Cooking Class - Simple Risotto in Marin County

Had a great experience with Chef Valerie. She answered our questions and was encouraging even when our empanadas looked a little sad.

Chef Valerie is excellent. She provides a welcoming environment, beautiful kitchen and awesome playlist of music during her class. She shows patience and makes the learning experience fun. She explains and answers your questions. I took away from this class the details you may miss trying to find on a YouTube video. Overall, my son and I had a great time and will definitely use her services again.

I had a wonderful time with Chef Valerie in her gorgeous kitchen last Saturday with my family as we were shown the proper methods to make and cook pasta, sauces and a fabulous fruit galette. We all found her very informative and she has a lovely, calm nature. It is clear she has a passion for cooking and good food. I look forward to trying out her recipes in my own kitchen! My sister and I organized the event for our mother's 80th birthday gift. She was absolutely thrilled to have a unique opportunity to cook with 4 of her 6 grandchildren (who are all young adults and learning to cook for themselves now). I would recommend this class to all considering a pasta class. Thank you, Chef Valierie! I look forward to cooking with you again. Buon appetito!!

Everything about this experience was absolutely wonderful. From Chef Valerie's cute, cozy home, to her warm and welcoming personality, to the fantastically delicious food. By the end of the experience, my partner and I felt like we were at a lovely dinner party, enjoying the company of friends, except we were leaving having learned so many great pro cooking tips. As people who love food but don't really cook, we left this experience inspired to start!

Valerie is knowledgeable, informative, kind and fun. Her kitchen is welcoming and warm. After taking her class, I feel totally prepared to tackle home-made pizzas with confidence and inspiration.

Chef Valerie was a wonderful host, who welcomed us into her home to teach the pasta making course. I was hoping that it would be a little more hands on but I totally understand given the space of the kitchen. She methodically went through all the steps and didn't hesitate to answer any questions we had about what she was doing. She gave us the recipes afterwards which we were excited about, and we had a wonderful time meeting new people while we ate the food we made. Overall a great experience and I highly recommend Chef Valerie and her class especially for couples! It was also nice that this pasta class was vegetarian friendly.

Absolutely loved our first time experience with Valerie. My husband and I were celebrating our anniversary and Valerie welcomed us with a beautiful orchid plant! So sweet and thoughtful. Not only did we learn a lot of helpful cooking tips along the way, but the food was delish! This was a great experience. Will will definitely be back!

A warm, welcoming and wonderful experience! Chef Valerie made us feel right at home and encouraged us to dive right in per our comfort level. Learned a lot and made great pasta! Highly recommend.

Top-notch! We learned some great recipes, e.g., linguini and ravioli from home-made pasta, bruschetta, and an apple galette as a birthday party and cooking lesson. Valerie was great fun, and we learned lots.

Chef Valerie was awesome! She really knows her technique and was able to give us great hands on instructions and tips. We will definitely do another class with her.

Chef Valerie was an amazing and warm person to spend an afternoon with! Her knowledge of Argentinean cuisine, history and heritage is inspiring. She clearly loves what she does, cares about her ingredients and it all shows in her food! Two of my favorite dishes that Chef Valerie demonstrated were her Argentinean corn and cheese empanadas and her Goat cheese & caramelized onions pizza! I think her empandas might be some of the BEST tasting empanadas I've ever had! The corn and cheese Argentinean empanadas was and amazing balance of sweet and savory, all with a delicious, flaky crust and perfectly moist filling! I could eat 20 of those! The goat cheese pizza with caramelized onions and olives were also a unique balance of flavors-- sweet and salty! Chef Valerie mentioned that this pizza was her Mom's favorite and I can easily see why! The crust was crunchy on the outside and soft inside. Just simply divine! Seriously, just go for the empanadas! They're to die for!

I used to attend the cooking classes regularly when they were in San Francisco. I enjoyed them greatly. I was always interested in the ideal of cooking but did not get around to it for lack of confidence. Attending Valerie's classes allowed me to build the confidence I lacked. I also picked up some signature dishes Alfajores, Lamb Racks etc, that are my goto dishes when taking to pot lucks. The classes were more like a get together party where some participated actively and others were there just to socialize. Everything worked. Hoping the classes will return to SF at some point in the future so that I can start attending them again.

Truly enjoyed the cooking classes with Valerie and if we were still in the Bay area we would be attending them. The freedom of being hands on or off, the little tips to make the cooking experience easy, the recipes and finally being able to sit down and enjoy the meal made the whole experience such fun.

In her earlier kitchen, I attended many cooking classes because they were the right balance of learning, doing, watching & eating (and no washing up!). The recipes were interesting, the class size was small, and the people who came were relaxed and interested in learning. I still use some of the recipes we were taught, and I'm eager to get more.