Student Testimonials

I have been on lots of cooking courses but this is by far, the best. Interactive, fun and wonderful dishes. Lots of tips, to have a fuss free dinner party by pre cooking... i am going to have to have a dinner party now!

The whole day has been a pleasure. It’s great to learn recipes that are so simple, using readily available ingredients that taste so delicious. I know I’ll be able to have a go at home.

This is my second time at the cookery school and, once again, the welcome has been so warm and the atmosphere so friendly. Thank you so much for another amazing day.

Everything has been brilliant – the food, the venue and the people here.

Felice is a fantastic chef and tutor, and meeting Jean-Christophe was cool too!

100% I am defiantly coming back again!

The whole day felt very informal and comfortable. Loads of great cooking tips and advice. A lovely enjoyable day. Excellent service and easy booking system I would love to come back.

Absolutely fantastic day and would recommend to any friend who wanted to experience a great cooking adventure.

An absolutely wonderful day yet again. I learnt new techniques and recipes which I will be putting to use soon. The rapport between the course attendees and the chefs was wonderful. I can nor wait to come back on another course and will be recommending the Academy to my friends. Thank you to all who made the day.

I had a excellent and memorable day at the Novelli academy last Friday. Everyone was really friendly and the atmosphere was relaxing and fun. The chefs were entertaining as well as informative. It was a wonderful surprise when Jean-Christophe joined the group to give a demonstration – one I shall be talking about for years to come, he was (of course) brilliant. The meal at the end of the day was a delicious finale and I ate far too much. Overall it was an amazing experience and good value for money – so I will definitely be booking another course. Thanks so much for making my birthday present really special.

I always wished I had spent more time with my grandfather before he passed away learning to make the deserts he was so good at. On hearing this, my wife enrolled me on the French Patisserie course on March 8th 2013 as a birthday present. I was originally a little apprehensive that this course with the renowned Jean ChristopheNovelli and hands on with Felice Tocchini would be at a level beyond my experience, as my cooking skills are so far limited to savoury dishes. However this concern turned out to be totally misplaced, the atmosphere was relaxed and fun throughout the day. I had a wonderful day at the academy learning new skills and techniques to get me started and give me a base to experiment with, and I feel much more confident to do this now. The tips and tricks we were given during the day along with the hands on made the day a thoroughly enjoyable experience. I highly recommend this course for anyone wanting to start out exploring the world of French Patisserie. Chris

I felt welcome from the moment I entered the academy to the moment I left. Patti gave us all a fantastic welcome and set the tone for a wonderful day. Jean Christophe's informative but informal style went down very well and he was always open to the comments and questions of our group. I look forward to my next session, already booked in May.

I had the most brilliant day at the academy. Everyone was so friendly and helpful it was a delight to be there. The day was extremely well organized and it was wonderful to watch Jean-Christophe demonstrate French Patisserie. So many "top tips" were picked up and that's the benefit of seeing a brilliant chef in working mode. Our taste buds were subjected to some wonderful delights during the day and we finished with a fantastic meal, wine and good conversation and banter between the participants. Special thanks to Felice and Pattie who were excellent. I am so excited at receiving the recipes that we covered and can't wait to try them out for myself. The hands-on part of the day was fun and we all enjoyed "having a go". I have told so many of my friends and family what a great day and experience it was and I hope to do it again in the near future.

What a fantastic day we all had on the French Patisserie course (8th March)! Having never been one for making anything sweet, I was a little apprehensive but my hesitations were completely unfounded! We were all immediately made to feel welcome and at ease by the wonderful Patti - and Felice's lavender shortbread and a gorgeous cup of coffee was a perfect start to the day. My late mum was such a wonderful baker, confectioner and cook and I have always said, as much as I adore savoury cooking, I missed the 'sweet' gene! My husband Matt decided that with this in mind, he would treat me to one of Jean Christophe's French Patisserie course's for Christmas. I am so pleased he did! We watched, learnt, laughed, ate, got hands on making lots of sweet treats & got very creative! Jean Christophe and Felice passed on excellent tips for us to utilise at home - and the recipes are just great. I am very proud to have had the newly discovered sweet potato, white chocolate, beetroot & cocoa marble cake named after me and I am pleased to report back that, having made a batch for a recent school fundraiser, they went down a treat here in Hampshire! Thank-you for making the day such a relaxed yet incredibly informative one & I am looking forward to coming back again soon.

