The Convivialité Kitchen
Cook, gather and share in our home in the Loire Valley.
Join us in our kitchen for a session of cooking together, followed by sitting down around the table to enjoy what we’ve made. You’ll prepare a seasonal three-course menu, pick up ideas and techniques you can easily recreate at home, and then, most importantly, stop cooking and enjoy dinner.
What to expect
Mandy's cooking brings together French traditions with an Irish instinct for generous hospitality: seasonal, local ingredients, plenty of flavour, food made from scratch with dishes designed to be shared.
- We run sessions for small groups, up to 4 people
- There are different types of workshops (see below), where the cooking lasts between 2.5-3 hours cooking and then time to enjoy your meal at the table together
- Wine and non-alcoholic drinks included in your price
Hosting tips and table setting guidance also provided on request.
Choose your Convivialité experience
Not every gathering around the table looks the same. Choose from one of our Convivialité experiences, each built around seasonal food, cooking together and, most importantly, time to sit down and enjoy what we’ve made.
Lunch at the table
Cook a seasonal three-course lunch together before sitting down around the table to enjoy it. Relaxed, generous and full of dishes you’ll want to make again at home.
Dinner at the table
Spend the afternoon cooking a seasonal three-course menu, then put down the apron, pour a glass and enjoy dinner together around our table.
Apéro & small bites
A lighter, more informal way to cook together. Learn to prepare a selection of delicious bites for l’heure de l’apéro, perfect for sharing with friends over a glass of something good.
Market to table
Start where much of our own cooking begins: at Saumur’s infamous food market. We’ll shop together for fresh, seasonal produce, choosing ingredients as we go, before returning to the kitchen to prepare, cook and share a meal around the table.
Part market morning, part cook-along and very much a taste of everyday life in Saumur.
Here is a wonderful post of our first workshop this year, posted by our lovely guest Richard. It will give you an insight to the workshop and what we made.