"Excellent instruction from the most knowledgeable and charming instructors. A first class week of fun and entertaining."
Wilfred McAlea
"We have paid for his education since he was 7 years old, but I think two weeks with you was the best money we ever spent on him. Many thanks to you and your team."
Isabel Bradley
"I wanted to write to you both to say what a marvellous time Polly had on the Chalet Cooks’ course. Not only did she learn a huge amount, but the course instilled a really good work ethic: that working hard is rewarding and fun.
For her, it has resulted in the best outcome, in receiving a job with Powder White – and I’m sure that the training she has had at Orchards with be invaluable every day of the season.
Our heartfelt thanks for providing such a superb course – I have no hesitation about recommending it, as the perfect gap year course."
Lucy Dowson
"My daughter Sarah-Grace was with you in November for the chalet cookery course and I just wanted to let you know what a fantastic success it has been for her. I have to admit that I was very dubious when she told me she had chosen the course herself from the internet with no other background information....and that it was only for five days! However she had worked hard to pay for it herself and she was not for turning.
She returned from the course with a new cookery enthusiasm and confidence that was unstoppable. Prior to heading off for Val d'Isere with Snowline VIP two weeks later, we had been treated to a host of delicious meals from your great book. She, along with her friend, thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the course - from the lovely setting and accommodation, the darts in the pub, the fun at the evening meals, but especially the intense acquisition of so much proper cookery knowledge...
Needless to say, with fantastic snow again this year she is having a wonderful time. I am certain however, that all she learned at The Orchards - both cooking and management has been the most major contributor to her chalet confidence and thus overall enjoyment. I am also certain that you are very unlikely to have received personal feedback from the busy slopes - hence this missive from a very appreciative mother!
With best wishes for continued success."
Noreen Keane
"I have been meaning to write every since Nancy came home from her 5 day Chalet Cook course with you to say a huge thank you for everything you gave her during her time with you. When I collected her off the train on the Friday evening I wasn't quite sure what to expect! As it was - even though she'd had a pretty long and tedious journey with a couple of changes, and it was late in the evening - she didn't draw breath (that might not surprise you!) about what a fantastic week she'd had, and how much she had achieved and hugely enjoyed achieving during that time! And the fun she'd had with the other people on the course. The car smelt of garlic for the next couple of days (which was lovely!), and we have been absolutely bowled over by her confidence and enthusiasm in the kitchen since her return.
Nancy's two brothers were home from university over Easter, and she made us several delicious three course meals, and when she decides to have a bit of a bake, she knocks up three cakes, where one would have previously presented quite a challenge! I can't tell you how impressed, and really thankful I am - apart from the fact that we may have to go up a size in clothes!"
Vicky Daniell
"Great course, well run, great value, confidence boosting and really enjoyable. Thank you for making dinner party cooking less intimidating and such good fun."
Neive Hanna
"I loved it all. Great kitchen, fabulous demonstrations, wonderful recipes and lovely people."
Sarah Shepherd
"What a way to learn. You have a winning formula."
Louise Hartree
"Thank you for a fantastic week. I’ll definitely be back!!"
Lady Barasa Idris-Goudarz
"What a wonderful week. The food and ideas were fantastic."
Yvette Butcher
"Excellent fun learning how to take the stress out of entertaining - you made a four course meal look effortless and have inspired me to dazzle my friends with all those new skills."
Sonya Morley
"A great course - fantastic to cover so many dishes, ideas and courses in the one week. So well organised and lots of fun and inspirational cooking ideas."
Jane King
"I have been meaning to email you for ages but I have been sooooo busy cooking. The family can't believe the renewed energy and enthusiasm I now have for just "whipping" something up. Nothing is too much trouble as it once was before. I would really like to thank you for giving me that gift of now enjoying cooking as well as not just seeing it as a chore. I laugh at the memories I have as I make the various recipes as I recall the effort to just learn to chop and the panic when we forgot to add ingredients at the correct time but then we learned to improvise and then confess all at the mealtime. I haven't laughed as much as I did over that week with all the ladies and the stories everyone had to say. Thank you so much for such a great experience and one that we have all benefitted from... Amazingly I lost 2 pounds in weight on the course (must have been the stress of learning how to chop correctly!)... but have put it all back on and more since I started cooking at home! Many thanks."
