David Leslie

I attended a macaroon making workshop run by David Leslie at The Penthouse 1 Leicester Square on the afternoon of Saturday 6th April. This was planned as part of a hen do, and we had a lot of fun despite the fact that the workshop fell well short of my expectations for an experience that cost £50 each.We were booked for a workshop at 4pm. We arrived 10 minutes early and were told that they were not ready for us yet. We were eventually allowed into the workshop at 5.25pm. As consolation for running late, we were told there would be drinks and snacks during the workshop. We received one glass of fizz each throughout the entire workshop.I was expecting a well equipped teaching kitchen. The workshop was actually conducted on trestle tables in the bar area of the Penthouse. Several minutes were spent setting up the area after we were allowed in, bringing out equipment and plugging in stand mixers with cables trailing across the floor. There were no sinks in close proximity, but alcohol rub and paper towels were provided to clean up eggy hands.Two members of staff appeared to tell us what to do. The bar was noisy enough by this stage for these two relatively quiet members of staff to struggle to address all of us. They were very pleasant and knowledgeable enough when we questioned them, but their instructions consisted mainly of basic directions (e.g. weigh out 100g of ground almonds) which were occasionally unclear or contradictory (e.g. the ratio of chocolate to cream is 2:1, but you don't need to use all the cream you measure out), and transferred very little technical knowledge.The staff occasionally disappeared and left us standing around for periods of time with nothing to do (or drink or eat!), with little regard for the fact that they'd already kept us waiting so long. The staff were probably having a very bad day, as they didn't appear to have enough time to communicate with each other to help the progress of the workshop. Our first batch of macaroons was burnt and we ran out of time to fill them.Having disrupted our schedule considerably, the staff were eventually helpful in organising cabs to take us to our next event (albeit over an hour late), and couriering our cooked and filled macaroons to us later in the evening.However, I am not sure that this entirely redeemed the lack of planning, preparation or communication from the staff. As a macaroon making workshop, I expected a much higher level of instruction and general attentiveness from the staff. The experience in no way lived up to expectations for the price.On the plus side, It was fun, and the resultant macaroons were tasty despite our lack of skill in piping them.

Awful. I walked out after 10 mins!

I booked the Chocoholics workshop for the end of August 2014, at the Penthouse in Leicester square through Wowcher. We turned up as instructed, at the last time slot of the day, only to be told that the event had been cancelled due to lack of staff.David offered us the option to rebook or to get a full refund.We chose to rebook, so I emailed David the following day, with some new dates that we could attend. Two months later and I still haven't heard back from either David or Chris, either for confirmation of rebooking or for a full refund, despite numerous telephone calls and emails.Appalling customer service, DO NOT BOOK THIS OFFER.David Leslie - Where is my refund?!

Found David Leslie via the web and ordered a birthday cake. David walked me through the options. The cake was amazing and made fresh the morning of the event. I cant think of another cake maker that has the freshness promise and delivers such a beautiful cake. I will call David next time I need a cake. Thank you David, everyone is still talking about the cake. Scott 2013