Meet John Hardy, one of our regulars and February’s Amigo of the Month…!👋

How did you hear about The Avenue?

‘I found you on Google, looking for a cookery school class as a Christmas gift for my girlfriend and sister to do together, something fun, saw the Doughnut making and thought perfect.’ All You Can Eat Doughnuts – definitely a fun! 🤤

How long have you been joining classes?

‘I think we are now entering our 3rd year of doing some classes, with one already booked for March and another being backed up to book.’

Which classes have you done?

‘Korean, Indian Vegan Street Food, Indian not Vegan, Doughnuts x2, Bread, Bao Buns and Japanese.’ – some of the best then!

What was your favourite class at The Avenue?

‘The Bread is awesome, and the one thing we repeat a lot, though my daughter says any class that Richard does is the best.’ Carbs and Rich – we understand, it’s a good combo !

What’s your favourite dish to cook that you learnt with us?

‘I think bread, as we learnt all the technical bits of it all, though every class gives you something, whether it is making your own custard or never to buy ghee again, or doing garlic properly I re-use all the tips in any dishes I do at home.’ Homemade ghee is a winner – especially infused with some goodies. Great to hear some tips and tricks of the trade are being used well!

What was your favourite dish to eat at The Avenue?

‘The bao buns were off the charts, couldn’t believe we had made those, but maybe also the Diana bread, never tried to repeat it, would love to as it was probs the best bread I’ve ever tasted.’ We are definitely getting the feeling of fellow carb lovers here! Diana’s Bread is truly delicious and the reason we serve it at the beginning of most of our classes – salivating at the thought!

What is the most obscure thing you have made in the kitchen?

‘In my kitchen…Ive made a giant pork pie from scratch, that was cool, because I love pork pies, and it actually came out tasting and looking like one, be it the size of a diner plate it lasted a few days.

In your kitchen, I guess it could be the vegan Indian, Im still learning vegan alternatives so this was very informative for to help keeping my girlfriend fed.’

What class would you like to do in the future?

‘We are booked on Middle Eastern, I do a lot of tagine cooking as this was a present a couple of Christmas ago, and we love it, so I’m interested to get some new ideas on middle eastern, we toured Morocco 2 years ago in a Fiat 500, and it was amazing, the food is so rich in flavors and colours.’ It’s definitely a good one and the falafel balls are to die for in the squishy pita.

Any final comments?

‘This all started with a simple Christmas present since then my girlfriend and I have been a few times, The Avenue cater for vegan so well she loves it, my niece had the time of her life, having just turned 18, I thought a bottomless cook night with uncle would be fun and it was, my youngest sons (12 and 10) have heard me speak about the classes and begged to come along, now they want to return after doing the doughnuts, and lastly my daughter and I have enjoyed a few classes, this is the most special time with her I get to bond and enjoy her company. The classes are always fun, it’s super easy to get to being in Wandsworth, we love the family feel as you can see we come to the classes as a family too. Richards knowledge is amazing, we particularly like how he has tried changing the parameters of cooking to see whats happened and lets us into the secrets of what matters and what does not.’

From our family to yours John, thank you! Thank you for being such a loyal customer and bringing all your family along – this is why we exist and what we love to read and see. We look forward to having you on our Middle Eastern Class soon and many more classes in the future we hope. Ax

If you want to join The Avenue Family by becoming a future Amigo of the Month, email us at info@theavenuecookeryschool.com