Student Feedback

Thank you for sending the emails about work opportunities. I am currently working for Lumleys Cooks, getting loads of work from them, also, by word of mouth and a couple of adverts I put out I am cooking in various forms nearly 6 days every week and loving it!

I am so glad I did the course, I really really enjoyed it and feel so much more confident cooking now. So thanks so much to both you and Fran & co. for making it such a great experience. I will be sure to tell all my friends and family where to go for the best cooking course. Also please thank Fran for giving good references to my potential employers, its definitely helped getting me all these jobs!

The kindness and professionalism of the staff at the Gables school of cookery go far beyond what can be expected. They really take the time to ensure that every student has a fun, worthwile and enriching experience. The course is definitely appropriate for absolutely any level of cooking ability, and everyone on my course had an absolutely amazing time!

Having spent 21 years in the military and due to retire at my 22 year point I have now acquired a wealth of new culinary skills. The enthusiasm and encouragement the Gables has given me is unquestionable.  I now know that my new career path will without question be within the catering industry.

Dear Chris

I just wanted to say a huge thank you once again to Fran, Kate & yourself for such a fantastic day last Sunday - we enjoyed every minute from start to finish, the group was so friendly and everything was very professional and well structured, but so relaxed - it really was the most wonderful experience, which we would undoubtedly repeat with yourselves at some point in the future, but maybe a longer course, or on a different theme. We will be recommending you very highly to our entourage and are looking forward to trying out the delicious recipes on ourselves and our friends!

Kind regards

Sally & Keith

I was a student at the gables nearly two years ago. The Gables gave me the confidence and ability to work as a freelance cook. I now feel quite confident to walk into anybody's kitchen and prepare their dinner party and more importanly get paid for it!

Since leaving the Gables, I cook on a regular basis for a local family and am now starting to branch out into larger functions, numbers upto 250, before I had gone to the Gables if anybody had asked me to cook for more than 10 people I would have fallen over! I have also started a small speciality soup company that sells at local farmers markets, but my major achievement as an avid sailor, I now clock up my nautical miles employed as the cook.

I would without hestitation recommend the Gables for anyone who is either looking to improve their cooking skills at home or to somebody who is looking for a career change.

The Gables 1-month residential cookery course has provided me with a solid foundation of basic to very advanced cooking skills that has boosted my confidence and abilities. I came to the course with a few years of yacht cooking experience but now I can provide more upscale cuisine and presentation. Not only did I learn quite a bit, but I had a great time in the process. The teachers and staff are very warm, friendly and hospitable. I recommend this course to anyone who wants to improve their skills and learn new ones, whether pursuing a career in yachting, chalets, private chefing or solely taking the course for their personal growth.

Anna K - Yacht Chef/Cook

Thank you so much for the course, I learnt so much, but also had a brilliant time. It felt very strange not driving up to Bristol on Monday morning. I've cooked quite a few things from the folder, I did a canapes and wine night last Saturday for some friends which went down very very, well, think the walnut bread impressed them the most - "But I bet you didn't make the bread, it's so light". Have been invited to a friends for dinner on Sunday so have offered to bring pudding. Am thinking about a big pavlova if I can get some passionfruit.

I've also been talking to a couple of friends in the sailing industry, apparently there's quite a shortage of chefs who can sail to work on the classic race boats. One owner my friend talked to took 6 months to find a chef!!! So it's looking good for me.

I really enjoyed the way it wasn't a specific "yacht" course but covered so much more, it gives me more confidence to know I can make things the proper way from scratch, even though on a boat you might take a shortcut or two. It's also got me thinking about other things I could do away from the water too. I even like the thought of a ski season just for something completely different!

Sarah Jane T

Yacht Chef

Dear Fran,

Just thought that I would write a note to thank you for giving us all such a great month. It really was so much fun and I learnt so many new things. I hope that your next course gets as much out of the Gables as we all did. The dinner parties on the last two nights were so much fun - a really great way to finish off.

If it is OK with you I will be in touch to ask anything about starting a catering business as I know that you would give great advice. Once again Fran, thanks you so much.

Love Clemmie x x

Dear Fran & Chris,

I just wanted to give you some feedback from the course and say thank you for everything, I have been cooking everyday since i got back! so far everyone's favourite was the chicken boursin, my recipe book is now my bible, my confidence has got a lot better now I'm here doing it on my own too, but really i just wanted to say what a great experience it was.

