Children’s Cooking Classes with Table Talk Foundation
24 July, 7 August & 21 August | 10:30 – 11:30 & 13:00 – 14:00
Join us for a fun-filled event where kids get to learn cooking skills with the Table Talk Foundation this spring!
Every date offers something different, from exploring knife skills to making bread. They are designed to help children gain confidence in the kitchen, encouraging your child to create nutritious and delicious dishes. Please note that there will be no cooking in an oven. Find out more about the two classes below.
Chef John will guide your child through the cooking class, suitable for children of primary school age, from beginners to more advanced young chefs. We believe that cooking is a fun and rewarding activity that brings families together and inspires a lifelong love of food and cooking.
Our very own Chef Jean Delport from Restaurant Interlude works closely with the Table Talk Foundation, collaborating and hosting unique dining experiences to raise funds in aid of food education in Sussex for the next generation, and to help the local hospitality industry.
£10 per child | 10% off for Leonardslee Members | Garden entry included in Children ticket
Ideal for primary school-aged children | All materials included | All profits donated to Table Talk Foundation
Parents or child carers are welcome to stay with their children, visit our café, or explore the gardens while the kids are taking part in the class | Day ticket required for parent or child care
Information on the Cooking Classes
Knife Skills| 24 July | 10:30 – 11:30 & 13:00 – 14:00
This session encourages children to familiarise themselves with food by introducing knife skills, teaching them how to properly use a knife safely and to encourage excitement around food.
Bread making | 7 August | 10:30 – 11:30 & 13:00 – 14:00
The second session is about where bread comes from, how wheat is grown, harvested and milled into flour. Children then make the bread. As there is unfortunately not time nor the facilities, children take the proved bread home to bake, which helps to ensure that the whole family is involved.
Taste & Sensory | 21 August | 10:30 - 11:30 & 13:00 - 14:00
This session encourages children to familiarise themselves with food by introducing foods by seeing, hearing, touching, smelling and tasting a baguette, before identifying the four tastes. Different coloured jellies are used for children to discover more tastes.
Provenance and healthy eating is the key message with a focus on the importance of a balanced diet and the risks of too much salt and sugar.
Table Talk Foundation
Getting children engaged with food at an early age helps them make better food choices. By improving accessibility and changing a generation’s attitude to food we can begin to combat health inequalities. Table Talk Foundation work with Adopt a School Trust, an established charity that brings chefs into schools to help children develop healthy eating habits, an enthusiasm and interest in food, and an insight into the hospitality industry, all from a cooking class.
Adopt a School Trust | Royal Academy of Culinary Arts
Founded in 1990, the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts’ Adopt a School Trust, is a national charity delivering holistic food education in schools. Currently their programme reaches over 17,000 children every year. Teaching crucial practical cookery skills and helping children to understand the link between food, health and the environment. Children learn about food provenance and growth, food preparation and hygiene, sustainable and healthy eating, nutrition and the importance of eating together. And for many, the Adopt a School sessions provide a first insight into the many varied career options offered by the hospitality industry.
Chef John
Chef John started his career at the Michelin Starred Gravetye Manor in West Sussex before progressing through the ranks at numerous Michelin Starred restaurants. After working in Toronto, chef John returned to the UK as Executive Chef for the opening of Ashdown Park Hotel in East Sussex.
After 14 years, he decided to travel and spent a year moving around the world before settling into the cruise industry. He had decided it was time to return home to East Grinstead when he received an email from The Royal Academy of Culinary Arts and Table Talk Foundation, looking for someone to cover the whole of Sussex for the Adopt A School children’s food education programme, it was just what he was looking for.