Press
Orchards Cookery has been featured in National and local newspapers and magazines and has also appeared on several Television programs, please see below:
Waitrose Food Illustrated... "25 of the Best Cookery Courses" (2005)
"We scour the planet for the very best...
If cooking for more than two brings you out in a cold sweat, look no further than Orchards Cookery...
In the homely kitchen of a Georgian farmhouse, Isabel and Lucy Bomford demystify the art of effortless entertaining...
It's an intensive course but, thanks to Lucy's easy style and tried-and-tested recipes stress and mess don't get a look in. And since the setting is domestic - with music on and plenty of chatter - the inevitable successes are easy to replicate at home."
If cooking for more than two brings you out in a cold sweat, look no further than Orchards Cookery...
In the homely kitchen of a Georgian farmhouse, Isabel and Lucy Bomford demystify the art of effortless entertaining...
It's an intensive course but, thanks to Lucy's easy style and tried-and-tested recipes stress and mess don't get a look in. And since the setting is domestic - with music on and plenty of chatter - the inevitable successes are easy to replicate at home."
Natasha Goodfellow
The Weekend Telegraph... "Cooking with Altitude" (2003)
"It is not just the innocent arts of baking and steaming that are being passed on here, but the more worldly secrets of professional chalet hosting.
The article "Cooking with Altitude" may be found by clicking here."
The article "Cooking with Altitude" may be found by clicking here."
Christopher Middleton
The Times... "Time to get fresher with chef" (2005)
"A course to fast-track students from clueless to cool in the kitchen ensures a healthy start to life away from home…
The shiny clean, well-equiped kitchen is a hive of activity. Saucepans are bubbling with farm-fresh vegetables, golden chicken breasts sit ready to be sliced, a bunch of herbs from the old trough outside the back door are being finely chopped and chocolatey aroma wafts from a briefly opened oven door. Timers buzz and James Blunt croons in the background. Eight freshers-to-be, feeling a blend of stress and excitement, are applying the finishing touches to a three-course meal…
The article "Time to get fresher with chef " may be found by clicking here."
The shiny clean, well-equiped kitchen is a hive of activity. Saucepans are bubbling with farm-fresh vegetables, golden chicken breasts sit ready to be sliced, a bunch of herbs from the old trough outside the back door are being finely chopped and chocolatey aroma wafts from a briefly opened oven door. Timers buzz and James Blunt croons in the background. Eight freshers-to-be, feeling a blend of stress and excitement, are applying the finishing touches to a three-course meal…
The article "Time to get fresher with chef " may be found by clicking here."
Nick Wyke
Financial Times... "A Family Appetite for the Staycation" (2011)
"The article "A Family Appetite for the Staycation" may be found by clicking here."
Mrs Moneypenny
The Independent... "Preparation for the Piste" (2004)
"The Orchards School of Cookery takes rookie cooks and transforms them into competent chefs capable of producing a sophisticated four-course meal for a chalet-load of hungry skiers without even breaking a sweat…
… an investment that quickly yields a return.
The article "Preparation for the piste" may be found by clicking here."
… an investment that quickly yields a return.
The article "Preparation for the piste" may be found by clicking here."
Amy McLellan
Daily Mail... "Leaping the Gap - Master Alpine Cuisine as a Chalet Host" (2007)
"The Orchards School of Cookery has an excellent track record when it comes to producing and placing potential chalet hosts… they have 100 per cent record in placing their graduates”
…they provide you with all of the culinary skills and insider knowledge you need to be a top notch, efficient chalet host."
…they provide you with all of the culinary skills and insider knowledge you need to be a top notch, efficient chalet host."
Toby Welch
Local Press and Magazines
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Edge Magazine... "Learn To Do More That Just Cook" (2012)
"The Bomford sisters have set out to inspire, motivate and encourage young people to take control of their lives and invest in their future – through the art of cookery...”
"The Chalet Cooks course involves an intensive tuition in gourmet cuisine along with tips on time management and the all-important organisational skills required to run a chalet."
"The Orchards really covers all bases and its success rate is a marvel."
"Isabel and Lucy have devised the perfect course to prepare teenagers for university, teaching them to cook healthy cost effective meals."
"Through a doorway in the wall of the garden, lies a stunning kitchen garden where students have the opportunity to see how the fresh produce used at the school is grown. Orchards Cookery School provides fantastic opportunities for anyone wishing to become a better cook but particularly for young people who want to gain experience and learn the necessary skills for their gap year and university ventures. These are priceless lessons to learn; from tending growing vegetables, all the way through to the finesse of dressing a plate. It would seem the proof is always in the pudding and after trying their crème brûlée, it’s fair to say, a course at Orchards Cookery School is an investment worth making."
The article "Learn to do more than just cook" may be found by clicking here.
The English Garden... Tamsin Westhorpe, Editor (2010)
“We've had a very successful reader event at The Orchards Cookery School. Readers enjoyed a day of cooking in the schools kitchens. I arrived at 6pm to enjoy a walk round the schools garden and to join the group for supper. This was a supper that they had cooked. It was a treat with starters of chicory with stilton and walnuts, drizzled with a little oil (wonderful), followed by soups (two types in one bowl), then salmon and freshly picked asparagus. To finish, a dessert featuring blueberries and then there was home-made fudge. A great day was had by all and I was astounded as to how much they fitted into the day.”
