2009 Cookery Christmas in London

Cook-up a delicious, foodie Christmas party at Venturi’s Table.

Sip fine Sicilian wine while stirring fragrant saffron risotto in the exclusive kitchens of the UK’s first, dedicated ‘corporate cookery centre.’ Join the over 8,000 business professionals who have relaxed and had fun over cooking a gourmet meal from scratch and then enjoying it around the table together. Your cookery event combines cooking at its most indulgent within kitchens worthy of any celebrity chef and a mouth-watering meal served on fine bone china. Chefs expert in the centre’s three cuisine types (Italian, Indian and Thai) will provide top restaurant insights into making the perfect homemade pasta, biryani and dim sum. For a more complete gastronomic experience, groups can also enjoy an Italian wine tasting with an expert guiding them through Italy’s major wine producing regions.

How it works
The emphasis is on fun, relaxation and enjoyment.
Rather than mindless amounts of chopping or arm-straining mixing, you will be invited to ‘sip and stir,’ enjoying fine wines as you cook in a state-of-the-art kitchen. At the end of the session, hungry and fully relaxed, the group will sit down together and be served the restaurant-quality food they have created themselves. Nothing is prepared in advance in order that the pleasure of the cooking process is fully experienced.

The menus
Contemporary Italian is the centre’s signature menu, devised by its Managing Director Anna Venturi. Anna has been teaching Italian cooking for over 15 years and runs Venturi’s Table with her daughter Letizia Tufari. She has been featured as an Italian cookery expert in the Telegraph Magazine, the Observer Food Monthly, Waitrose Food Illustrated, Olive magazine and on the BBC’s Saturday Kitchen, among others!
We also offer events inspired around Indian and Thai food. These alternative classes are run by chefs from two of London’s most celebrated Indian and Thai restaurants – Mehernosh Mody, head chef of La Porte Des Indes (recently featured on Masterchef) and Khun Sompong Saejew, executive chef at the Blue Elephant.

Wine tasting
For a more complete gastronomic experience, groups can also enjoy a wine tasting tutorial with an expert at the end of their meal. The tastings provide an overview of Italian wines, looking at regional variations in taste and smell. Participants are then invited to sample an edited selection of fine reds and whites and finish with a blind taste challenge.
Wine tastings last an hour and a half. After enjoying their meal together, participants take a 30 minute break and then return to the centre for the tasting