Avenue Cooking Class in Wandsworth: BYOB Pasta From £80

The Avenue Cookery School teaches from 3 Enterprise Way, Wandsworth, London SW18 1FZ, a purpose-built kitchen a few minutes from the Thames in south-west London. It has been running since 2004 and is a family business. Its cheapest class is a two-hour Pasta Workshop at £80 where you bring your own wine with no corkage fee, while the three-hour knife skills, Italian, bao and fish classes cost between £135 and £155.

The school is led by Diana and her two children, Sophie and Rich. Diana started out as a chalet chef, later ran a catering company and a delicatessen in Chelsea, and taught at The Grange Cookery School in Somerset for seven years before setting up The Avenue with her children. Rich trained as a builder, his father's trade, before moving into cookery teaching, and the family designed and built the kitchen themselves. They say it feels more like a much-loved home kitchen than a commercial space, and customers call it the most fun cookery school in London.

The Pasta Workshop is the class most visitors book. It costs £80, lasts two hours and is BYOB, so bring a bottle and there is no corkage to pay. You make your own pasta by hand, with ravioli or orecchiette on the menu, and then sit down together to eat it. Upcoming sessions vary the filling: truffle mushroom on the evening of Wednesday 4 November, spinach and ricotta on the afternoon of Saturday 28 November and butternut squash on the evening of Friday 4 December, with a Sunday afternoon session on 25 October.

For a deeper lesson, the Knife Skills Class at £145 teaches you how to sharpen, hold and use the most common kitchen knives; dates include the evening of Friday 20 November, the morning of Tuesday 24 November and the evening of Monday 7 December. The Fish Class at £155 covers filleting round fish and cooking and presenting fish and seafood, with sessions on the evening of 26 October and the mornings of 29 November and 11 December. The Italian Cooking Class at £135 rotates between pasta and gnocchi.

Beyond Italian food, the school runs a Bao Class on Taiwanese steamed buns and a Mexican Street Food Class, both three hours at £135, and a four-hour Bread Class, also £135. The range suits a group where people want different things, since you can book a series across several months. The school also runs children's classes in the school holidays, which is useful if you are visiting London with kids.

Of the longer classes, Knife Skills is the one that pays off fastest at home. The school's aim is to make your prep quicker and your time in the kitchen more enjoyable, and the three hours cover how to look after your knives as well as how to use them. If you cook every day but have never been taught to hold a knife properly, this is the class to book first.

Everyone in the kitchen needs their own paid place, whatever their age. Children under 10 must be booked with a paying adult, and under-16s need to book with a partner so they have someone to cook with. The school says it will cater for dietary requirements where possible, although alternatives cannot always be provided, so tell the team when you book. Several classes are listed as vegetarian, vegan or lactose-free friendly.

All payments are non-refundable, but bookings can be transferred to another date. For classes, the transfer must be made at least two weeks before the class date, or four weeks for groups bigger than four. The school sells optional cancellation cover if you want protection against a change of plan. Given those terms, book once your dates are fixed, and consider the cover if you are travelling from abroad.

Wandsworth Town station is the nearest rail stop, about 20 minutes by train from Waterloo, and the school is a ten-minute walk from there. East Putney on the District line is the closest Tube station, a 15-minute walk or five minutes by taxi. If you drive, there is paid road parking that fills quickly and a paid car park at Riverside West on Smugglers Way, a four-minute walk away. You cannot park on Enterprise Way itself. Free parking nearby is available on evenings and Sundays, depending on space.

The school sits close to the Thames, and the riverside path near the mouth of the River Wandle makes a pleasant walk before a weekend class. Wandsworth Park, a long riverside green lined with plane trees, is a short walk west toward Putney and is good for a stroll after a morning session. King George's Park, a little further south, follows the Wandle and has a lake, sports pitches and plenty of benches.

Since the pasta classes let you bring your own bottle, plan ahead. A light Italian white or a Chianti works well with filled pasta, and there are supermarkets near Wandsworth Town station if you arrive without one. Bring a container too, because handmade ravioli is easy to over-produce and you will want some for later. Arrive a little early to settle in, since the two-hour pasta session moves quickly.

Choose The Avenue if you want a friendly, family-run class with a relaxed, social feel, especially the BYOB pasta evening, which is good value for London. The knife and fish classes suit cooks who want practical skills they will use every week. It is less convenient for visitors staying in central London, since the trip to Wandsworth takes time, and the no-refund policy means it rewards firm plans.

The Avenue Cookery School, 3 Enterprise Way, Wandsworth, London SW18 1FZ. Office hours Monday to Friday 9 am to 5 pm. Pasta Workshop £80 (two hours, BYOB, no corkage). Italian, Bao, Mexican and Bread classes £135; Knife Skills £145; Fish £155. Payments non-refundable; transfers at least two weeks ahead. Nearest station Wandsworth Town, ten minutes on foot.