EATING OUT WEST GUIDE

Dining Clubs

NEW DINING OUT

Web: www.diningoutevents.co.uk

• Cunning name for a bright new addition to the local gay scene: Dining Out is open to LGBT singles and couples in the Bristol area, wit a monthly ‘pop-up’ supper club in a city centre venue, afternoon Secret Vintage Tearooms and wine-tasting and dating evenings for singletons. BYO supper events cost £25 for three-course meal and coffee – and the all-important secret location.  

DINNER CLUB

Tel: 01244 677030, web: http://www.thedinnerclubuk.com/

• This national network of single professional, business or executive over-30s doesn’t have a local organiser but the (primarily weekend-based) UK-wide programme would be accessible to those willing to travel. Activities range from theatre trips, restaurant meals and private balls to week-long holidays and cruises, with some restricted to the under-45s.

NEW MI CASA

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Web: www.bristolsupperclub.org.uk

• Popular social dining club with regular programme of lunch and evening meal gatherings for members to meet and enjoy eating in company at popular local restaurants and pubs. Three-month trial memberships £12.50.

TABLE FOR SIX

Tel: 01934 712617, web: www.table-forsix.co.uk

• As much about making friends and enjoying an evening in like-minded company as the inevitable ‘match making’. Brings together three men and three women at a restaurant for an evening of food and conversation. Food is billed individually.

Cookery Schools & Courses

NEW ARE WE COOKING YET?

Tel: 01373 835234, web: www.arewecookingyet.com

• General cookery courses led by professional chefs. Aimed at adults and children, with summer camps and school-holidays courses, including Eating Green, Sweet Temptations, Teens Boot Camp, at £30-£45 a day. Courses based at schools: Ralph Allen (Bath), Red Maids’ (Bristol), St Laurence (Bradford on Avon).

ASHBURTON

Hare’s Lane Cottage, 76 East St, Ashburton, Newton Abbot, Devon, TQ13 7AX Tel: 01364 652784, web: www.ashburtoncookeryschool.co.uk

• From four-week professional training to one-/five-day courses, plus weekends, with something for all levels of skill and interest including breadmaking, express dinner parties, basic chef training.

NEW BABY BITES

38 Berkeley Rd, Bishopston, Bristol, BS7 8HE Tel: 07531 237527, web: www.babybites.co.uk

• Organic baby food producer Louise Barnard runs small informal workshops to help parents prepare simple, nutritious, tasty meals for children. Classes, lasting up to three hours, are linked to appropriate stages of babies’/children’s development.

BALMY KITCHEN

4 Kensington Place, Bath, BA1 6AW Tel: 01225 428309, web: www.balmykitchen.co.uk

• Social ‘cooking sessions’ in Laraine Hare’s kitchen. Prepare a three-course dinner from fresh, seasonal, organic ingredients, then eat it with a glass or two of wine. Also offers tailormade individual/couple/group tuition sessions.

BERTINET KITCHEN

12 St Andrews Terrace, Bath, BA1 2QR Tel: 01225 445531, web: www.thebertinetkitchen.com

• They come from far and wide to learn the secrets of legendary master baker Richard Bertinet in this purpose-built cookery school. There’s more than bread on offer - other one-day courses bring experts to teach vegetarian, seafood, Italian, etc. Book well in advance.

NEW BERWICK LODGE

Berwick Drive, Bristol, BS10 7TD Tel: 0117 958 1590, web: www.berwicklodge.co.uk

• New cookery school opened in the grounds of amazing Byzantine luxury restaurant and benefiting from the expertise of Bell’s Diner supremo Chris Wicks and colleague Billy Pallett. Courses (half-day/full-day) take in fresh pasta, bread baking, butchery masterclass and ‘Bird in Bird Pye’ Christmas special.

CHOCOLATE TART

43 Kent Rd, Congresbury, North Somerset, BS49 5BD Tel: 01934 876881, web: www.thechocolatetart.co.uk

• Chocolatier Lisa Clarke’s school caters for children, hen parties, team building. Yes, there’s sampling and, yes, you get to take a heap of handmade chocolate goodies home at the end.

COOKERY SCHOOL AT BORDEAUX QUAY

V-Shed, Canons Way, Bristol, BS1 5UH Tel: 0117 904 6679, web: www.bordeaux-quay.co.uk

• International green cookery guru Barny Haughton steers this not-for-profit school through a varied, ever-changing programme (one-off workshops, structured courses, ‘sleb’ demos) for everyone from toddlers to budding chefs. Full school-holidays programme for kids. Ongoing Passport to Cooking modular course teaches adults the basics of a whole range of kitchen skills and knowledge. Barny’s three-day masterclass, All about Meat, is run jointly with master butcher Graham Symes.

COOKING FOR HEALTH

Tel: 01458 224606, web: www.cookingforhealth-uk.com

• One-day courses helping you understand the relationship between good food and wellbeing, including Food & Emotions, Boosting Your Immune System, Beating Stress & Fatigue. Courses, held in Yeovil or Keinton Mandeville, combine practical tuition, teaching and a (healthy!) three-course meal.

NEW COOKWISE

Tel: 01749 890017, web: www.cookwise.co.uk

• Workshops for children, using fresh ingredients and aimed at preparing a ‘real’ meal to share with the family while learning about healthy eating and gaining basic practical skills and knowledge. Courses, run by experienced teacher Sarah Laing, are based in Wells Cathedral School.

DEVILLED EGG

Latchford House, Downfield Rd, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 2TH Tel: 0117 973 2823, web: www.thedevilledegg.com

• Barbora Stiess specialises in bespoke events tailored to whatever you want – no subject too small or pernickety (they’ve even done ‘the perfect scrambled egg’). Courses can be an evening, half-day or full-day.