Gail Hatzis
"He had a fabulous time with you – thank you – in fact I think it was the best investment!!"
Gill Faldo
"By far the best corporate day I’ve Event Managed and been involved in. Great place, great team, great day."
Jimmy Franks, The Big Blanket Event Management
"I have so enjoyed today, wonderful teaching, great company, and all the things I would never attempt to cook we did! Such a lovely, friendly set up – many thanks!”
Anna Charles-Jones
"A tailor made gastronomic extravaganza to give our Hen the best possible send off towards married life. The organisation and way we were looked after before and during the event was tremendous, and the team delivered a day and evening filled with fun, learning, and delights galore – with the onsite B&B the perfect resting place. A fabulous time was had by all. Thank you!"
Jo Miles
"Such a great day! Lovely combination of lots of new ideas, great (+ patient!) teaching and fab company. Also loved the garden combo too. Many many thanks”
Julie Farrar
"We’ve had a very successful reader event at The Orchards Cookery School. Readers enjoyed a day of cooking in the schools kitchens.... A great day was had by all and I was astounded as to how much they fitted into the day."
Tamsin Westhorpe, Editor English Country Garden, June 2010
"Absolute beginner in the morning, total expert in the evening – a miracle wrought by the brilliant staff. Many thanks"
Harry Yeatman-Biggs
"Liked it [the Designer Dinners Course] so much last time I’m back and brought the company with me!... Thank you for a great Corporate Day, the staff absolutely loved it."
Jeff Bethray, Oxford Media & Business School
"The best team event ever."
Sarah Jennings, Royal Bank of Canada
"We’ve had a very successful reader event at The Orchards Cookery School. Readers enjoyed a day of cooking in the schools kitchens.... A great day was had by all and I was astounded as to how much they fitted into the day."
Tamsin Westhorpe, Editor English Country Garden, June 2010
"Just to thank you all so much for having Jamie and his friend Alex on the above course [Off to University Course] - although I have yet to catch up with them both in person to hear a full account, they obviously both had a really great time and you have saved me, as jamie's mother, a great deal of anxt by teaching them to look after themselves nutritionally - something I'd had several failed attempts at doing.
By contrast, Jamie's text on returning said that he'd had an 'awesome' week (the ultimate accolade indeed!) and said it had been his best birthday present. Many many thanks to all concerned."
Claire Wilson
"I have learnt so much in one day and feel very inspired…bring on the dinner parties. Thank you very very much."
Rebecca Moreton
"Brilliant, enjoyable and informative day. Lovely people and environment – I don’t want to wait a whole year before I can come back!"
Louise Hawes
"Fantastic day, great tips, wonderful menu, really good fun and brilliant value for money. Thank you."
Joanne O'Donnell
"A complete turnaround , she [Georgie] now loves cooking…. Thank you so much."
Rosemary Wright
"Thank you again for a marvellous and inspirational course. I will definitely be sending my children to you in the years to come."
Kate Campion
"A wonderful course, inspiring, creative, practical and fun."
Karen MacRitchie
"Many thanks for a fabulous couple of days – I’ve learnt so much and The Orchards is a hidden gem."
Caroline Bewes
"First of all, I must say a massive thank you for the wonderful course which I really enjoyed at The Orchards. It was a tremendous couple of days which was a fantastic and thoroughly enjoyable experience and from which I've come away with so many more skills and so much more knowledge in the kitchen...
...your hospitality was also so warm and striking and all the staff were incredibly friendly and helpful, together with top class accommodation and a wonderfully happy and relaxed atmosphere. I felt as if I'd been away for a week when I returned home refreshed with all sorts of ideas to put into practice!"
Caroline Bewes
"After receiving over 15 offers for interview (many thanks for that) we have decided to go with Le Ski, who interviewed us during our course with you. Thank you again for all your help and support both during the course and following. You guys are a treat to the industry!"
