Past Deal - Celeb chef David Adjey - Groupon Deal

[YLSF]

I received the David Adjey cooking class as a gift. I tried calling today to book and there is no answer and no voicemail message. I tried a few times already. I will try again tomorrow but I am curious if anyone has gone or managed to book. If you have gone already how was it? The $300 value on the Groupon is a JOKE.

I tried calling Groupon to ask if there was an alternative contact method. The lady said she would get back to me after she talked with the rep responsible for the deal. Groupon has locked the discussion board on their site.

EDIT - I have changed the titled to question if this is a scam deal. Tried 2 days in a row now to call and no answer, no voicemail, no alternative contact method. I still haven't heard back from Groupon about this. I am 100% certain that Groupon would give back the money for this deal (I received it as a gift as mentioned above) but still, it seems like this chef company is trying to make it hard for people to book so they just forget about the "class" they bought and don't use their voucher. There are very limited number of dates for 1000 plus voucher holders.

I will continue to update this thread as I get more info.

EDIT3 - I finally got through today. The date we wanted to go is booked up but I finally talked to someone. I got her e-mail address so if anyone has problems contacting her, send me a PM and I will give you her e-mail, don't want to post it up here so she doesn't get spam!

[YLSF]

updated first thread with more info... still no answer today

[canadiankorean]

Do you have the link to the deal and the company site?

[gr8dlr]

I think that deal was for cooking at DISH (on Davenport I think). I'd call them or the venue to see what's up...if you still get no response, I'd request refund.

[YLSF]

They did a past deal at Fabfind at another cooking studio. .. I am not commenting on that one (mentioned above). This is explicitly regarding the deal at St Lawrence market. The contact/reservation number is the same but I think the other one has expired already?

Here is the Groupon listing:

http://www.groupon.com/deals/david-adjey

I would normally probably just ask for a refund at this point but this is suppose to be a family outing to celebrate some birthdays/etc so I am waiting to see what happens.

Will give them another call tomorrow and if I don't get through I will call groupon again

[YLSF]

Got through today. See first post update.

[kathfas]

I bought the David Adjey Groupon and went last night with a friend. Contrary to my impression, he doesn't do any of the cooking or demonstration. The audience members who volunteered did everything. If you're going because you think you want to learn something about cooking, don't bother. If you're going because you like David Adjey and want to listen to him blow his own horn for two hours, and watch him drink countless glasses
of wine, then this is the Groupon for you. If I had paid $300, I would be looking for a refund.

[00cp]

Ahh David Adjey... I liked him more when he was a raging cokehead and not a washed up line chef

[YLSF]

I am going next week... I have really low expectations. I received it as a gift but definitely laughed when I saw the "value" on the Groupon website. Regardless, going with some family members so hopefully it will be fun enough.


Question for poster with the review. Is there enough food to make you full for a dinner or should we be eating before hand?

[ronin1701]

WOW, they sold 1,000 of this deal?

And it looks like Groupon is running the deal again (370 sold so far!): http://www.groupon.com/deals/david-adjey-cooking-classes-at-st-lawrence-market?c=all&p=11

@YLSF - I would guess that given it's only a demo cooking class, there's no way they'd be able to make enough food to feed the 50 or so people attending each session.

Update:


there will be 3 waves of food for everyone to try. Have a snack before you come :)

Katie D. answered 2 days, 3 hours, and 26 minutes ago (http://www.groupon.com/deals/david-adjey-cooking-classes-at-st-lawrence-market/discussion)

[dinger1216]

Love the answer to the question when I asked about the $300 valuation, do these sites all think we are idiots?


Where does the $300 value come from? Are there other dates that are available, but for the full $300 price tag? I only see a voucher redemption page, but no where to purchase a seat for $300.
(removed). asked 25 minutes ago - 1 Answer


The deal is for $65. We are not currently running the demo outside of our relationship with Groupon at this time.
Katie D. answered 6 minutes ago

If the cost of a seat is $65 and you are only selling through Groupon, market the thing as an exclusive event for Groupon subscribers only!! Don't throw some ridiculous valuation out there with NOTHING to back it up. :facepalm:

[kdeas34]

