Chez Cherie Los Angeles Cooking Classes

From my first "Weeknight Meals" class about six years ago my Chez Cherie experience has never been anything but positive. From your first contact, at which you are told cancellation requirements to being told you can even bring your own wine (for an enhanced learning experience)Cherie is up front about the classes and when you arrive it's even more than what you anticipated. She is considerate re: allergies and diet preference, i.e. vegan and that's more than any other cooking school that I know of. I highly recommend Chez Cherie for a complete and wonderful food adventure. You will not be disappointed!

Three years ago I was gifted a cooking class at Chez Cherie. Her warmth, energy, sense of humor, and love of cooking cloaked the room as we watched and learned cooking techniques for a seasonal dinner menu. Cherie's charm and humor put me at ease on that very first night - she gave me the confidence to throw a dinner party using her menus. Not only was Cherie eager to answer all of my questions, she offered her e-mail address in the event I had any follow-up or problematic questions post-class, as she does with all her students.

Since that time, I have become a cooking groupy at Chez Cherie. I have attended her Saveur classes, hands-on classes, seasonal menu classes, grilling, tamale, pasta classes, to name but a few. Each time I take a class I learn something new. Attending one night at Chez Cherie is great therapy.
One cannot help but sample her recipes with a smile and desire to return for the next lesson. Friends and family alike continue to gift me with classes because they know that I will be duplicating her easy, straight forward, tasty recipes!

Aside from her cooking classes, I was fortunate enough to be one of 24 people on her first cooking excursion through Tuscany. This has been one of the best trips that I have ever taken! I truly came home from Italy with a deeper sense of the people the culture and the food and have had several dinner parties putting into practice those things I learned while on her cooking tour.

Cherie has become one of the most important people in my life. Through her cooking lessons and her method of teaching, she has taught me to relax, to have fun, to breathe and to experiment with recipes. Her gentle hand, her enthusiasm and her patience in teaching me to cook translated into big life lessons - don't take yourself so seriously; live life with gusto; try and if you fail, try again; celebrate often with those you love.

I hope that anyone who reads my words will be excited and encouraged to try one of her cooking classes!

I’ll never forget my first class with Cherie. It was at HomeChef Kitchen Store & Cooking School in Pasadena. My girlfriend and I signed up for the Essential Cooking Series (12 weeks). There were several chefs teaching the classes, but Cherie was by far our favorite.

Suddenly (and I mean suddenly with no warning) HomeChef in Pasadena went out of business. We had no idea, showed up for our class (brown paper covered all the windows) and there, right by the door was Cherie’s contact information. She wanted to make sure anyone who was taking her classes would have an opportunity to finish the series at her own expense. A small band of us rallied and we did finish the classes with Cherie in a rented kitchen (now the beautiful Chez Cherie).

Well, that was over eight years ago. I now have many cookbooks and have cooked many a home chef meal, but my tattered over stuffed blue notebook with all of Chez Cherie recipes is the one most loved. Cherie’s recipes end up on our table time and time again. My new friend in the kitchen is my husband. Thanks to Cherie we cook together almost every night. She taught us the joy of beautiful foods in season, how simply it can all come together, helps us with the scary stuff (like a new ingredient or cooking term we've never heard of) and keeps pumping out new wonderful weeknight meals to keep us all going through 365 days of the year.

Laugher is brightest where food is best. And Chez Cherie is the best!

Almost two years ago, I discovered Chez Cherie, a gem of a cooking school experience. After my first class I was hooked, and have since become a Tuesday night regular. Although some of the class titles (Weeknight Meals or Trader Joe’s) are repeated due to their popularity, each class has all new recipes.

I always enjoyed cooking, but never felt very adventurous in the kitchen. Cherie has changed that. Each week, I come away with something new to add to my culinary tool box, weather it’s a new technique, a new tip, or a new ingredient. I am always pleasantly surprised by the depth of Cherie’s culinary knowledge and experience.

No matter if you are new to cooking or an experienced cook; I highly recommend trying any of her classes. Cherie definitely has a way to make you comfortable in the kitchen, with her often humorous yet knowledgeable approach to cooking.

I was first introduced to Chez Cherie when I received a gift certificate to one of her classes as a bridal shower gift in 2005. At first, I didn't know whether to be insulted or happy!

Not knowing what to expect, I was nervous going to my first class (Weeknight Meals) and from the moment I walked through the door I felt like I had been going for years. I was greeted by both Cherie and her husband, Steve. Both welcomed me, showed me around, gave me a copy of the night's recipes and the class began.

Cherie's humor throughout the class is a total delight. Cooking was somewhat intimidating to me and since I started taking these classes I have come to enjoy it so much more and become relaxed when doing so.

I have taken many classes, such as: Weeknight Meals, Grilling, Soups, Braising, Tapas and a class that uses all ingredients from Trader Joe's. Of the classes listed, I have taken several of them many different times as the menu is always different.

I look forward to the next class that I'm able to take.

Too bad that along with all that culinary training, Cherie didn't learn some simple human skills. Missed my class (that I had either been wait listed or rescheduled for, for nearly 6 months) because I went on emergency bed-rest for a high risk pregnancy....the morning of my class. Silly me, didn't think to call Chez Cherie between doctors appointments...and by all means, my husband should have attended without me (Cherie's suggestion).

Called the morning after to apologize profusely (left message) and got a nasty and oh, so "apologetic" (yeah, right) call back stating that my money (paid 2 months in advance) would not be refunded, partially refunded, nor applied to another class (my original preference). It's unfortunate....we're new to the area and would have enjoyed entertaining our east coast friends at a venue like this....Cherie has certainly put a nasty taste in my mouth with regards to La Canada, CA entertainment. Boo, Cherie....guess it's all business to you, right?