South Africa’s Cooking Academy of Choice

There are numerous good reasons why the Prue Leith Chefs Academy has two annual intakes of full-time students at our culinary training centre in Centurion, Gauteng. Our professional culinary courses are extremely popular, but we can only enrol a certain number of learners, so space is limited.

Dedicated Cooking Stations

Overlarge classes are not permitted, because it is vital that each aspirant chef has their individual, dedicated cooking station in our state-of-the-art training kitchens. Our main training kitchen, T1, where students begin their journey into the culinary world, has 20 of these fully equipped kitchen stations for their 1st Commis semester.

Low Student-to-Lecturer Ratio

We keep our student-to-lecturer ratio low, enabling learners to receive as much personal attention, guidance, and one-on-one time with trainers as possible. Training is further enhanced by the addition of a full video-and-audio suite that is microphone compatible, and four large LCD screens linked to a camera above the trainer’s own station, enabling students to view the teacher’s technique, demonstrations, and presentations clearly.

Patisserie Kitchen

Our second training kitchen, T2, is designed to accommodate ten students at dedicated patisserie stations, since patisserie is a specialised part of our training programmes. Patisserie preparation also requires a relatively cool kitchen, so this kitchen’s air-conditioning system is specifically designed for this purpose.

Restaurant Cooking and Service

Our third kitchen is an actual, live, working kitchen, which services the Prue Leith Academy’s on-site fine-dining restaurant where paying guests book tables for gourmet meals, high teas, and other special occasions. Catering for restaurant guests is done by our students in their 2nd Commis semester to ensure that they start receiving a part of their practical training in a real, hands-on restaurant kitchen, serving actual paying diners and connoisseurs of fine dining.

Prue Leith Chefs Academy

The Prue Leith Chefs Academy has established itself as the top culinary school in South Africa and we have been around long enough to have our own tradition as one of this country’s most reputable centres of recognised, accredited higher education and training in our field – cooking in all its traditions, cultures, and guises. Our establishment began in the innovative minds of three hospitality entrepreneurs who sought to create (and improve upon) the standards of culinary training within South Africa to the advantage of all involved in the hospitality industry of this country. Their new cooking-academy endeavours began in 1996 and a year later, in 1997, the Prue Leith school of culinary arts opened its doors to the first group of students.

By this time, South African-born Prue Leith, now Prue Leith CBE, had relocated to Britain. However, upon being approached by the school’s founders, Prue was impressed by their values, passion, and drive to improve South African chefs’ standards of cooking via a top-notch training academy. Consequently, she permitted the use of her name for that of the academy. Today, Prue Leith CBE is still closely involved with our cooking school that offers two annual intakes – January and July – and that also proudly bears her name: the illustrious Prue Leith Chefs Academy.