I think the team you have is just perfect, Fran & Chris you made us feel very welcome and at home and thank you Chris for driving us around, very much appreciated. Also thanks to Chris for the correspondence before the course.

Fran I am just so grateful that you've given me the confidence to do any of the food in the book, and know I'm good, (just might need to practise some of it on friends first) you weren't only an amazing teacher and teaching us to improvise when we cant always get what we need and different ways of doing things, but you also were very careing towards us, making sure we were ok in the evenings talking to us individually, it was nice to feel that there was always someone there to talk to so thank you for that,Sam & Katherine were also great, I think the knowledge Katherine has is amazing and anything we asked that she didn't know she found out and came back to us with the answer, Sam being there too is great she just was there helping us with everything

Well I've got a bit of exciting news, me and Scott are going to Paris for an interview to run a 60ft yacht that is travelling around the world and its a private yacht so I'll mostly be cooking just for the owner and his wife, occasionally his friends, (if we get the job), we had a video interview with him the other day and it went really well, he's told us to take our stuff to Paris with us so that must be a good thing hopefully.

Please thank Katherine, Sam, Matt & Richard for me too

I know we probably weren't the easiest group you've had so thank you all for your time effort and patience, i will definitely be recommending your course.

Take Care

Zena

As you are aware, from my CTW, for my resettlement training I had booked a 4 week intensive cookery course at The Gables School of Cookery in South Gloucestershire.  I was thinking of opening a small café/tea shop after I leave the Army and so I very much wanted to do something "catering orientated" for my resettlement course to see whether or not I enjoyed it and therefore whether it was potentially viable.

I cannot tell you how much I not only enjoyed the course but how much I benefited from it.  Fran Winston is the chief instructor and her husband Chris does all of the course admin.  They have run their own restaurant business in the past.  They employ a lady to assist with the instruction who has also run her own restaurant.  Their main business partner visited the course on a few occasions and has run a number of successful businesses over the years.

The instruction was excellent but I would have expected that.  What I didn’t expect was the level of enthusiasm and support I received from Fran in particular, but from all 4 of them in relation to my future plans.  As soon as they knew that I was hoping to open up my own business, they geared aspects of the course around my requirements - costing, menu planning, portion control etc.  When I have left the Army and am in a position to start looking for suitable premises they have offered to come with me to advise as to the suitability and what would be involved in converting a building if it was not already fitted out as a café. They have also offered to help me plan the menus (including pricing) and to help me put my business plan together in due course. 

They were also hugely supportive of the military.  In sum, I thoroughly enjoyed my resettlement training and found it a very positive experience.  I would commend The Gables to any other Service Leavers you know who may be interested in doing something similar - whether it is because they are thinking about the catering trade or even if they just want to enjoy themselves and learn to be a better cook. 

They have an excellent, easy to navigate website on www.thegablesschoolofcookery.co.uk.

Unlike some of the other 4 week courses I looked up, The Gables will train people of any standard, including beginners, without detracting from the level of instruction given. I highly recommend them.

I thoroughly enjoyed the course and achieved everything that I hoped I would and more.  Your relaxed style both encourages and enthuses amateur cooks such as myself, I need not have worried beforehand about being out of my depth - you made everything look so easy and, more importantly, achievable.  It is now my "party piece" that I can disembowel a squid!  Of course we all learnt more than cookery, we learnt so much from all the discussions as well (with and without the wine!). 
 
I ordered some herb plants for your garden as a little thank you and to replenish your depleted stocks after the dinner parties - apparently they will arrive in the next two weeks, from a firm called "Inden Croft Herbs" - sorry not sooner, I had hoped that they would be with you already.  Hopefully you will all enjoy watching them grow whilst chilling out on the patio.
 
I will let you know when we are safely in the Edenhall Country Hotel and hopefully you can visit us whenever you can fit in a few days away from the School, it would be lovely to see you again and repay some of your warm hospitality. 
 
Thank you again for all your help.

Dear Fran and Chris

It was good of you to call the other day and great to know your support is there.

I just wanted to give you some (more) positive feedback on the cookery course. I have been receiving French clients here for a full 4 days now. One family (a couple and four children under 9) has been here for that whole time and have complimented me several times on the food. The other night they asked if I'd trained (!?) in France and when I explained, seemed to find it quite incongruous that an English person who learned to cook in England could produce such enjoyable food.

