For my sister’s birthday, I had organised for a day session with home chef, John Benbow with Food at 52. His kitchen is located somewhere between Angel and King’s Cross (giving you the exact location would like giving away a trade secret). Each group he organises is small with up to ten people (we had nine during our) to join him in a four hour cooking course with some titles like Flavours of Italy, Authentic Moroccan and the one that we did, Stress Free Dinner Parties.

Given that the day we went ended up overcast, it was a pleasure to be indoors in a bright, spacious and well designed kitchen where we stood at personal workstations working together to put together an outstanding meal. The four hours literally flew by as we prepared some of the dishes, occasionally grazing before preparing some more and finally sitting down to eat the fruits of our labour. We split into about two groups to work on the same recipe, each person doing a little bit to split out some of the preparation.

I have to say that I really enjoyed the entire four hour experience. The combination between the homely kitchen setting, so different from what you would think of a perfectly sterile commercial kitchen, the warm welcome of espresso coffee, and plenty of personal touches, this course is definitely worth the money. I’m pretty sure my sister enjoyed her birthday present, and even though you effectively end up making a large set of food, you learn so much in the process. See the pictures from the day here.