Nicola and Dave Ryan
"The Orchards really helped me to visualise my passion for cooking and I would just like to thank you again for a superb week filled with many entertaining memories."
Lucy Gilbert
"I just wanted to say thank you so much for an incredible time at The Orchards....that was honestly the best experience of my life."
Rosie Higginbotham
"Awesome two weeks, couldn’t have enjoyed it more."
Harry Plastow
"I have just returned from cooking for the golfer ...(well known golfer!) at the Open this year. I cooked for him last summer as well and am being flown out at Easter (if my holidays coincide) to cook and hostess for him at the Masters in Augusta! Apparently he was impressed by my ability to hostess and cook at the same time. So thank you very much for everything you taught me all those years ago and for getting me the job with YSE to follow. The organisation and high standards definitely impressed ...(well known golfer) and his team. I never thought I would end up cooking for a celebrity and earning £1500 in a week!"
Claire Cameron
"Thank you so much for the most brilliant week at Orchards....In one week I never expected to learn so much! It was a wonderful week of incredible food fabulous teaching and so many laughs”
Hayley Wood
This is a belated thank you for all your assistance in helping my son secure a chalet host position for the 2011/2012 ski season. He has just returned from Courcheval yesterday where he has had the best time. Having arrived at the start of your 2 week cookery course with the most basic cooking skills last November, he loved every minute of the course and it gave him the confidence to cope with looking after 8 guests at a time on his own.
He was offered the role at one of your interview days so the whole experience was initiated through Orchards Cookery.
As he left for France on the very last day of his cookery course, I have still not sampled his new found cooking skills and am looking forward to this shortly.
Pippa Horton
I cannot thank you enough for a simply am amazing week! I had a wonderful time, met some great people and had some incredible food. I can really see why all my friends spoke so highly of The Orchards.
Genevieve Sorrell
A lovely, very well designed weekend. Absolutely fab!
Holly Nuttall
"The courses you run at The Orchards are of an extremely high standard and the caliber of students that leave you after only a fortnight are exceptional"
Charlotte MacKay
Sometimes one thinks one pays good rates and gets what one pays for. Just very rarely you get even more than you could ever anticipate! That is what you have achieved in great measure. Thank you! I am so very grateful for you giving my nephew so much!!
Ann Couldrey
I would just like to say a big thank you for all your pre-season help and guidance. I had the time of my life and the best season ever in Val D’isere. I loved working for Consensio Chalets and met such great people while I was out there – I can now see why you got hooked on seasons. It wouldn’t have been possible without you!
RD
Students who have set up ski companies
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We are happy to promote former Orchards Cookery students who have trained with us and set up their own chalet companies...
Chalets USA holidays in Colorado
Come-Ski holidays in La Tania, France
Ski Klosters holidays in Klosters, Switzerland
Vert et Blanc holidays in Chamonix, France
Chalet Lamorna holidays in Sameons, France
Chalet Jacque holidays in Haute Nendaz, Four Valleys, Switzerland
PisteSide Chalet Holidays holidays in Les Coches, Paradiski, France
Ski George holidays in Morzine, France
Ski La Roche holidays in La Plagne, France
The Tastsy Ski Company holidays in Morillon, France
Alpine Bliss holidays in Chatel, France
What the parents of our students say
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We have paid for his education since he was 7 years old, but I think two weeks with you was the best money we ever spent on him. Many thanks to you and your team.
Isabel Bradley
"Sometimes one thinks one pays good rates and gets what one pays for. Just very rarely you get even more than you could ever anticipate! That is what you have achieved in great measure. Thank you! I am so very grateful for you giving my nephew so much!!
Ann Couldrey
I just wanted to write to with the positive and enthusiastic feedback I have had from James having been on a cooking course with you recently. To quote him he said it's one of the best weeks he has ever had!
Fiona Barton
I wanted to write to you both to say what a marvellous time Polly had on the Chalet Cooks’ course. Not only did she learn a huge amount, but the course instilled a really good work ethic: that working hard is rewarding and fun.
