River Cottage Experience
Overview
Capture the essence of life at River Cottage HQ with a leisurely afternoon and evening spent with our talented gardeners and chefs. Discover the importance of seasonal and ethical eating as you explore our cookery school and the farm, culminating in a delicious evening feast.
Your day begins with a bite to eat and a hot drink. Then, you’ll don your aprons and get started on our classic River Cottage farmhouse loaf. While your dough proves, you’ll take a tour of HQ, venturing into our beautiful walled farmhouse garden and polytunnels. Here, you’ll collect fresh ingredients and learn how to grow vegetables at home in pots. You’ll even plant seed trays to take home!
Afterward, you’ll cross the courtyard back to our purpose-built cookery school. You’ll use part of your dough to create a wood-fired pizza, keeping your energy up until the main event later in the day. Work alongside our chefs to finish your farmhouse loaf and prepare the starter for your evening feast, all while enjoying a well-earned glass of fizz!
Finally, it’s time to relax as the River Cottage team prepares a seasonal cocktail. Enjoy a delightful 3-course feast, including the starter you helped create earlier, and experience the best of Dining in Devon!
“My wife and I had one of the best days out that we have ever had. We really felt extremely welcome and relaxed and enjoyed excellent food and conversation with Gelf and all of the other chefs and staff.” Joe, April 2023
Highlights
- Enjoy teas, coffee, and a snack on arrival
- Make a classic farmhouse loaf
- Tour the farm and the famous River Cottage Kitchen Garden
- Learn to make pizza dough and fire it in our wood-fired oven for a late lunch
- Create a starter in the Cookery School to enjoy during your evening feast
- Sip a glass of fizz while you cook
- Indulge in a seasonal cocktail
- Savour a three-course seasonal feast
Your day
12:00 - 21:00
Arrive at River Cottage
You’ll be met at the top of the hill at noon and begin your River Cottage experience with a 10-15 minute walk through the pathways down to the farm, enabling you to really soak up the views of the valley.
MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME
You will meet your host, and begin the day with tea, coffee and a treat fresh from the kitchen.
SESSION ONE
Head into the cookery school and begin creating your bread dough with your River Cottage chef for the day.
SESSION TWO
Next you'll explore the grounds, guided by a River Cottage gardener, picking veg for the kitchen to prepare for your dinner. Once you finish picking, you’ll plant some seeds to take home to grow using the tips and tricks from our garden team.
Session three
After a tour of the farm, you’ll use some of your dough to create delicious woodfired pizzas to keep you going until the main event and take a break.
SESSION FOUR
You'll then get stuck into the bread making session, with shaping and baking tips from the chefs. Our classic River Cottage farmhouse bread dough recipe will give you wonderful home-baked loaves every time.
SESSION FIVE
After your break we'll pour you a glass of fizz and you'll create your starter, learning new techniques under the expert guidance of your River Cottage chef.
Pre-Dinner Cocktail
Now it’s time to relax and let the River Cottage team take over as they make you a specially designed seasonal cocktail.
Dinner
Finally, it’s time to sit down with your peers and enjoy the three course seasonal feast including the starter your prepared earlier.
Departure
You'll head back up the hill for 9pm with your River Cottage loaf, seed tray and gardeners info pack in hand.
Further Information
Directions
This course is run from River Cottage HQ on the Dorset/Devon borders. Full address details of HQ will be provided once you have booked.
Licensed Venue
We are a licensed venue. We have a wide selection of the finest organic wines available to purchase.
Accommodation
If you would like to stay at the heart of River Cottage, we offer overnight accommodation at River Cottage HQ in our beautiful 17th century farmhouse. We have three stylishly refurbished bedrooms for B&B plus the 2-bedroom Gardener's Cottage. These get booked quickly so for more information go to rivercottage.net/stay to book. Alternatively, we have put together a list of our local accommodation which includes B&Bs, self-catering, hotels and camping.
Suitability
We would advise that this course is only really suitable for 12 years of age and upwards. Under 16s must be accompanied by a paying adult. We put these guidelines in place for the safety, comfort and enjoyment of all our guests.
Allergy Advice
Sorry, we’re afraid this course is not suitable for all allergies or dietary requirements, however is suitable for vegetarians. We do run Gluten Free and Vegan friendly cookery courses. Please get in touch if you need further details.
