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River Cottage Experience

from £245.00

Spend a relaxing afternoon cooking and eating in the glorious surroundings of River Cottage.

Capture the essence of life at River Cottage HQ with a leisurely afternoon and evening with the River Cottage gardeners and chefs. Discover the importance of seasonal and ethical eating and spend time in the cookery school and out on the farm before the culmination of your day - a delicious evening feast.

The day begins with a bite to eat and a hot drink. You'll then don your aprons and begin to make our classic River Cottage farmhouse loaf. Whilst your dough proves, you'll take a tour of HQ, heading out into our beautiful walled farmhouse garden and polytunnels, collecting ingredients and learning more about veg growing and harvesting. You'll plant up some seed trays to take home before crossing the courtyard back to our purpose-built cookery school.

You'll use part of your dough to create a woodfired pizza to keep you going until the main event later in the day. There are further techniques and tips to pick up as you work alongside our chefs to finish your farmhouse loaf and prepare the starter for your evening feast with a well-earnt glass of fizz! Then it’s time to relax and let the River Cottage team take over as they prepare a seasonal cocktail before you enjoy a 3-course feast including the starter you prepared earlier.

Highlights:

- Make a classic farmhouse loaf

- Enjoy a tour of the farm and famous River Cottage Kitchen Garden

- Make your own pizza and fire it in our wood-fire oven for a late lunch

- Spend time in the Cookery School and create some tasty components to be enjoyed with your feast

- Teas, coffee, and snack on arrival

- A glass of fizz while you cook

- Seasonal cocktail

- Three-course seasonal feast

  • River Cottage Experience

    A fantastic experience that can be enjoyed any time of the year. The team are so knowledgable and so passionate about what they do you can't help but be sucked in to their organic world.

    Zoe Attended 14 April 2023

    5.0 out of 5
  • River Cottage Experience

    My wife and I had one of the best days out that we have ever had. We really felt extremely welcome and relaxed and enjoyed excellent food and conversation with Gelf and all of the other chefs and staff.

    Joe Attended 14 April 2023

    5.0 out of 5

Your day

12.00 - 21:00

  • Arrive at River Cottage

    You’ll be met at the top of the hill at noon and begin your River Cottage experience with a 10-15 minute walk through the pathways down to the farm, enabling you to really soak up the views of the valley.

  • Make yourself at home

    You will meet your host, and begin the day with tea, coffee and a treat fresh from the kitchen.

  • Session one

    You'll head into the cookery school and begin creating your bread dough with your River Cottage chef for the day.

  • Session two

    Next you'll explore the grounds, guided by a River Cottage gardener, picking veg for the kitchen to prepare for your dinner. Once you finish picking, you’ll plant some seeds to take home to grow using the tips and tricks from our garden team.

  • Session three

    After a tour of the farm, you’ll use some of our classic pizza dough to create delicious woodfired pizzas to keep you going until the main event and take a break.

  • Session four

    You'll then get stuck into the bread making session, with shaping and baking tips from the chefs. Our classic River Cottage farmhouse bread dough recipe will give you wonderful home-baked loaves every time.

  • Practical session five

    After your break we'll pour you a glass of fizz and you'll create some delicious morsels to be enjoyed with your feast, learning new techniques under the expert guidance of your River Cottage chef.

  • Pre Dinner Cocktail

    Now it’s time to relax and let the River Cottage team take over as they make you a specially designed seasonal cocktail.

  • Dinner

    Finally, it’s time to sit down with your peers and enjoy the three course seasonal feast including the starter your prepared earlier.

  • Departure

    You'll head back up the hill for 9pm with your River Cottage loaf, seed tray and gardeners info pack in hand.

Please note: This is a guide to the activities that will make up your course at River Cottage. This is by no means set in stone and will depend on seasonal availability.

On occasion cookery schools will use equipment that includes induction hobs. It is recommended that people with pace makers should not work on these units. If you are concerned or would like to check whether or not induction hobs will be used on the course you are interested in, please call us on 01297 630302.

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Total - £0.00

All prices include VAT.

Further information...

This course is run from River Cottage HQ on the Dorset/Devon borders. Full address details of HQ will be provided once you have booked.

We are a licensed venue. We have a wide selection of the finest organic wines available to purchase.

Stay in our famous Farmhouse, click here. For other local accommodation click here.

We would advise that this course is only really suitable for 12 years of age and upwards. Under 16s must be accompanied by a paying adult. We put these guidelines in place for the safety, comfort and enjoyment of all our guests.

Sorry, we’re afraid this course is not suitable for all allergies or dietary requirements, however is suitable for vegetarians. We do run Gluten Free and Vegan friendly cookery courses. Please get in touch if you need further details.

With many of our courses there are often treats and leftovers to take away with you. In our quest to be more sustainable we are encouraging guests to bring their own containers and bags to transport their produce home. Details of what is required for each course will be included in booking emails.

  • Sustainable Restaurant Association
  • Food and Travel Magazine 2017
  • Great British Food Awards 2017
  • Great British Food Awards 2018