Andrew's tour of London Get in the Kitchen

Date Published:

31/10/2008

My whistle-stop tour of the new, unique and downright ace food places of London continues with The Kitchen, added to the Map by Alexa. I donned my Channel 4 apron, rolled up my sleeves and went to find out more

The Kitchen is an absolutely brilliant idea. What it is not, I am told by founders, Natalie Richmond and Thierry Laborde, is a cookery school. The premise is simple - you visit the website, browse the menu and decide what you'd like to cook. You then pop along to your chosen session and everything is ready and waiting for you. You have a glass of wine, make the meals, and your creations get sealed and are ready to take home to the cooker, or fridge or freezer. On the day I'm there, there's one lady who, so Natalie tells me, comes every week to make a selection of meals for her and her husband.

A real ready meal

The food from The Kitchen is about as far away from the stereotyped 'ready meals' as it's possible to get. It's properly prepared, fresh, tasty food that just happens to be made in someone else's kitchen rather than yours. And while the menu is designed to take in all your home-cooked favourites - fish cakes, stuffed chicken breast, stir fry, moussaka, Thai curry - the fact that all the ingredients are from the best possible suppliers means that quality is never compromised. Each meal works out at about £6 a head, which means it's practical option for busy people not just a one off luxury. Finally I think it's also about rebelling against convenience and actually taking the time to enjoy the making of food, as well as the eating of it.

A steady pair of hands

The recipes are clear and easy to follow, but if you need help head chef, Thierry, and sous-chef, Claudio, are on hand to help guide you or show you how to do something. Or you could just chat to them about food, which is also nice. Everything's provided for you, right down to the apron, but if you feel like it you can even bring in your own crockery and dishes rather than use the trays provided. "We've had a few people do this," says Natalie.

Natalie and Thierry spent ages looking for the right location for their business. "It had to be near the tube and near a school," says Nat. The latter reason being that the dynamic duo run cooking clubs for kids on Saturdays. "Thierry even gets them shouting 'Yes Chef'!" says Natalie. Over the coming months they're also running master classes in butchery, knife skills and sushi, as well as wine tasting events.

Knife, camera, action

You can watch me and the rest of my group preparing some of the dishes below as well as Thierry demonstrating a really simple tart tatin. Or if you're in South West London, pop along for a session. Time spent in The Kitchen is all the fun of preparing food yourself, the joy of good company and the chance to learn how to cook something new, plus there's no washing up. What's not to like?

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