Sauce Cooking Class at The Langham: Pasta Day for £215

Sauce by The Langham is the cookery school inside The Langham hotel at 1c Portland Place, Regent Street, London W1B 1JA, and it calls itself the first cookery school set inside a central-London luxury hotel. Most of its hands-on classes cost £215, groups are capped at 10 to 12 people, and nearly every session ends the same way: you leave the kitchen, sit down in one of the hotel's private dining rooms and eat what you cooked with a glass of wine.

The Langham bills itself as Britain's first grand hotel, and for more than 150 years its kitchens were off limits to guests. That changed in June 2019, when the hotel launched Sauce as a public cookery school, led at the start by the hotel's executive chef, Chris King. Today the school is run by a team of Langham chefs under the guidance of Michel Roux, whose link with the hotel goes back to 2010, when he opened Roux at The Landau there. Day-to-day, the kitchen is managed by Millie Simpson, who previously ran the kitchen at the Michel Roux Jr Cookery School.

The core of the timetable is a set of skill-focused classes the school calls Building Blocks. Each one takes a single subject and works through it properly. Master the Pasta covers fresh dough, several shapes and fillings and a set of classic sauces. Bread Making moves from a rustic country loaf to enriched doughs and pre-ferments. Proper Puddings is a half-day class on four French-style desserts, including sweet shortcrust pastry and chocolate fondant. Kitchen Confidence covers knife skills, fish filleting and sauces, which makes it the best first class for anyone who wants a broader base.

The school's booking calendar shows Bread Making on 6 November 2026, Proper Puddings on 10 November and an evening steak class, Shaken & Seared, on 12 November. Master the Pasta runs on 20 November, and the site's banner says only a few places are left. December turns festive, with a Festive Edible Gifts class on 12 December and Christmas Wreaths & Cookies, run with Shilpa Reddy Flower Design, on 27 November and 4 December. The Masterclass with Michel Roux on 8 December was already full when we checked.

Pricing is simple. Master the Pasta, Bread Making, Proper Puddings, Shaken & Seared and the Festive Edible Gifts class are each £215 per person. Christmas Wreaths & Cookies is £195. The Michel Roux masterclass sits in a different bracket at £995. Ingredients and equipment are included in every class, and so is the meal at the end with wine. Gift vouchers are sold on the site and are valid for 12 months, which makes Sauce a popular present for keen home cooks.

Morning classes start at 9.15 am and are listed as finishing at about 2 pm. The evening steak class runs from 6.30 pm to about 9 pm. The school asks you to allow an extra 30 minutes after the listed end time, since the pace depends on the group. The chef leading the class stays with you from the stove to the dining table, so lunch is also a chance to ask the questions you did not get to during service. Expect to stand for most of the morning at induction hobs in a professional kitchen.

The rules are short but firm. Each booking admits one person, and anyone without a booking cannot enter the kitchen, the Pantry or the Conservatory. Children can attend only if they are enrolled in a children's class. Wear comfortable clothes and flat, closed-toe shoes. You do not need to bring anything except a camera if you want one, and photography is welcome. Dietary needs can be catered for if you give at least 14 days' notice, though the kitchen is multi-use and cannot guarantee the absence of allergen traces. Anyone with a pacemaker should take medical advice first, because the hobs are induction.

Bookings for a class close 48 hours before it starts. If you cancel with more than 28 days' notice, you can choose a full refund or a transfer to another class. Inside 28 days, there are no refunds, date changes or switches to a different course, though you can change the name on the booking up to seven days before. If the school cancels, it tells you at least 14 days ahead and offers a class of equal value or a full refund. Because of that, the school advises waiting for confirmation before booking travel or a hotel room.

The most popular classes sell out weeks ahead, so book as soon as a date you like appears. The Upcoming Classes page on the Sauce site is the quickest way to see which dates are still open. If you are coming as a pair, book both places at the same time, since each booking covers only one person. Tell the school about any dietary need when you book rather than on the day, because the 14-day notice period is fixed. If you are travelling into London for the class, remember that The Langham is inside the Congestion Charge zone on weekdays and that onsite parking is limited and must be booked in advance.

Sauce also runs a separate set of classes for younger cooks. Sweet Bakes is for children aged 4 to 10, Savoury Bakes for ages 6 to 12, and two Sous Chefs classes, one on baking and one on pasta, are aimed at teenagers aged 12 to 16. Parents are invited to join in, and the classes are the only way children can come into the kitchen. Each one is designed to build confidence rather than to turn out restaurant plates, and the children cook alongside the school's chefs.

The Langham sits where Regent Street turns into Portland Place, so a class pairs well with a walk. Directly opposite is All Souls Church, the round-porched Nash church on Langham Place, with BBC Broadcasting House beside it. Walk north up Portland Place, one of the widest streets in central London, and you reach Park Crescent and then Regent's Park in about ten minutes. After a pudding class, that walk is a good way to work off the chocolate fondant.

Sauce by The Langham, 1c Portland Place, Regent Street, London W1B 1JA. Bookings 020 7973 7513 or through the Sauce website. The school says Oxford Circus Underground is a five-minute walk, Bond Street ten minutes and Great Portland Street fifteen. Classes cost £215, with Christmas Wreaths & Cookies at £195 and the Michel Roux masterclass at £995. Groups of 10 to 12. Wheelchair users can be accommodated with advance notice. Refunds or transfers only with more than 28 days' notice.