For her, it has resulted in the best outcome, in receiving a job with Powder White – and I’m sure that the training she has had at Orchards with be invaluable every day of the season.
Our heartfelt thanks for providing such a superb course – I have no hesitation about recommending it, as the perfect gap year course.
Lucy Dowson
My daughter Sarah-Grace was with you in November for the chalet cookery course and I just wanted to let you know what a fantastic success it has been for her. I have to admit that I was very dubious when she told me she had chosen the course herself from the internet with no other background information....and that it was only for five days! However she had worked hard to pay for it herself and she was not for turning.
She returned from the course with a new cookery enthusiasm and confidence that was unstoppable. Prior to heading off for Val d'Isere with Snowline VIP two weeks later, we had been treated to a host of delicious meals from your great book. She, along with her friend, thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of the course - from the lovely setting and accommodation, the darts in the pub, the fun at the evening meals, but especially the intense acquisition of so much proper cookery knowledge...
Needless to say, with fantastic snow again this year she is having a wonderful time. I am certain however, that all she learned at The Orchards - both cooking and management has been the most major contributor to her chalet confidence and thus overall enjoyment. I am also certain that you are very unlikely to have received personal feedback from the busy slopes - hence this missive from a very appreciative mother!
With best wishes for continued success.
Noreen Keane
"I am a past Orchards student from 2016 (I was 16 years old!), and now I am a professional chef with over 2 years of experience cooking in Michelin starred restaurants, have completed 3 winter seasons as a chalet chef for Simply Morzine and will be starting a new cheffing job in July at Watergate Bay Hotel in Cornwall.
I’d just like to say I had a fantastic time at Orchards way back in 2016; it not only inspired me to want to do a ski season but also to become a chef, and I can’t thank you and your team enough!"
Alice
I have been meaning to write every since Nancy came home from her 5 day Chalet Cook course with you to say a huge thank you for everything you gave her during her time with you. When I collected her off the train on the Friday evening I wasn't quite sure what to expect! As it was - even though she'd had a pretty long and tedious journey with a couple of changes, and it was late in the evening - she didn't draw breath (that might not surprise you!) about what a fantastic week she'd had, and how much she had achieved and hugely enjoyed achieving during that time! And the fun she'd had with the other people on the course. The car smelt of garlic for the next couple of days (which was lovely!), and we have been absolutely bowled over by her confidence and enthusiasm in the kitchen since her return.
Nancy's two brothers were home from university over Easter, and she made us several delicious three course meals, and when she decides to have a bit of a bake, she knocks up three cakes, where one would have previously presented quite a challenge! I can't tell you how impressed, and really thankful I am - apart from the fact that we may have to go up a size in clothes!
Vicky Daniell
Just to thank you all so much for having Jamie and his friend Alex on the above course [Off to University Course] - although I have yet to catch up with them both in person to hear a full account, they obviously both had a really great time and you have saved me, as jamie's mother, a great deal of anxt by teaching them to look after themselves nutritionally - something I'd had several failed attempts at doing.
By contrast, Jamie's text on returning said that he'd had an 'awesome' week (the ultimate accolade indeed!) and said it had been his best birthday present. Many many thanks to all concerned.
Claire Wilson
He had a fabulous time with you – thank you – in fact I think it was the best investment!!
Gill Faldo
This is a belated thank you for all your assistance in helping my son secure a chalet host position for the 2011/2012 ski season. He has just returned from Courcheval yesterday where he has had the best time. Having arrived at the start of your 2 week cookery course with the most basic cooking skills last November, he loved every minute of the course and it gave him the confidence to cope with looking after 8 guests at a time on his own.
He was offered the role at one of your interview days so the whole experience was initiated through Orchards Cookery.
As he left for France on the very last day of his cookery course, I have still not sampled his new found cooking skills and am looking forward to this shortly.
