The Cookery by The Secret Jozi Chef

BEST OF JOBURG VOTING NOW OPEN

The voting season has officially begun, and we’re thrilled to share that Best of Joburg is now open. These awards mean so much to small businesses like ours - they give us a chance to be seen, celebrated, and supported by the people who make our work possible.

You’ll find The Cookery Social Cooking School in the Eat, Drink & Be Merry category. If our classes, our food, our space, or our team have added something special to your Joburg life, we’d be honoured to have your vote.

And while you’re there, show love to all your favourite local gems. Every vote helps small businesses shine.

Voting can be found at www.bestofsouthafrica.co.za/joburg/ - Voting closes 17 August so don't miss out on your chance to vote!

Let’s make Joburg proud.

We are thrilled to announce our six winners for our 10th Birthday Competition, each receiving four tickets to celebrate with us at The Cookery!
Barbara McGregor, Tania Wallace, Morgan Brink, Michelle Paulsen, Tenneil C Zondagh and Nicky Parkin we will contact you directly via email/ Facebook to chat through dates and details.

Reading through the stories you shared over the past few weeks has genuinely touched us. From first dates to friendships, anniversaries, team celebrations, and quiet moments of joy — you reminded us why this community is so special.

Thank you for letting us be part of your memories. We love being woven into the heart of this incredible Cookery family.

We can't wait to get cooking with you all!

THE COOKERY TURNS 10 — WIN BIG🎉 🎉 🎉

We’re celebrating a decade of flavour, chaos, courage, and community with 6 prizes of 4 tickets each to a completely over‑the‑top Cookery experience.
Each prize is worth R4800.
To enter, share the moments that made the last 10 years unforgettable😁

HOW TO ENTER
1. Post a Cookery memory photo📸
2. Tell us the story behind it
3. Tag us in the photo and caption
4. Use
5. Follow The Cookery by The Secret Jozi Chef
6. If your profile is set to private share your memory and send us a screenshot of your feed with the caption visible.
Every extra memory = an extra entry.

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HOW WINNERS ARE CHOSEN
This is not a random draw. The Cookery team will select the 6 winners based on authenticity, heart, and how beautifully your memory captures the spirit of our kitchen — provided all entry rules are met.

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THE PRIZE
4 tickets to a once‑off, wildly indulgent Cookery event
Prize value: R4800 each (R1200/person)
Date chosen by group vote
Open to SA residents, 18+, must be able to attend the event at The Cookery.
Competition closes 30 June 2026. T&Cs Apply.

Let’s relive the memories that brought us here — and create the next ones together.

Ten years of flavour, of laughter, of stories that could only have been written around this table.

In a decade, we’ve watched first dates turn into engagements, and engagements turn into weddings — some of them celebrated right here, in the very room where those first sparks flew.

We’ve seen strangers arrive shy and uncertain, only to leave as best friends planning their next class together and we’ve watched corporate teams walk in stiff and serious, and walk out as power teams — bonded, laughing, transformed by the simple act of cooking side by side.

We’ve witnessed birthdays that became traditions and reunions that became rituals.

Ordinary Tuesdays that became extraordinary memories. And through it all, the hum of KitchenAid mixers, the sparkle of Haute Cabrière bubbles, and the heartbeat of a community that grew far beyond anything we could have imagined.

This decade wasn’t built by us alone.
It was built by YOU — the people who showed up, rolled up your sleeves, trusted us with your celebrations, and filled this space with joy.

So here’s to ten years of magic. Ten years of belonging, of a kitchen that became a home.
And because celebrations should always come with a little extra sparkle… check out tomorrow’s post for a chance to win some truly amazing prizes.
Consider it our way of saying thank you — for a decade we will never forget.

Here’s to the next ten — richer, louder, warmer, and even more delicious.

DAY 8 — WHAT WE BELIEVE

Long before The Cookery — before the long table, menus, and laughter — my beliefs were already forming in my childhood kitchen.

I grew up in a home where food was more than nourishment; it was language. A way of loving, gathering, and saying, “You belong here.” My mother cooked with instinct, with heart, with whatever was in season or affordable. Meals stretched to feed whoever arrived. Celebrations were loud, generous, and always found room for one more chair. Cooking wasn’t performance — it was participation.

