Can you find sixteen to twenty like-minded people who would like to spend a day learning the tips, tricks and traps of cooking a cuisine such as Italian, Thai, French or Japanese; a day spent creating a menu and then sitting down to enjoy the fruits of your labour?

Late Lunch with Ross has been devised for a group of people to do just that. The course is designed for a maximum of twenty people to be tutored by Ross to create a tailor-made menu of a cuisine of your choice. Ross has an expansive knowledge of world cuisines and has spent many weeks teaching at such prominent cookery schools as Villa Valentina in Tuscany and South West France, Nick Nairn’s Cook School in Scotland and the Tante Marie cordon bleu cookery school in Surrey.

The day is well structured beginning at 9.30am with a meet and greet, a time to introduce each other and meet Ross. The course begins at 10.00am when four groups are formed to work on individual parts of the menu.

Ross oversees each group, advising on technique, warning of potential pit-falls and giving support where necessary. The schedule is set so that everyone can sit down and begin to enjoy the meal at 2.00pm allowing for an entire afternoon to indulge in the gourmet feast prepared that day. The attendees then get to take away a copy of all the recipes.

The Late Lunch with Ross format was given its first outing at The Asian and Oriental School of Catering in London in October 2004. Ross devised a five course Italian menu incorporating many of the intricacies of food preparation associated with Italy such as pasta making, preparing squid and making focaccia bread. The day was extremely successful and the feedback generous. Since then Ross has held Late Lunches all over the world!

I had a great day, thank you, and thoroughly enjoyed the course.

A truly memorable day that was impeccably run by true professionals.

I was expecting to take home a recipe sheet from each recipe, but to have it bound and signed made it very special and once again impressed me with the thought and planning.

I felt a warmth and friendliness when we were offered wine during the course, this brought about a "friendly gathering" atmosphere and put you at ease and took away the student/tutor element that "grown-ups" appreciate.

The Late Lunch with Ross format is simplicity itself and can be adapted to suit whatever venue you wish to use, be it your home or a friend’s, place of business or local hall. If you feel you can’t accommodate up to twenty people at a sit down meal, the lunch menu can be tailored to a buffet style or even pared down to a smaller group. The event is flexible and can be structured to suit your needs.

As a host of Late Lunch you will be given full support and advice as to what is required to make your event a success. If, however, you don’t feel you are able to hold your own Late Lunch but would like to attend one, you can send your details to us and we will keep you informed of any events that are to be held in your area.

To receive further details please send your contact details to: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it