Pippa Horton
What ski companies say about Orchards Cookery
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Keep up the good work – yours is still the best course for chalet staff bar none
Snowlife Chalet Holidays - Ashley Faint
Mike is returning with us next season and he was officially our most successful member of chalet staff last winter
Lotus Supertravel
The Orchards send us consistently well-trained staff. It is amazing how much students learn in just 2 weeks. Lucy and Isabel manage to convey their love of good food and cookery to every student and it shows when these students come to us for interviews. However, it's not just the cooking they learn, The Orchards' students also learn how to clear up, keep a kitchen clean and be charming hosts and hostesses!!
YSE - Fiona Easdale
We have been fortunate enough to have some Orchards trained chalet staff working for Ski Cuisine for the past few seasons. The course provides them with an excellent grounding in all aspects of running a chalet and providing delicious menus for their guests. All the students come away with a great range of skills, fantastic organisation and confidence
Ski Cuisine - Anne Woolley
Hattie came from Orchards and was keen to provide petit fours which was a refreshing addition to all the hard work that goes into providing a successful catered week - being more organised thanks to Orchards training allowed for such impressive extras. Many thanks.
Snowy Pockets - Helen Onions
Having employed over 15 students from The Orchards in 2006 they were all fantastic for our company, and all lasted the whole winter. In our first year of using The Orchards, we were pleasantly surprised with the high standard of the students and will continue to use the school in the future.
Ski Olympic - Charles Woodward
We love the fact that the handful of people who come to us from Orchards Cookery, have a thorough understanding of exactly what is entailed in the role of a chalet host.
Ski World - Rachelle Cramp
The staff who come to work for us from Orchards Cookery are always fantastic.
Ski Armadillo - Julian Bickerton
We always hear such fantastic feedback from you ex pupils and are really impressed with the knowledge that they gain at Orchards.
Ski Basics – Julia d’Armenia
I cant thank you enough for teaching Charlie so much last week, he love the course and is really enthused with his cooking now.
Ski with Julia – Julia Beldam
We really appreciate the start you gave us, couldn't have done it without you.
Chalets USA - Helen & Rob Brown
I just wanted to email to say a huge thank you for the fantastic 2 week course Hannah, our daughter, attended at your cookery school. She thought it was excellent and really did enjoy herself. She is so much more confident with her cooking and will make an excellent chalet girl with her new knowledge.
Pisteside Chalet Holidays - Debbie Isaac
Thanks for another excellent candidate, I am spoilt for choice.
Snowlife Chalet Holidays - Georgina Faint
Applicants have always gone on to complete very successful ski seasons.
Snowline VIP - Emily Cunningham
What people who have employed our cooks say
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She was absolutely fantastic and we will be planning our future holidays around her availability!
David Jones
Laurie and Alex were utterly delightful young people and it [cooking for a family holiday] was an enormously successful arrangement for us.
They did all the shopping, using mostly local produce, and cooked us very good lunches and suppers for 15! They also prepared picnic lunches for us on a couple of days... they were so willing and cheerful all the time! Of course it was a real holiday for me not to be in the kitchen. I was very good and hardly went into the kitchen and was happy to just let them get on with things!
I would very happily use them both again and I've told them I will give them references anytime. I have been telling my friends what a successful idea it is to employ ex-chalet students... thank you very much for the introduction. I will come back to you if we undertake a similar venture in the future.
Sally Simon
Nina was a triumph - I don't know how to manage life in the future without her. Our 9 year old was in tears most of the day after she left.
She cooked two delicious dinners - 3 courses with lots of loud over excited people milling around. All perfection and much better than I could cook myself and I pride myself as a fairly good cook. She chose the menus out of our various cookbooks and bought all the food and just made it all happen. And she cooked the most amazing picnics. Our box has never been so full once word got around that we had a Nina picnic.
Tamara Henriques
Cindy Webster Cooks is always pleased to hear from past and present Orchards Cookery students. The courses may be short but we are happy to recommend The Orchards’ cooks and assistant cooks to our clients in the full knowledge that they are thoroughly prepared for many of the vacancies we have on offer in private homes and sporting lodges.
Cindy Webster Cooks - Cindy Webster