ALL WRONG - TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY. You mentioned you were a "quiet" group. David explained to us how much he hates "quiet" groups. He came right up to me and my sisters to chit chat from the beginning. We each volunteered for a meal. There were a couple of others who were chatty like us, which made the process more engaging. But really, David Adjey is an arrogant, self-obsessed lousy host. He embarrassed my sister twice by mocking her in front of the class and making sly remarks. Whatever. We could handle that. Then he started bashing other food network chefs. Not exactly "tips for how to be a Food Network Chef", as the description promised. And there were no "Chef David Adjey's signature cocktails available for purchase", as the description promised. Just Jackson Triggs Red & White at $8 for a half glass.
But even still, we were making the best of it. David's assistants did most of the cooking, in addition to us "involved" audience members. Here's the best part: As he's talking to me and one of my sisters, making jokes to try to get a laugh out of the otherwise dry audience, we shrug it off and say "hey, it doesn't matter to us". About 5 minutes later, just before the third course, one of his assistants comes up behind us and says "we are free to leave if we don't want to be here". We are stunned and ask what the hell she is talking about. She says "David motioned to her that we may not be having fun and feel free to leave". Of course we stayed. I was shocked though. And it ruined the rest of our experience. He is making jokes with and at us all evening, and when we say something back, jokingly, he "motions" for his assistant to "confront" us. IT WAS A BUNCH OF BS. As she is passing by, she looks at us and says "don't shoot the messenger".
After the class, we stood in the line up where ppl were gathering to take their picture with David. We stood patiently and when we got to the front, I begun to express my anger an disgust over being asked to leave, even though he had been using us as his entertainment puppets all night. He cuts me off and doesn't let me finish. His assistant says she is calling security. We expressed our outrage at and left. Outside, we saw a security guard poke his head out. We went up to him and told him what happened. Not only did he say that the assistant described us as obnoxious drunks (Two of us had one glass of wine and the other had nothing), but they say that we were out of control. He is laughing with us at this point, because we are a) not obnoxious drunks and b) he has heard this story before. DAVID IS A SELF-OBSESSED LOUSY HOST. HIS COOKING CLASS IS A HUGE WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY. I HAVE MORE FUN AND LEARN MORE FROM WATCHING THE FOOD NETWORK AT HOME. DAVID ADJEY IS A JOKE EXPERIENCE. :)
http://forums.redflagdeals.com/images/icons/new/thread-thumbsdown-32.png

[ronin1701]

ALL WRONG - TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY.

Yeah, from everything I've read about him, this guy seems like a ********* (that's RFD's auto-filter at work, not me).

Yet somehow he keep showing up over-and-over - he's even got a contest running with Food Network Canada right now.

I guess there just aren't enough "celebrity chefs" based in Toronto :|

[YLSF]

I never posted back, but, yeah, it was a rip off.... I would never recommend this event to anyone.


It was an OKAY night but I didn't pay for it, I received it as a gift. If I hadn't received it as a gift and paid my own money for it I would have complained to Groupon (maybe I should anyway just so they know). First, no way it was $300 value, they didn't even include one glass of free wine and it was $$$ for what it was for the wine (my relative who brought me bought me a glass even though I didn't really want it but appreciated her thought).

Overall, our group seemed to have a nice evening but was worth like $30 MAX and even that is overvalued before a groupon supposed "discount".

[ronin1701]

LOL, they're running it again.

http://www.groupon.com/deals/david-adjey-at-st-lawrence-market?c=dnb&p=1

:facepalm:

[ifealdman]

They are still running this "deal". Don't fall for it! It is a rip off and David Adjey has the same sense of humor as Howard Stern. It is non stop sexual innuendo, jokes about drugs and he is incapable of getting through a sentence without dropping the F bomb. I'm not a prude, but after a while jokes that would amuse a 12 year old boy start to wear thin. Like previous posters have said, all the guests do the cooking, and he just blathers. The "wine" included with the meal is 1 glass of sangria, after that it's a cash bar. The portions are tiny and we left hungry. This is worth no more than $30. Better still go to a restaurant for the same money and have a good meal without an obnoxious egotist yapping non stop. He kept talking about his divorce. Big surprise there!

[HonestFeedback]

I took this class and I highly DO NOT recommend it.

If you're interested in seeing a celebrity chef walking around telling lewd and tasteless jokes then maybe this is for you. If you were hoping to learn something about cooking from David Adjey then you will be disappointed.

There is next to no cooking demonstration by David Adjey. Volunteers from the group are asked to take part in cooking each course. David shows the volunteer once how to do something (slice a vegetable, put a rub on a meat, etc.) and then they are left to do it with the kitchen staff.

David walks around talking and telling distasteful jokes. He does not discuss the ingredients, methods, tricks. In fact, the entire 'cooking demonstration' is almost like a background for David to do his one man show where cooking rarely even comes up.

There is really very little opportunity for questions. Someone asked about the proportion of some ingredients and the answer was that the recipes would be mailed out. What cut of meat is being used? What temperature is the meat cooked at? For how long? This information isn't shared.

Don't waste your money.