They told me (several times also) that the meals they had received in the place they had stayed on their way here, and where a professionally trained chef was employed, were inferior to those they have received in my gite. You have no idea how good that made me feel as I was a little nervous about cooking for the French. The husband grew up in hotels as his parents own a rather sizeable one, so his opinion is particularly valued and encouraging.

You should know that, apart from a couple of entrée salads, everything I have cooked has come out of the course manual. In case you're interested, I have so far made: chicken a la Provencale, creamy fish pie, boeuf bourgignon, chicken tagine (two chicken dishes in 4 days!!), roasted red pepper and tomato soup, panacotta and berries, white chocolate ice cream and amarettis (they loved the amarettis), tarte au citron (they couldn't believe I'd learned that in England) and gooey chocolate puddings (not a crumb left over).

A couple who stayed for one night last night also made a point of thanking me for their experience here and the food! So I think you can be proud of the skills - and recipes - your course has provided me with, and the confidence to even consider charging people money for my cooking.

Anna arrived today (and in fact made the roasted red pepper soup and the gooey chocolate puddings). She's staying for about three weeks which will cover the French summer holidays, and together we are going to do our bit to change the opinion of the French towards English cooking. Its great to have her here to share the load and the responsibility, knowing we both have the same approach to cooking. The poor girl was put to work as soon as she walked in the door, and didn't finish until a little before 11pm!

I will definitely be looking for a couple of people to work here during the winter season (early December until mid April). I hope to be doing a lunchtime restaurant trade then which has the potential to be quite busy. If you know of anyone suitable - a couple or two singles, and potentially interested, I'd be grateful if you'd pass on my email address and the website address for the gite: www.chalet-lourider.com I think one of them should have some experience in restaurant cooking if possible, to be the principal cook, working full time in the kitchen, and the second person would assist in the kitchen as well as doing some more general duties (chamber-maiding and serving meals mainly).

Probably when you see the place, you will have a better idea of its potential and the skill level that would be required. I shall be very happy to welcome you at any time to come and visit and give your opinion on that and any other food or non-food related aspect of running a gite.

Now that I've been here 3 weeks, I'm realising the extent of the work I need to do on the place, in the kitchen and bedrooms particularly. I have already ordered a new cooker which will make the biggest difference, and have some ideas for improving the space in the kitchen, which is actually quite large but currently impractical to work in.

Its great to have Anna's input too, as she has more experience of kitchen work than I have currently.

I still find it a bit hard to believe I'm doing this. The Gables cookery course is the only formal preparation I undertook when embarking on this new direction in my life. It's proving to have been a sound decision and a very worthwhile investment.

Kind regards

Clare

Dear Fran

I am sorry I have been so remiss in keeping in touch. I hope you are well and the cooking school is thriving. Life has moved quickly for us. After a great few months in the Bahamas - all the skills I learnt with you set me in great stead - we are now in Greece. Although the plan had been to stay in the Bahamas for a year we realised that during the summer months (and hurricane season) the booking dropped off completely. This coincided with us being contacted by a small company operating luxury crewed charters in the Ionian. After a bit of soul searching we decided to go for it and haven't looked back. Cooking for Brits has been a lot more fun and laid back - although we are missing the tips! As Autumn draws in James and I have been wracking our brains as to what we will do next. At the moment we are exploring the idea of buying a boat and trying to set up the business ourselves. It is all very exciting although obviously we have a long way to go and a lot of number crunching to do.

What I really wanted to do was thank you again for giving me the confidence to do this. A lot of people have asked me where I learnt to cook so well and I always tell them!

Love Alice

A big thank you for helping my Xmas present to my husband go down so well.

My husband was there last weekend and has talked about nothing else since then and what a fantastic time he had and how helpful it all was, so thank you again.

Should you ever do a fish course he would be very interested.

Regards

Pat G

Thank you for providing such an insightful knowledgeable cookery course. The 500 page recipe portfolio really is literally a cooking bible! And the substantial Gables school of cookery book library provided me with an abundance of both information and inspiration.

