The Michel Roux Jr Cookery School in Clapham, London was honoured to be crowned 2016 Cookery School of the Year this month at the Food and Travel Magazine Reader awards celebrating the best in the worlds of food, drink and travel.
Although the cookery school works with a number of male chefs, the team running the business, opened in 2013, are entirely female and has grown from 2 to 7 members of staff. The company have received support from the government’s Growth Accelerator programme for small businesses and are now being mentored by the British Library’s Innovating for Growth: Scale Ups programme. Director Anna also took part in Escape the City’s Start-Up Tribe in 2015.
Accepting the trophy at a ceremony at the RAC club on Pall Mall, cookery school director Anna Ratcliffe said, “The support we’ve received from mentors, and workshops we’ve attended, as part of the growth schemes have been invaluable in helping us gain essential business knowledge and set sound strategies for future growth.”
“It’s incredibly heart-warming to be rewarded by the Food and Travel readers for all the hard work we’ve poured into the cookery school. The entire team – the admin staff, the home economists, the chefs and I – all love what we do and I think that really shines through in our daily approach and is the reason our customers have voted for us.”
Since the cookery school was opened in partnership with Michel Roux Jr, hundreds of cooking enthusiasts and food lovers have had the opportunity to cook alongside the trailblazing chef, his protégés and an array of award-winning stars of the kitchen.
And it’s the wow factor that contributes to the school’s success and makes it stand out from the crowd. It’s all the more impressive that the school has made such a big impression in the highly competitive world of food and drink in the short time it’s been in business, particularly given the compact size of its operation.
But therein lies its charm: a warm welcome, small classes, attention to detail, and the personal touch. Far more than a good day out with a delicious meal included, the chance to cook with a professional chef gives students confidence and invaluable practical knowledge they can take back to their own kitchens. Learning how to make a light as air soufflé comes with substantial skills attached.
www.cactuskitchens.co.uk