Those early memories — pots clattering, onions softening in butter, voices overlapping with laughter — planted the seeds of The Cookery. A place where abundance is a value, not a luxury. Where people feel welcomed before tying their aprons, and cooking together turns strangers into teammates, teammates into family.

It is where joy is shared, not staged.

These childhood beliefs became my philosophy:
- Food tastes better when shared.
- People feel braver when they cook together.
- A kitchen can be belonging, and generosity is a flavour.

Community is created one dish at a time. These beliefs built The Cookery, shaped every class and menu, and will carry us into the next decade — with the same heart that started it all.

DAY 7: OUR PARTNER IN CRAFT: KITCHENAID

Some partnerships begin with a HANDSHAKE. Ours with KitchenAid began with a belief.

Before The Cookery had even opened its doors — before the first class, before the first menu, before the first guest laughed around our table — KitchenAid walked into our unfinished space, listened to the dream we wanted to bring to life, and said, simply and confidently:
“We’re with you.”. From that very first visit, they understood the story we wanted to tell.

A story about craft, beauty, generosity, and the joy of cooking together - the story of KitchenAid products . A story about a kitchen that would become a community.
And for ten years, they’ve stood beside us — not as a supplier, but as a true partner in creativity.
Their mixers have hummed through thousands of doughs. Their tools have helped guests feel capable, confident, and inspired. Their reliability has allowed us to teach with ease and host with heart.

KitchenAid didn’t just equip us, they believed in us — from the very beginning , and that belief helped shape the Cookery you know today.

Here’s to a decade of craft, cooking, and collaboration.

Wings Group Home

Some partnerships feel destined — and ours with Haute Cabrière and Pierre Jourdan is one of them.

Their wines have become part of our rhythm at The Cookery — first dates that turned into love stories, team triumphs that deserved a toast, birthdays that needed a little extra sparkle, and those unforgettable “just one more glass” moments that stretch an evening into a memory.

In our public classes, it’s Haute Cabrière Tranquille that welcomes guests at the door — soft, elegant, generous and infinitely drinkable. It has become the quiet signature of our evenings: the first sip that sets the tone and says you’re in good hands.

The Pierre Jourdan Brut has become the heartbeat of our Secret Sunday Brunch, as essential as the sunshine, the music, and the mischief. Their presence shapes the magic, the sense that something special is happening.

A Secret Sunday Brunch without Pierre Jourdan wouldn’t feel like The Cookery, and our public classes wouldn’t feel right without Tranquille.

Here’s to bubbles that elevate every moment.
Here’s to many more glasses raised together — in class, at brunch, around our table, and in all the stories still to come.

Day 5: Your reviews our treasure!

If awards tell one story, your reviews tell another — a more intimate, more emotional one.
Over the years, we’ve received hundreds of five‑star Google reviews, and reading them feels like paging through a decade‑long love letter.

People write about the warmth they feel the moment they walk in.
They talk about the laughter that fills the room before the first ingredient is even chopped.
They say the classes feel “like cooking with old friends,” even when they arrived as strangers.
They celebrate the generosity of the menus, the abundance of the table, the joy in the air.
They describe the team as “magic,” “phenomenal,” “the best part of the night.”
Some say it was “the most fun they’ve had in years.”
Others call it “the perfect place to celebrate anything worth celebrating.”

And again and again, one theme repeats:
“It feels like home.”

Your words have carried us through long nights, busy seasons, and big dreams.
They remind us that what happens around this table matters — not just to us, but to you.

Your reviews aren’t just feedback.
They’re fuel, they’re affirmation, they’re joy.
And we treasure every single one.

DAY 4 — THREE‑TIME BEST SOCIAL COOKING School!

There are moments in a journey that make you stop, breathe, and realise just how far you’ve come.

For us, one of those moments was hearing we had won a Best of Joburg award — not once, not twice, but THREE times — as Johannesburg’s Best Social Cooking School.

It wasn’t just an accolade - it was a love letter from the city and people we adore.
A sign that the warmth, the laughter, the generosity, the chaos‑that‑turns‑into‑magic had found its way into people’s hearts.

These awards weren’t won by marketing or polish - they were won by the people who show up with sleeves rolled, spirits high, and curiosity alive.
By the guests who return again and again.
By the team who pours their soul into every class.
By a community that believed in a dream that started at one long table.

Being recognised by the Best of Joburg didn’t just validate what we do — it reminded us why we do it.
And we carry that honour with gratitude, pride, and a whole lot of joy.