

Parking?

Where should we park?

Please park anywhere on Pixley Street or at the train station a very, very short walk to the east.

We had such a great time, we forgot the recipe booklet. Can we get another copy?

Can I get another copy of the recipe booklet from the class I took?

Yes, of course! Please email us and we will email a copy over to you as soon as we can.

Please let us know the name of the class you took. It is also helpful to know the date you took it so we can more easily check your reservation and get you the proper booklet.

Help! We had a great time! Where do I post a wonderful Review?

Where can I post a review?

First of all, thank you for wanting to post a review! We hope it will be a lovely one!

As each class you attend finishes, you will be sent a survey email. We love getting the feedback, good or bad, and continually use it to try to improve the class experience. So, please share your feelings. If you’d like us to get back to you, please let us know.

After you have already submitted your survey, if you have other thoughts about your class or about any other parts of your experience with us, please feel free to us the Contact Us link at the very top of our web page, or email us at office@legourmetculinary.com, or call at (714) 888-5029.

Please like/friend/follow/tweet/share us on Facebook / Instagram / Twitter (links are at the top of our home page).

Here are links if you’d like to post a public review on:

Google… (opens in a new tab)

Yelp… (opens in a new tab)

Tripadvisor… (opens in new tab)

 

 

Help! We had a great time! Can we tip the Chef and assistants?

Can we give tips to Le Gourmet Culinary’s staff? What if we wanted to do so, but forgot?

Yes! Please feel free to tip our staff. They always appreciate it.

They generally choose to pool all tips from a class collectively as a team.

You can tip with cash, credit cards or through Venmo while you are at LGC.

If you realized after you left that you’d wanted to leave a tip but had forgotten to do so, please call or email at (714) 888-5029, or office@legourmetculinary.com and we will help you arrange it.