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Mario Batali, Julia Child, Thomas Keller, Wolfgang Puck, and Martha Stewart are just a few of the distinguished chefs who have taught at this cooking school located on the eighth floor of Macy’s. With a sullen entrance situated just beyond the swimsuit section and adjoining an employee lounge, DeGustibus seems an unlikely place to learn from the masters. But inside the bright and intimate one-room school, huge photographs of celebrity chefs staring down at an impressive professional kitchen, testify to the contrary. Up to 80 students sit elbow-to-elbow at grey folding tables as they observe the chef’s every move at pink marble counters by way of the huge ceiling mirror if not directly. Some classes get so overly crowded that assistants can barely navigate through the room, resulting in students passing four-star tasting dishes and glasses of wine among each other like paper handouts during a college lecture. But it’s precisely this casual atmosphere that renders De Gustibus so unique; confident foodies undeterred by a chef’s celebrity status call out questions and suggestions, while the school’s co-founder Arlene Feltman Sailhac encourages applause or, conversely, shushes any chatterboxes. Sailhac established De Gustibus in 1980; her first instructor was Chef Perla Meyers, who used only an electronic pan, a chicken leg and a few garnishes. Over the years, De Gustibus has moved from its first home in Carnegie Hall to the Theatre Opera Music Institute and finally to Macy’s in 1982. — Laurel Fantauzzo

Students at De Gustibus are given 10% discounts to The Cellar at Macy's.