EXQUISITE CAKE COMPANY

Web: www.exquisitecakecompany.com

• Based in London and Bristol, this specialist company will come to your home (or designated venue) to teach you the skills of fancy cake making. Courses, including Cupcake Decoration and Perfecting the Covered Sponge Cake, suitable for adults or children.

NEW FLAVOURS OF BATH

3, Abbey Green Guest House, Bath, BA1 1NW Tel: 07771 782838, web: www.cookerycoach.co.uk

• Cookery coach Nev Leaning takes you on a morning’s tour of Bath’s artisan food shops, when you’ll buy the ingredients for the afternoon’s cookery session. Lunch and dinner included in £150 fee. A more conventional fortnightly course programme, with visiting specialists, covers a range of topics.

GABLES SCHOOL OF COOKERY

Pipers Lodge, Bristol Rd, Falfield, South Glos, GL12 8DF Tel: 01454 260444 • This Bristol cookery school offers four-week residential cookery courses.  It specialises in yacht and chalet cookery courses for budding chefs, and also runs one-day cookery courses including Easy Dinner Party, Thai, Italian and Indian cooking. Qualified staff will guide both the novice and the aspiring chef through the essential skills necessary to create fabulous cuisine.

NEW GOOD COOK SCHOOL

Tel: 0117 983 2521, web: www.thegoodcookschool.co.uk

• Qualified teacher Sophie Fox and her team help kids enjoy cooking while understanding about healthy eating and new ingredients. Run holiday sessions in various locations around Bristol and work with community groups and schools. At the children’s cooking parties, kids get to cook the food for their own party.

LA CUIZINE

Tel: 0117 907 182, web: www.lacuizine.co.uk

• French-born/trained chef Isabelle Redon helps anyone from absolute beginner to experienced cook to learn more about French cuisine. Some workshops offer the chance to practise your French conversation at the same time. One-to-one tuition, too.

NEW LA PERLA

12a North Parade, Bath, BA2 4AL Tel: 01225 463626, web: www.la-perla.co.uk

• This new, upmarket tapas restaurant from the Minibar crew offers courses in both traditional and contemporary tapas cookery.

LOUISE WALKER

8 The Tyning, Widcombe Hill, Bath, BA2 6AL Tel: 01225 442861, web: http://www.louise-walker.co.uk/

• Specialises in cooking using the Aga and Gaggenau steam oven. Demo days and hands-on day courses to help newcomers make the most of these forms of cooker, including pastry making, roast dinners, bread baking.

MYRISTICA

51 Welsh Back, Bristol, BS1 4AN Tel: 0117 927 2277, web: www.myristica.co.uk

• The cooks at this Indian restaurant pride themselves on preparing dishes freshly to order. Head chef Bhaskar Pilar demonstrates the techniques he uses, including combinations of herbs and spices, marinades, chutneys and cookery tricks.

NATURAL FOOD SCHOOL

Tel: 01363 82794, web: www.naturalfoodschool.co.uk

• Two nutritionists running courses (eves, days, weekends) at the Natural Vitality kitchen near Bath. Focus is on the links between what we eat and how we feel, including Eating & Moving for Health & Vitality, and Introduction to Nutritional Healing.

NEW PAPADELI COOKERY SCHOOL

84 Alma Rd, Clifton, Bristol, BS8 2DJ Tel: 0117 973 6569, web: http://news.papadeli.co.uk

• Evening courses combining themed sessions on tapas or Catalan cuisine with practical tips from experts, including pieminister’s Tristan Hogg talking pies and Simon ‘Papa’ MacDonnell sharing the secrets of Papadeli’s salads and casseroles. Saturday programme and summer schools for kids and teenagers.

ROCKFISH GRILL & SEAFOOD MARKET

128 Whiteladies Rd, Bristol, BS8 2RS Tel: 0117 973 7384, web: www.rockfishgrill.co.uk

• Spend a day plundering the Rockfish seafood stall and learn preparation and cookery techniques from their expert chefs. Explore wine matching and sample unusual fish species as well as mainstream favourites.

SARAH BRITTON COOKERY CLASSES

Lemons & Honey Cookery Studio, White Baines, Wellow, Bath, BA2 8QS Tel: 01225 833133, web: www.darlingdeli.co.uk/cookery.html

• Darling Deli’s talented cook runs evening/day courses increasing confidence, skills and knowledge (Easy Entertaining. Confidence in the Kitchen) for domestic cooks.

NEW A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR

Tel: 07748 644673, web: www.spoonfulofsugarcooking.co.uk

• Amber Morgan runs cookery courses for two-to-four-year-olds (and their parents) at her home in Larkhall, Bath. Sessions, run over several weeks, last 1.25 hours (max six kids per group) include singing, storytelling and craft activities alongside ‘proper’ cooking.

VEGETARIAN COOKERY SCHOOL

6 Terrace Walk, Bath, BA1 1LN Tel: 01225 427938, web: www.vegetariancookeryschool.com

• One of the UK’s longest-established and best vegetarian cookery schools, run by Rachel Demuth (of equally famed restaurant demuths), with a dazzling range of ethnic and speciality courses. Recently moved into spacious, stylish new premises. One-day courses include demos, tasters and hands-on preparation – then enjoy the fruits of your labours with a glass or two of wine.

YOUR SUSHI

Tel: 020 3287 2299, web: www.yoursushi.co.uk

• This London-based company offer regular sushi-making courses in Bristol (Novotel, BS1 6HY) and Bath (Green Park Station, BA1 1JB). Skill levels from ‘easy’ to ‘master chef’. One-off sessions are good fun: plenty of nibbling and a bento box of handmade treats to take home.