Victoria O'Neill's
COOKING CLASSES at PYON HOUSE

New Cooking Class Schedule

Class dates & topics up to December 2008 are now here on the website. Check out our current schedule or go to our contact page to give us address details if you'd like a printed copy by mail.

ITALIAN COOKING WEEK in UMBRIA October 2008

Dates & full details now confirmed - please see our news page for all the info.

Cooking with Class is based in Victoria O'Neill's home in the lovely countryside North of Hereford, just a few miles from Wales.  Born in Sydney, Australia, where she developed her programme of demonstration and practical classes for the keen home cook, Victoria moved to England in the mid-1980s, and following ten years or so in and around Oxford, set up her present Herefordshire base in 1996. 
Pyon House is a an old mainly red-brick farmhouse with its origins in the 17th century or before, but much enlarged and extended over the centuries. Victoria's classes are all held in her own kitchen, itself extended and modernised when she and her family moved here. Students arrive to meet and take coffee in the Victorian sitting room and break for lunch in the middle of the day in the dining room looking out over the rolling Herefordshire countryside.

Demonstration classes can accommodate up to 25 people in comfort and all the recipes of the day will have been cooked and tested on a variety of cookers, including gas, electric and heat storage (AGA, Nobel or similar).

Practical Classes, including Victoria's well-known "Men in the Kitchen" package, are limited to a maximum of 10 to allow detailed supervision and guidance.

"Getting a Feel for it" Classes - this is a recent format devised by Victoria to combine the best features of demonstration & practical classes.   She demonstrates cooking on a particular theme in the morning, then after lunch the students try their own "hands-on" skills under her supervision.  A fun and easy ways to improve skills in areas that may have seemed difficult in the past.
Cookware Sales A selection of quality cookware and cookbooks, as personally used and recommended by Victoria, is on sale at all the classes.  Visitors are offered the chance to browse at their leisure before and after the class sessions, and during the lunch break.
Bed and Breakfast If you are coming from a distance and would like to stay before or after a class, or would like to spend some extra time in this lovely part of the country, we can now offer our self-contained cottage annexe, quietly placed at the back of the main house with views over the neighbouring farm and our walled garden. The cottage includes 2 bedrooms (one double, one twin), bathroom, sitting room and kitchen.

Price for the whole cottage is £70.00 per night to sleep 1 or 2 people, or £85.00 per night to sleep 3 or 4, including all breakfast ingredients provided by Victoria.

Personalised Residential Packages  We can be very flexible in putting together individual packages for UK or overseas visitors. You can stay in our cottage, attend one or more of Victoria's scheduled classes, plus enjoy a day of exclusive personal practical tuition with Victoria on a cooking subject of your choice.

Group Bookings   If you can get together enough friends, workmates or fellow members of an organisation, we can run a class specifically for your group.  Demonstrations are a bit shorter (typically 1½ hours) and there is plenty of food & wine to taste at the end.  A demonstration for 20 people will cost from £300.00 (minimum), or a practical class for 8 will be £400.00 – a considerable saving over normal rates.  Do ring 01432 830185 to discuss what you have in mind.

Holiday Lets - at Pyon House we can now offer our cottage for self-catering holiday lets throughout the year.   Prices from £225 per week in low season to £375 per week in high season.  Please ask for full rate details and a booking form.