Welcome to Richard Hughes Cookery School

Welcome to the new Richard Hughes Cookery School website. We are able to offer a host of new courses, aimed to appeal to anyone with an interest in cooking, eating and having fun! Whether you've been cooking for years, or you're just progressing from cheese on toast, we are sure we can inspire you to get into the kitchen and start impressing family and friends with your new found skills: skills that will last you a lifetime! I have been cooking professionally for over thirty years and teaching for twenty, yet I am still thrilled at the reaction of students when they produce a stunning chocolate cake, a simple soup or a loaf of bread. Often it is the simplest things in life that give us the most enjoyment: cooking supper, a quick lunch or even breakfast in bed is equal to the most lavish present!

Classes are informative, practical and, most importantly, fun.  Good cooking comes from confidence, and we will give you the techniques, information and, of course, the recipes to make sure you can reproduce everything you see and do at the Richard Hughes Cookery School. Class sizes are deliberately small so we can give you the attention you require, and everything you make on the practical classes is yours to either take home or eat on the day. Demonstration classes are relaxed and informative: many of our regulars have been visiting us for many years.

Our lives revolve around food, with more TV programmes, newspapers and websites dedicated to cooking than any other subject, but the only place to really get involved is in the kitchen. We invite you into our kitchen - let’s get cooking!

Richard Hughes, Proprietor: A Profile

Richard has been cooking professionally for over thirty years, beginning his career at The Imperial Hotel in Great Yarmouth in 1977, spending one day a week at college, two days a week on the pot wash and two days a week cooking breakfast! Richard's career has taken him from the Michelin-starred kitchens of Rookery Hall in Nantwich to the Theatre Royal in the centre of Norwich. In 1991 Richard fulfilled his ambition of opening his own restaurant, Number Twenty Four in Wymondham, which he ran for some eleven years. During his time at Wymondham, Richard also taught at the Hotel School Norwich, began his famous Step by Step column in the EDP Norfolk magazine, and in 1994 won a Catey for Menu of the Year. The outside catering service was an extremely popular part of the business throughout the nineties and, whilst cooking a wedding breakfast at Strumpshaw, Richard passed the very famous Old Beams in Brundall. Looking slightly sorry for itself, the restaurant was on the market for sale as a private house, but Richard headed back to Wymondham and set about selling everything he had to secure the property in 2002. The Grade II listed building was renamed The Lavender House and has since been a real highlight on the Norfolk restaurant scene, winning numerous awards, including 2 AA rosettes, another prestigious Catey in 2004, a two times winner of an EDP Business Award and the Work for Schools Premier Award. Richard is also the author of three best-selling cookery books; Hughes Cooking, The Pigs Book of Proper Pub Food, and Step by Step published in 2009. The restaurant has been extremely busy since opening its doors and, despite all the acclaim, the priority is always the customer who is often celebrating their very own special occasion. Richard took back the reins of the kitchen in August 2010, and although involved in other businesses (Richard part owns The Pigs at Edgefield, which was recently named Country Life Pub of the Year, and The Assembly House in Norwich city centre), The Lavender House remains central to his life, is the flagship of all his other interests, and his true love!

“It was such a pleasure to see things done well, without a lot of fuss and egomania! We also enjoyed the immaculate and pleasant venue ... not to mention the fabulous food! We feel inspired and cannot wait to try the recipes for ourselves.”
- Helen Hobbs

“Top class. Thank you very much, can't wait to do another.”
- Jason Spencer-Powell, Martham

“A thoroughly enjoyable experience; totally relaxed environment and a great host. Can't wait to come back!”
- Rachel Barnett, Attleborough

“A very relaxed atmosphere and extremely informative! I will definitely be returning for another session in the future. Superb birthday or Christmas gift idea. And you get to take the food home too!!”
- Barry Ellis, Sprowston

“Was a little apprehensive before the class - never having done anything like it before! But very relaxed day, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day. Good fun, learnt lots and great lunch. Highly recommended. Thank you.”
- Mark Fletcher, Aylsham