The Duke of Edinburgh's Award... "Access Organisations" Debbie Felstead (date)
“The kitchen has a very welcoming and relaxed atmosphere leaving you in no doubt that the students really enjoy the experience.”
Worcester Evening News... "What a Chalet Good Idea" Becky Fisher (2004)
“…passing on their expert tips to a constant stream of gap year students desperate to be groomed to perfection.”
“It is these little gems of information - as well as learning how to plan and cook a menu of dishes to impress even the most finicky food critic - that students, who have travelled from as far as Australia, are willing to pay to get their hands on.”
“...after just five days, they have learnt how to master mouth-watering delights.”
“Armed with a bulging Chalet Cook's file and goodie bag packed with time-saving pieces of equipment, the chalet hosts are then packed off ready to take tackle their first season with the perfect routine. This ensures they have plenty of time to do what they went out there to do in the first place - ski.”
The article "What a Chalet Good Idea" may be found by clicking here.
Class Magazine... "Can't Cook? Won't Cook?" (2006)
“Whether you're planning a season as a chalet cook or need a crash course in the culinary arts before heading off to university, what better way to get over your fear of the kitchen than to join one of the popular courses at the Orchards School of Cookery…”
“A constant stream of gap year students arrives at the school, eager to learn new skills, to meet new people and to sample the fantastic food.”
Worcestershire & Herefordshire Life "The County's Cookery Schools" Martin Griffiths (2011)
“My report would say this is a lovely course to attend and that the ski slopes should be well served this winter!”
The article "The County's Cookery Schools" may be found by clicking here.
Herefordshire and Wye Valley Life... "A bit of a do" (2001)
Our recipe Smoked Salmon on Blinis and Cucumber Squares is pulished in the November issue.
Worcesterhshire Life... "A bit of a do" (2011)
Our recipes Melting Moments and Smoked Salmon on Blinis and Cucumber Squares are pulished in the November issue.
Worcestshire Life... "The way to a lovers heart" (2012)
Our Chocolate Moelleux and Raspberry Soufflé recipes are pulished in the February issue.
Woman and Home... "Orchards Cookery School, Worcestershire" (2009)
"The courses are hugely popular with people of all ages..."
"Situated in a beautiful country house, these courses promise to be inspiring, incredibly useful and above all, lots of fun."
Cotswold Living Magazine..."Mast Class" Wendy Flynn (2018)
"The cookery school is set in an idyllic quad-style courtyard at the rear of the Georgian family farmhouse...."
"Many of the young people have zero cooking experience, and the intensive one or two week residential training in transformational..."
"It's a family run business witha family atmosphere that young people can relate to, and the groups form lasting friendships as they bond over a hot stove or chatting in the bar. Indeed it has all the ingredients for a happy-ever-after ending..."
The article Master Class can be found by clicking (page 160) here
Country and Town House Magazine - Review by Caroline Phillips (2017)
“Caroline Phillips visits the Orchards School of Cookery and finds them casting magical spells…”
“A place of culinary magic for youth and the young at heart. Somewhere you should definitely send your gap year student…”
"The Chalet course is a wonderful all-rounder..."
Click here to read the full review.
Food and Travel Magazine (2022)
“The Worcestershire school runs some of the most innovation and enjoyable courses in the country.”
“It’s food education made deliciously fun.”
On the television
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Richard and Judy's Christmas Book Party Show (2006)
Orchards Cookery staff and former students were invited to appear on Richard and Judy's Christmas Party Show to review a selection of celebrity cookery books.
The Gadget Show (2010)
Top 5 AA Rosette and Michelin award winning chef, Jean-Christophe Novelli cooked breakfast at The Orchards to put three dishwashers to the test . It was a great privilege and pleasure to have Jean-Christophe at the school and he cooked us the most delicious scrambled egg we have ever had! He also kindly gave up some of his time to meet the students at the school. Having met him we can now see why he has been dubbed "the nation's favourite French Chef". It was also great to have Jon Bentley and The Gadget Show team back to Orchards Cookery.
Click here to watch (there are some advertisements before you can view it).
The Gadget Show (2009)
It was a pleasure to welcome The Gadget Show and Top TV chef and restaurateur Simon Rimmer to Orchards Cookery to test four ovens.
Click here to see how Simon Rimmer and Jon Bentley got on.
BBC2's "Working Lunch" (2004)
Featured live on BBC2's Working Lunch the award winning daily business, personal finance and consumer news programme. The school was introduced by Angela Rippon and reported on by business correspondent Rob Pittam, who spent the morning in the kitchen improving his culinary skills! The partners and their students were then interviewed about the school and its success.
To see the report click on "Scaling the Summits of Cookery" and "Being Enterprising"
BBC1's "Houses Behaving Badly" (date)
The Orchards School of Cookery was featured in the first programme of the new series. The school was asked to train Jacqueline, who had described herself on National television as the worst cook in Britain! She told the viewers about her day at Orchards Cookery “Lucy is an absolutely incredible chef, very patient…. she taught me some really superb recipes which I can’t wait to try on the family”