Taste Buds Kitchen : Fun and Informative Cooking Class!

After begging my boyfriend to buy a deal for a Sushi Making Class, he surprised me with scheduling a Sushi & Dumpling Class at Taste Buds Kitchen (109 W 27th St., between 6th and 7th Ave, New York, NY) for my birthday! 

I had heard of this place, but didn't know what to expect. All the adult classes are BYOB, which is pretty unique for cooking classes. Ben and I have been to many cooking classes together, and never have seen a BYOB one. 

We arrived early, and were immediately greeted by the girl's who were cleaning up the room from a kid's cooking party that had just ended. They encouraged us to claim our spot at one of the tables, and even open our wine if we would like. They provided a wine bottle opener and glasses. The staff was very friendly and did not seem at all stressed by our early arrival.  

Our work space with chips and salsa to nosh on while waiting

While waiting for the class to begin we got to snack on chips and salsa and get to know the people at our table. It was a very social setting, which we really enjoyed.

Cooking the veggies for the dumplings!

The class was led by a main instructor with a helper who helped clean and hand out a lot of the supplies. They worked very efficiently together, so we were never waiting for the next step. We all congregated in the front of the room to watch the instructor demonstrate proper techniques in cutting the vegetables for the inside of the dumplings, cooking the veggies, making the dipping sauce, and also sealing the dumpling shells. 

After watching the instructor we all returned to our tables and worked together to chop up the vegetables for the dumplings. We all worked as a team, by each tackling a type of vegetable. After all the chopping was done, we got to cook the veggies on the counter top skillet. 

After the veggies were sauteed we filled the empty shells and sealed them. We also got to make the dipping sauce. The instructors placed our dumplings into the oven to be baked and  they were returned to us to enjoy for the meal at the end of the class :)  I found it interesting that they baked them, and loved that! Much healthier :) We have made dumplings at home since this class since it was so easy to learn. 

Amazing Dumplings! and homemade dipping sauce

For the sushi portion of the class, we watched the instructor explain the proper side of the seaweed paper to place down onto the wood rolling mat and prepare the sticky rice. The sticky rice consistency is so different than what I thought and it was interesting to learn.
When we returned to our stations, each table was given cucumbers, carrots, tuna, salmon, yellow tail, avocado, cream cheese, scallions, and spicy mayo to chop up and place in the center of the table for the roll making! It was fun to do everything as a table because we got to interact with the other group at our table and work together to get everything cut and ready.
Rolling the sushi rolls was much easier than expected and the instructors made it very easy to understand. Since the class we have made sushi twice :)

The Seaweed paper

Ben's first roll

My first roll

Already professionals

Time to eat!

The class was very low key and casual, and everyone was willing to photograph each other at all steps of the process. It was a really fun atmosphere to learn new cooking skills in. 

I highly suggest Taste Buds Kitchen! It is great for a date, a birthday party, or even a bachelorette event. We definitely are looking into taking another class in the fall or winter when we want to do more indoor activities. The BYOB part of this class is a bonus, because its a perfect activity to do on a Friday night before going out for an after class drink/night cap.