About Us

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Hello there! We are a small team here at The Kent Cookery School, and it is our mission to share our love of great food and learning with you all whilst having lots of fun in the process!

James & Autumn brought the cookery school in 2016 after a lengthy conversation on a beach in Mexico about a five-year plan, a few Margaritas down they took the plunge and decided to go into business together and haven’t looked back!

Here is a little about us, we can’t wait to cook with you!

THE KENT COOKERY FAMILY

James

Owner and head tutor, James has been a chef for over 25 years. Starting off as a Kitchen Porter at 12…yes 12! He has worked in kitchens all his life all the way up to the executive chef level. Wanting a better work-life balance, teaching seemed like the perfect fit. Along with his skills, knowledge, awful Dad jokes, and infectious energy in the kitchen, he has years of classical training so you can rest assured you will always learn something with every visit. He hates a recipe (except for pastry!), loves experimenting with new flavors, and champions seasonal cookery. He is always in the kitchen either teaching or ready to welcome our guests with a smile.

Autumn

Working hard behind the scenes, self-confessed foodie can be found both in the office and on the courses in the kitchen. Her background in Marketing has helped the school grow over the years and become the success it is today and she is constantly looking for ways to grow and exciting courses to run. If you have a query either by phone or email, no robots here it’s just Autumn!

Pippa

After working with the school on a part-time basis for two years Pippa joined the school full-time in July 2022 as Marketing Manager. She can also still be found in the kitchen with both James and Autumn hosting and generally being lovely! Pippa brings fresh eyes to the direction of the business and her energy and love for food and travel make her a real asset to the team! Pippa is also in charge of events at the school and is excellent at curating bespoke cooking events either for groups of friends/family or team building with colleagues.

Elles

Our newest team member but one that has come full circle, after having worked with James previously around 10 years ago. Elles applied for a job behind the bar but was quickly interviewed for a role in the kitchen after James discovered she had just qualified from Westminster. Elles joins us foremost as our baker after having run her own bakery business in Tenterden and Ashford, we can’t wait to share her tasty ideas and new classes with you!

MEET THE TEAM

James Palmer Rosser

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James began working in a local fish restaurant Sankey’s in Tunbridge Wells, where his passion for working in the kitchen was born. He then went on to train at West Kent College whilst continuing to work at Sankey’s and develop his knowledge skills further. From there went on to work in a number of prestigious venues and cook alongside some famous names in the culinary world. These include working for the Roux brothers, cooking alongside Albert Roux serving at the Chelsea Flower Show, and working at Michelin-starred restaurant Thackery’s in Tunbridge Wells for a number of years.

James then moved on to work for an award-winning gastro-pub company in Kent, Whiting and Hammond. Here he was head chef of The Little Brown Jug, and then The Chaser Inn the company’s flagship pub. Then in 2012 he took on the role of executive chef, overseeing the food offer in each of the nine sites. In this role James was able to develop the food offering across the group, work with suppliers to ensure the best, fresh local produce was being used and still use his skills in the kitchens to train new chefs.

James’s passion lies in using great seasonal produce and using unfamiliar cuts to create new and exciting dishes. His love of teaching has stretched from becoming a head chef then executive chef, to today where he enjoys sharing not only his skills but his wealth of culinary knowledge gathered over the years.

Hari Ghotra

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Hari Ghotra is the founder of harighotra.co.uk, an online cookery portal that aims to bring authentic Indian food to the masses with the use of digital media. As well as being an expert Indian cook and teacher, Hari is also a marketing professional, entrepreneur and mother of two.

Born in Wolverhampton to parents who brought with them to the UK their love of Indian food, Hari was brought up in an environment where food played a central role in family life. Her website gives users access to exclusive family recipes, which are brought to life with YouTube videos and live cookery demonstrations using Google Hangouts. Recipes are also shared via Hari’s blog and on social media, where users can interact directly with her.

Hari’s website is a place where everyone, whatever their ability, can learn to cook delicious Indian food. Her ultimate goal is to bring friends and family together to cook, share and enjoy authentic Indian cuisine at home.

James Piloni

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James worked closely with James our Chef and Director in his previous role as head development pastry chef. James loves everything pastry and has a keen interest in bread especially sourdoughs. He understands the how and why of pastry and is extremely knowledgable in both Patisserie and Bread making.

He is a young chef full of passion and experience. James has been with us since taking on the school in 2016 and now teaches our Full day Bread course, Advanced two day Bread Course and our Introduction to Patisserie course.