The kitchens

Four kitchens under one roof, each kept for one kind of cooking and for the cooks who love it most.

A cookery school on Exchange Street, Dundee, since 1924

Book a class See the catalogue
A scored round loaf cooling on a wire rack
The Bread RoomFlour, water, salt and the long, slow rise.
Hands rolling a sheet of pastry with a wooden pin
The Pastry RoomA cold marble bench and butter kept colder.
Logs burning with tall orange flames
The HearthWood fire, iron pans and a little patience.
Two jars of pickled red onions
The LarderPickles, brines, cures and whatever keeps.

Since 1924

Agnes Grist opened a school of plain cookery on Exchange Street in the spring of 1924, teaching the young cooks of Dundee to make a loaf, a stock and a pudding without waste. A hundred years on, the house is the same and so is the idea: small classes, real kitchens and teachers who still cook for a living.

A class of young women in aprons and caps around a kitchen table, early twentieth century

The recipe archive

Agnes's handwritten notebooks, class lists and menus are kept upstairs, from the first term onwards. We still teach from them, and anyone who books a class may ask to see them.

The house The notebook

The Catalogue

Seven courses run every term, from a single evening to a whole day. Each has a code: quote it when you book.

  1. K01

    The knife class

    Hold, sharpen and cut: the one skill every other class leans on.

    All kitchens · One evening · £85

    Book
  2. B07

    Sourdough, start to slice

    Feed a starter, shape, score and bake two loaves to take home.

    Bread Room · One day · £145

    Book
  3. P11

    Choux and the creams that fill it

    Éclairs, buns and a pastry cream you will make again at home.

    Pastry Room · One day · £150

    Book
  4. B12

    Pasta by hand

    Egg doughs, a long pin and four shapes from one sheet.

    Bread Room · One evening · £90

    Book
  5. H02

    Cooking over wood

    Build the fire, read the heat and cook a whole day's meals on it.

    Hearth · One day · £165

    Book
  6. H05

    The whole fish

    Choose, scale and fillet, then three ways to cook what you cut.

    Hearth · One evening · £95

    Book
  7. L04

    Pickles and the long ferment

    Brines, crocks and the jars that see a kitchen through winter.

    Larder · One day · £135

    Book
A chef's knife between carrots, a courgette and a pepper on a dark board A floured sourdough loaf on a cooling rack Chocolate éclairs on a plate beside a tray of choux buns Flour sprinkled over fresh tagliatelle Wood burning in an outdoor grill Whole fish packed in crushed ice Jars of cucumbers fermenting in brine
Four people cooking together at a steel counterJoin a class

Public classes run from Tuesday to Saturday, eight cooks to a kitchen, with every knife, pan and ingredient laid out at your place.

A long table laid with glasses and flowers in a warm roomHire the kitchen

Book a kitchen for a birthday, a team or a supper of your own: a teacher cooks with you, then the long table is laid at the top of the house.

Who Teaches

The Bread Room belongs to Portrait of Morag Quill Morag Quill, who learned to bake at four in the morning in her father's shop. Pastry is taught by Portrait of Hana Bell Hana Bell, who weighs everything twice and laughs at most of it. Portrait of Idris Fenwick Idris Fenwick keeps the fire in the Hearth and a stockpot on all day, and Portrait of Tom Ellery Tom Ellery runs the Larder, where nothing is wasted and everything is labelled.

Every teacher still cooks for a living, and three of the four first learned here. See who teaches what this term

Autumn Term

Classes from October to December 2026. Ask for a place and we hold it for two days while you decide.

Ask for a place
DateCourseTeacherTimePlacesBooking
Tue 13 OctK01The knife classTom Ellery18:30 to 21:303 leftBook
Sat 17 OctB07Sourdough, start to sliceMorag Quill10:00 to 16:005 leftBook
Thu 22 OctH05The whole fishIdris Fenwick18:30 to 21:30FullWaiting list
Sat 31 OctP11Choux and the creams that fill itHana Bell10:00 to 16:002 leftBook
Wed 4 NovB12Pasta by handMorag Quill18:30 to 21:306 leftBook
Sat 14 NovH02Cooking over woodIdris Fenwick10:00 to 17:004 leftBook
Sat 28 NovL04Pickles and the long fermentTom Ellery10:00 to 16:008 leftBook
Sat 12 DecP11Choux and the creams that fill itHana Bell10:00 to 16:007 leftBook

The Notebook

What the teachers write down between classes: a method, a mistake worth making once, a recipe from the archive.

A wooden spoon of flaky salt on a dark surface

2 October 2026

Salt the water twice

Once for the pasta and once for you: why we taste the pot before the pan, every time.

Read the note
A savoy cabbage on a black background

18 September 2026

A savoy, five ways

One cabbage, a sharp knife and a week of suppers from the Larder's shelves.

Read the note
A dish of butter beside an enamel bowl and a steel pot

4 September 2026

Brown butter, and when to stop

The smell changes before the colour does. Here is how to catch the moment.

Read the note
An onion held in the air above a pile of onions on blue

21 August 2026

Agnes's onion soup, 1926

From the first notebook in the archive: three onions, a heel of bread and patience.

Read the note

Before you come

Do I need any experience?

None for the evening classes and most day classes. Where a course follows another one, the catalogue says so.

What should I bring?

Nothing at all. Aprons, knives and ingredients are laid out at your place, and you take home what you cook in the boxes we give you.

Can you cook for my diet?

Tell us when you book. Every class can be cooked without meat and most without gluten or dairy; nuts stay out of the Pastry Room.

What if I cannot come?

Move your place to another date up to seven days before the class, or pass it to a friend at any time.

Do you sell gift vouchers?

Yes, for any amount or any course, printed on card in the shop or sent by email the same day.

The house

We teach in a stone house of four floors on Exchange Street, a minute from the river: bread and fire on the ground floor, pastry and the Larder above, the long table under the roof. Downstairs, the shop sells the knives, pans, flour and salt we use in class, and the teachers will tell you which to buy and which to skip.

The grey stone front of the house with six white sash windows

The shop

Open whenever classes run. Everything on the shelves is something we cook with, and anything you buy after a class is a tenth off.

Plan a visit

Find Us

The school

Phone 01382 000 000

Classes Tuesday to Saturday
9:30 to 21:30

1 Example Street
Dundee DD1 0ZZ

The shop

Phone 01382 000 001

Tuesday to Saturday
10:00 to 18:00

1 Example Street, ground floor
Dundee DD1 0ZZ

Private hire and gifts

Email hire@grist.example

Replies within two working days

The long table seats up to twenty-two

Or write to hello@grist.example and a teacher will answer.