I’ve been wanting to do the Aunt Jake’s Pasta Experience for a few years now but it always sells out. I got lucky this weekend with some open spots when I looked and they opened up an extra class and I was able to snag it before it sold out too.
I’ll start off with the TLDR review to save you some time if you’re wondering if you should book this experience.
My honest opinion? I think the class is fun and perfect for a date night and friend activity and would absolutely recommend it. But in terms of learning to how to make pasta? I’m not confident I learned that in this class and would be able to do it at home. But for $60 a person, with a meal included too? It’s absolutely worth it for a fun activity and the food is delicious and portions are perfect and plentiful.
The Experience
I read the reviews and followed the recommendations of being on time because they say you get scolded if you’re late. I purposely arrived early but they won’t let you in early because they have back to back classes. But definitely arrive early if you’re driving in and looking for parking.
Once you’re in, you’re given an apron and assigned a spot at the table. They give you a menu and take your food order so they can have your meal ready after class is over. Then you’re instructed to wash your hands before class begins. The chef/instructor, I think his name was Anthony, was very fun and clear with his instructions for a beginner friendly class. I can see where some of the reviews say he’s “not nice” but I honestly think I’m just used to it being from Long Island growing up with loud Italian men as well as aggressive Vietnamese people lol. The people who couldn’t handle him were honestly just soft. He showed us how to make the pasta dough with just flour and egg, but then the interesting part is you don’t do anything with it once you prepare the dough. You just leave it be to pack and take home. For time reasons, he gives you prepared sheets of dough already rolled out and teaches you how to prepare a few different shapes and how to roll a sheet through a pasta machine. We made farfalle (or bowtie), lasagna, spaghettini and garganelli. You make enough pasta to fill a whole box to take home!
The actual class lasted about an hour and then you wash your hands and get assigned a dining table to enjoy your lunch/dinner order. If you go with a friend, make sure you both order different things so you can try a little bit of everything because it’s all so good. I would go back to the standalone restaurant just for the food. This location requires a booking for the class in order to eat in house. You get an appetizer, entree and dessert, all for $60 with the cooking class. Honestly, that’s a steal because most cooking classes I looked up were $100+ . If you’re thinking of trying this, I would definitely say book it to try it out and do it once. It’s a very easy, beginner friendly activity and even if you don’t enjoy cooking, just wait til you try the food! So delicious for fresh pasta! I did this with my baby sister on a sister date and we both had a great time! There’s also a gelato store on the corner and a few blocks away is the beautiful Stoop and the City too for cute instagrammable photos while you’re in the area. Enjoy and mangia!
