Sozai Cooking’S Cool Open Day

Sozai Cooking’S Cool Open Day
5 Middlesex Street
London E1 7AA 
Tuesday 12th February 2013

Review by Michael Sullivan with photos by Ali Muskett

This month saw the opening of a Japanese cookery school based around two kitchens, one on Middlesex Road near Liverpool Street station and another in So Restaurant in Soho. The open day was well attended by many interested people as we were able to sample sushi and drinks while being entertained by traditional Japanese music. We were then given the opportunity to see Japanese cooking in action with some lucky volunteers being able to try for themselves, the success of this demonstration was shown by the sheer number of people crowded around the kitchen tables carefully watching everything that was shown to us. The event ended with free bags of treats being handed out to everyone as they left.

The concept behind this school is to show everyone how easy it is to make Japanese food, which considering the sheer popularity of Japanese food in recent years is an essential skill to learn. Lessons include traditional dishes such as sushi and tempura, as well as recent favourites such as ramen. Classes are for 60 to 150 minutes and can be booked through an interactive website.

The website itself allows you to see the different kinds of lessons currently available, whether there are any places left and also all details such as dates, fees and the name of the chef. A separate section on the website gives a full explanation of each chef’s background and also details of celebrity guest chefs who will be also giving lessons. One other part that is in development will be the recipes themselves.