Cookery School

I attended a half day course ‘The ultimate meat and poultry’. Surpassed expectations on all counts. The cookery school is centrally located, just off Regent St. Surprisingly compact inside but everything worked well due to great organisation of the space and activities.
We were welcomed with freshly baked caraway seed cakes and cheese scones, still warm from the oven with tea or coffee. Our group of ten budding cooks was split into 3 groups. We had around ten dishes to make so each group did three /​four dishes.
The chef leading the class was excellent. Too many dishes to describe here but highlights included guinea fowl (a favourite of mine) braised in red wine and port, spatchcock poussin, lamb stew, duck with orange and roast beef with Yorkshire pud. We all worked on fully deboning a chicken which we then stuffed with a mushroom mixture, tied up like a burrito (I think ballotine is the correct term) and took home to eat. I can report it was delicious. On the side we also made two rice dishes and crème caramels. Finally, after a 10 am start and solid demo, concentrated prep and cooking, we reached 3pm. The table was set and the group sat down to eat what became a 10 course tasting menu. Tired and weak with hunger we ate and ate sampling each dish with a nice glass or two of wine to accompany.
As well as being interesting and educational, it was enjoyable and learned lots of new tips and cookery techniques. It was busy and intense but not too much and pitched to the group who all had a reasonable level of cooking knowledge.
I have the recipe cards and slowly working through some of the dishes we made… not too bad so far.
Would definitely return for another class.

I fancy myself as a bit of a chef in my spare time anyway, but I’m pretty sure that as with most things I’ve taught myself, I’m doin’ it wrong sometimes.
So it was with excitement that I heard Qype were going to head down to Cookery School for an evening of team building and learning about each other through the medium of dinner. Yum yum.
On the night we were very much learning on our feet (such was the point of the exercise) but I was struck by the knowledge and calm of the staff in the room while supervising such an excitable rabble armed with a lot of knives. I could tell they were bursting with stuff to tell us about food and cooking techniques (particularly when I was more than a little slow on the uptake while elbow deep in stretchy dough). Ros, chef-​in-​chief, works harder than anyone, with her incredibly able team of helpers in tow picking up everything after aforementioned knife-​happy rabble.
We chopped, fried and laughed our way through two hours of cooking (there goes the one hour limit, chaps) before sitting down for a rather marvellous three course extravaganza (including analysis of how we’d behaved on video). I had a great, great time — the menus were inspired, tough enough to push you but easy enough to work out, not the stuff you’d eat every day. The ingredients were top quality and delicious. The kitchen was a great place to cook (even if I did begrudge not having it all to myself, being the territorial chefette that I am).
I would love to go back for more.

I’ve always wanted to go to culinary school, and for a day, I almost felt like I did!
I entered Qype’s Nom Nom Nom 09 competition and set off to the Cookery School for a day of Master Chef-​like madness!
The kitchen classroom was spotlessly clean; the knives were sharp; the rules were strict (wash your hands after chicken, sanitize your work space after working with raw meats, carry your knives pointing down, dont lick your fingers, etc); and the staff was informative and attentive.
I’d like to go back under different terms some time and take one of their courses! Such a great space.

I’ve never been in such a clean and posh kitchen before!
Was at the NomNomNom cooking competition and it was held at the cookery school, echoing the other comments — the staff are indeed very attentive, and they are clearly know what they are doing, guiding us along the way, and imparting quite basic, but useful kitchen advice (no double dipping with same spoon, and carry knives with sharp end aim toward floor).
Oh, and they have a blast chiller. very, very cool.
A relaxing place to cook, all the kitchen ware is top class and it really felt theraputic, browing my carrots, ahh

This place is really cool. Ros and her team are so friendly and helpful and although its a great space, they are the ones who really make this cookery school a fun place to come and learn.
I was competing in the Nom Nom Nom competition last weekend which was held at The Cookery School and under all the stress and pressure I still really enjoyed the hours spent at the school.
The equipment is top notch, the space is spotless and apart from being sticklers for hygiene and safety (and rightly so) the atmosphere is very relaxed — perfect for learning the culinary arts.

The Cookery School is definitely a brilliant place. One of the main things you might think of if considering taking cooking classes (may it be for some Masterchef aspirations or a few hours of interesting fun with some friends or colleagues) is if you’re going to be in good hands — and there you will.
I was participating in the Nom Nom Nom cooking competition that took place there yesterday and it was fantastic. Ros who heads the school and all her staff seriously know their stuff and are really helpful and welcoming. The place looks great and all the equipment is excellent.
Highly recommended and I’d like to add particular thanks to Philip and Edwin who were helping us out in the kitchen and gave everything we needed to cook a good meal for the competition, thanks again guys! ;)

The team at Cookery School are extremely attentive, knowledgeable and as Siany has said, nothing is too much trouble for them.
They’re great at suggesting things and being helpful but also let you think about cooking in a different way and get you to work on your instincts & make the most of the season’s best ingredients.
Everyone I know who’s been here, through NomNomNom and on private or corporate classes has had a fantastic time and come away knowing what cooking in fantastic state of the art kitchen would be like (thankfully without histrionic chefs throwing things at them).

I have nothing but good things to say about this place. Really really good things.
I was there yesterday taking part in the NomNomNom competition and it was the perfect place for the contest. Great location too.
The space is lovely, you get a ‘station’, rather than your own kitchen, but we just asked for whatever we needed and then two seconds later there it was. The staff are so friendly and helpful. Nothing is too much trouble for them. They know their stuff too so if you need any help you can just ask them.
Rosalind (she runs Cookery School) is lovely and full of encouragement. I’ve never thought about doing a cooking course before but I would do here. In fact, I think I might just.

Topnotch service and incredibly attentive staff at the Cookery School. There’s a high chef/​student ratio. The cooking equipment is shiny and new and much, much nicer than anything you probably have in your own kitchen. Fun stuff. I’d try a course there again.