Over the past four weeks I have literally prepared and eaten the most delicious meals of my life, I especially enjoyed the puddings! I have learned so much about myself realising my ability to cook great food, thanks to the teaching and the practicality of the course. I have certainly developed more self confidence to continue to learn about the culinary arts.

The course would not have been the same without Chris, Dino, Jane and Richard all of who provided endless support and attention throughout the course which made my four week stay at the Gables that much more special.

Once again thank you all, I wish you all the best for the future and for The Gables School of Cookery.

Dear Fran, Chris and Richard,

How are you all? It has been such a long time so thought I must drop a line to you all. We have had quite a busy time here on the farm in Sussex, since the course we have renovated one cottage which we have now moved into (hence back online) whilst the major work is done on the farmhouse. As I write this walls are being demolished to make room for the kitchen and the essential aga!!

Now that life is beginning to calm down a little I am just itching to do some more cooking. I gained so much from the course and it really reinforced to me that I want to cook and it is what I should be doing. I had such a fantastic time and working with such wonderful characters was itself a great learning curve. I can only see that working in such a team will be beneficial for when, hopefully, I will be managing and working alongside others I only hope I have half the patience that Fran does! If I had to sum up my 4 weeks in one word it would be ‘inspirational’.

I have started to look on some agency websites and there are a few jobs which have caught my eye, as much as would have loved to I am not going to do a season as it is just too long to go away for when there is so much happening here, but I would go and do a week here and there and certainly some dinner parties. I was hoping that I would be able to call upon you for a reference please (as long as it is a good one!!!!! And I don’t drink that much gin, only when encouraged by you Fran) and if you should here of anything going on the grapevine that you think may suit then please let me know.

Love to everyone at The Gables

Lots of Love

Bridget

Dear Fran, Chris, Richard, Jane and Katherine

I just wanted to say a huge thank you for making my time at the Gables so special! When I signed up for the course I never expected to have such a wonderful time. I didn’t even realise how hard we were all working. It’s only dawned on me now that last month I couldn’t make an omelette (in fact I couldn’t even crack open an egg!) and last week I helped make a three course dinner for 14 (if you include the teddy).

The demonstrations were really helpful and it was great that there was always someone around to help if you set fire to anything. Going out to the shops was fascinating as I had never put that much thought into where cooks get their food from and I saw some food I’d never even heard of. I really enjoyed cooking dinners in teams in the last week as you were cooking completely independently and the rivalry encourages you to produce the best meal you can.

I’ve never worked anywhere that gives so much freedom, respect and support to young people. It was really great to have so much help deciding what to do after the course and then getting it sorted and I’m very grateful for all the extra time everyone put in.

Outside the kitchen was amazing too. Going to the gym and pool was a great way to get to know everyone and work off all the extra food we were eating. Plus being able to go shopping, bowling and ice skating at Cribb’s Causeway was great but I think the best time was going to the Lizard Lounge in Bristol (mainly getting ready). It was surreal seeing Fran standing in the corridor while we showed off what we were wearing saying "Go out, have fun, you’re only young once!". A big thank by the way you to Jane for getting us set up with VIP entry tickets , that was so cool!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year.

Lots of Love

Georgie

Nov 2006 Four Week Course

5th October 2006-11-23

Dear Fran,

Hope you are well and had a fantastic summer. I didn't have any  time to go away this year as I have been working very hard since I last e- mailed you.

As you know I started working at  La T... which was good and I learnt a lot although I didn't get on to well with the other people working there which was a problem, so I left. I applied to a lot of other restaurants and hotels for a new job but was getting nowhere and I was feeling extremely frustrated.

Then one day I phoned up Nobu on Park Lane and spoke  to the head chef who after interviewing me offered me a two year apprentership, what a stroke of luck! Im about to start my fourth week at Nobu and i am loving it, its hard work and its been difficult getting use to all the Japanese terms but im getting there. Its a much better environment to work in than at La T..., the people are great and as its such a big restaurant (we can do nearly five hundred covers in a night) there's a lot going on and I can move around through all the sections during my two years and learn an awful lot.  At the moment i am working on the Osusume section which means 'special' in Japanese, Im making things like Steamed Salmon, Lobster, Wagyu Rump Miso Zuke, Chilean Sea Bass and Braised Duck Kame Nabe.

I hope the cookery school is doing well and that the family, Richard and Catherine are well, do send them my love.

Take Care

Johnny P