About Underground and Matt Kemp

Despite working in some of London's top restaurants like The River Cafe, The Ivy and Pont De La Tour, Chef/Patron Matt Kemp considers himself self-taught.

From an early age, he started to follow recipes with mixed results! "I ruined everything I tried to cook for the first time, but always learned from my mistakes."

Once Matt established a feel for basic textures and consistencies, he started to put together his own recipes, combining ingredients he thought would go well together.

Training under 3 star chef Michael Guerard in France gave Matt technical experience such as detailed presentation, knife skills and organisation.

The Underground Cookery School was set up in the summer of 2003 to offer a fun and informal way of learning uncomplicated, delicious, contemporary cooking.

All classes are suitable for beginners as well as more adventurous cooks.

Events are designed to take place in the mornings for lunch, and late afternoon for dinner. We offer a daylong cookery challenge on weekdays, as well as private parties and hen nights on weekends.

Matt offers informal and fun classes. With his home grown experience he understands what it's like to be hopeless in the kitchen, but at the same time inspires confidence in people when things go wrong.

The school's motto is: "everything is salvageable!"