Hi Jenny

Thank you so much for the recipes. I am looking forward to trying some.

I had a wonderful day last Friday and hope I will be able to come again when I may try one of the ‘hands on’ courses.

Thank you again

Maureen

Hi Jenny, Jean-Christophe, Patti and Felice,

Thank you so much for another fantastic day at the Academy on Friday.

Diane and I had a lovely time. It is always a really special day and I'm still eating the choux pastry and tarte tatin we made!

Thank you also for my lovely flowers - you are very kind

Valerie x

Hi Jenny

Hope you are well

I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed today's Taste of Tuscany's course with Felice and Patti. I learnt an incredible amount whist having fun and a good laugh, so thanks to all!! And to top off the perfect day, Jean Christophe joined us at the end for a chat. Actually one of our friends/neighbours Stuart Miles from Heart Radio recommended that my husband book this course as a Christmas present for me and I can't thank him enough.

Many thanks

Leigh-Ann Beel

I would like to thank you so much ..... My husband and I had a Taste of Ghana class with Patti - it was a amazing - cant wait to do it again she was a fab teacher and made it a fun day .... once again thank you for setting it all up for us - it was a day we will never forget!!!!

Best regards

Alex and John Antoniou

I am just writing to thank you for the very enjoyable Taste and Demonstration day I attended yesterday with my friend Ann.

We had a wonderful day from start to finish. All the staff were extremely friendly and made us feel so welcome. The cooking demonstrations were fantastic and very inspirational, I can't wait to try them out at home, particularly the caramel which has always eluded me! The meal at the end of the day was so beautifully tasty, the pork was the best I have ever tasted. I will be visiting my butcher on Monday morning to buy a nice piece of belly pork for a family celebration next weekend.

Please thank Jean Christophe for making the day perfect, making us all feel so welcome and sharing his knowledge and expertise, particularly in making the food so healthy and tasty. I would also like to express my thanks to him for being so complimentary about the cake I entered into the Whitehaven Festival. To have such wonderful things said about my baking by such a talented chef means so much to me, I was delighted.

Thank you all, I will treasure the memories of the day and enjoy making the food that was demonstrated.

Best wishes to all the team

Rita Edge

I attended the Masterclass on Saturday and would like to say I havent stopped raving on about it since.

It was absolutely brilliant....Thanks to every one.....

Could I just extent my heartfelt thanks to Jean Christophe and his team for the masterclass that my wife Maria attended last Saturday. She had a thoroughly enjoyable day, and hasn’t stopped talking about it since, she was over the moon. She would recommend it to anyone, and is already talking about attending another course at the academy in the future.

Thanks again

I just wanted to drop you an email to thank you for arranging a great day today. I attended the "beside the seaside" course with Felice and Patti and i thought it was excellent. Felice was an exceptional tutor and Patti was great to have around and was an important cog in the chain in how smoothly it went and on the overall enjoyment factor of the day.

I'll certainly be singing the praises of the academy and the courses that are on offer and i'm sure i'll see you again in the relatively near future.

Thanks again

I attended the Masterclass last Sat, 3rd March which was absolutely fantastic.

If possible, please send me all the recipes, tips etc from my day so I can try my best to reproduce the fabulous food I tried and tasted at my Masteclass.

For the record, on the day and since, I realise that I was in the presence of true greatness, firstly Jean Christophe and also the rest of the supporting team.

I truly loved my day and I intend to come back for more learnings.

Thank you for sharing your kitchen with me.

Yours sincerely

Roger Benzie