Leiths School of Food and Wine’s reputation as a first-class training school for chefs attracts students of all ages from all over the world.  With its dedicated teaching and friendly atmosphere, Leiths’ guiding principle is to impart enthusiasm for the trade and instil a lasting love of good food and wine.  This is not restricted to career cooks – many enthusiastic amateurs attend the varied programme of courses and diverse range of special events, from food and wine matching evenings to chocolate workshops and carving demonstrations.

For those who wish to pursue a career in food, the Leiths Diploma in Food and Wine is highly respected in the culinary world and can be achieved in three terms, starting in September of each year, or in two terms, starting in January.  Students learn menu planning, budgeting and wine appreciation and attend daily demonstrations and practical classes, as well as lectures by leading gastronomic celebrities, famous retailers and head chefs from leading hotels and restaurants.  Throughout the year, visits are organised to a variety of establishments involved in the business, including Billingsgate fish market and Smithfield meat market.  Students get the chance to undertake work experience in leading London restaurants, while visiting chefs specialising in Italian, Japanese and Indian cuisine come to teach at the school and cookery writers and chefs demonstrate their specialities, such as chocolate work.

For those keen to learn the basic skills needed to become a confident, capable, efficient cook in just four weeks, the Leiths Basic Certificate takes place late summer every year, making it especially suitable as a summer course for amateur cooks at the start of a gap year.

Leiths excels on both the theoretical and the practical sides, benefiting from over 30 years’ experience, whilst remaining fully abreast of contemporary techniques, styles and methods.  Leiths is run by Managing Director Camilla Schneideman.

Students of the Leiths Diploma have gone on to varied and exiting food careers from recipe testing and food styling to restaurant and catering work.  The food writers at Good Housekeeping Magazine are entirely made up of former Leiths Students.  Leiths also has a strong working relationship with BBC Good Food magazine; The Leiths BBC Good Food Magazine Award is available to Diploma students each year where two lucky students to win a six month placement on the Magazine.  We are also very lucky to have Laurent Perrier and Maison Louis La Tour sponsoring two other Awards for Diploma Students

Leiths School of Food and Wine occupies freehold premises on four floors of a modern building on Wendell Road.   

The School has 4 kitchens; 3 of the kitchens are for the full time Diploma students and the fourth is used for recipe development, corporate courses, private bookings, and short courses and filming. 

The School is fully air conditioned and the kitchens are all equipped with gas ovens and hobs of the same design and high standard that most professional restaurant and catering kitchens use.  There is a fully equipped demonstration kitchen with an overhead mirror, so that students can see what is happening at every stage. 

Students have access to a library of books and food and wine magazines, a student dining room, good changing facilities, Wi-Fi connection and access to a computer.

Leiths have a dedicated teaching staff of trained professionals with a wealth of expertise gained in the world of restaurants and commercial catering.  Many are former pupils of Leiths.  In addition, renowned chefs, cookery writers and Masters of Wine regularly demonstrate or lecture at the School.