Lady’s Review of The Woodspeen Cookery School

What would you do if a Michelin-starred chef called your risotto “perfect”? Would you do a dance? Blush? Quit your day job and go to culinary school? I’m asking because this is happening to me right now and I don’t know what to do. I’ve traveled to Berkshire to attend The Woodspeen cookery school near Newbury with a Michelin-starred chef, and he’s just fallen in love with my risotto.

The Woodspeen Cookery School

Which is funny, because I’ve never cooked risotto—or anything else, unless you count peanut butter sandwiches—before.

I’m nervous to even be here, what with my lack of culinary credentials and discomfort at the sight of kitchen equipment.

I’m attending The Woodspeen cookery school as a guest of VisitEngland to make a three-course winter dinner party menu of risotto, venison, and panna cotta, and I feel vastly out of my depth.

But somehow John Campbell, the aforementioned Michelin-starred chef, puts me at ease.

John has an impressive history that includes stints at the Dorchester Collection’s Coworth Park and nearby Relais & Chateaux luxury hotel The Vineyard, where he earned no less than two Michelin stars.

His venture at The Woodspeen doubles as a restaurant and a cooking school, but despite his high achievement, he’s incredibly approachable and demonstrably passionate about food.

The Woodspeen Cookery School Class

The class starts in a building dedicated to The Woodspeen cookery school. John sits us down at the chef’s table and spends a good deal of time talking about flavor and philosophy before he starts on the cooking demos.

It’s a nice introduction, and provides a gentle transition to the hands-on part.

That part takes place at my own cooking station, where I spend the day creating the three-course meal I’m at The Woodspeen cookery school to master.

I get plenty of help from John and his assistant when I need it, and am given enough breathing room to do my own thing when I feel (rare) bursts of inspiration.

Sometimes things go over my head, but there’s no mistake I can’t be rescued from. On the whole, it’s a good day.

And then John calls my risotto perfect. At first I think he’s exaggerating, telling myself that he probably says that to everyone.

But he seems serious, and he later repeats his conviction over dinner at The Vineyard, where another Michelin-starred chef, Daniel Galmiche, serves us an incredible five-course tasting menu with an equally impressive wine pairing.

The Woodspeen Cookery School: The Verdict

And so I have to decide what to do. Do I take his compliment as a sign that I should learn how to cook better?

Do I consider it the high point of my culinary career and retire immediately so as not to be exposed as a fraud, one of life’s beneficiaries of beginner’s luck?

Or do I just enjoy the moment, the meal, and the good company before I travel back to London—and the reality of peanut butter sandwiches? Yes, I think I’ll do that.

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