2 May 2014
Tante Marie Culinary Academy announces plans to move to Commercial Way, Woking
Tante Marie Culinary Academy announces today plans to move from its current base in Carlton Road, Woking to exciting new town centre premises in Commercial Way, Woking.
Taking two floors in the refurbished Alexander House, Tante Marie will house its renowned cookery school with training theatre, student kitchens and lecture rooms on the first floor. On the ground floor it will open a teaching restaurant to showcase both the quality of its graduates and to provide a workplace-based environment to offer advanced hospitality management training and qualifications. The restaurant will have open-air seating running along Commercial Way.
Refurbishment work to Alexander House is already underway, with the Academy set to relocate and its restaurant scheduled to open in early 2015.
Tante Marie's Managing Director and Principal, Andrew Maxwell, said: "We are thrilled to announce our plans today. In this our 60th year we have really exciting plans for the further development of the Academy in Woking and for the enhanced training we will be able to offer to our students through their work in the training restaurant.
"Our professional training and our Cordon Bleu Diploma qualification have put Tante Marie on the map as a leading international cookery school and have been the starting point for thousands of chefs who are now running successful businesses and enjoying careers in food around the world.
"We look forward to welcoming diners to our restaurant to experience for themselves, the very best that graduates of Tante Marie Culinary Academy have to offer in terms of skill and service."
In addition to its range of professional courses, Tante Marie plans to extend its range of Gap Year and Lifestyle cookery courses.
The move by the Culinary Academy has been made possible through the imaginative improvements being made to Commercial Way by Woking Borough Council and the major refurbishments planned to Alexander House at the junction with Church Path and Mercia Walk where Tante Marie will have its new base.
Ray Morgan, Woking Borough Council's Chief Executive, said: "The Council is delighted that Tante Marie Culinary Academy, a valued local business with an international profile and reputation for high quality, is choosing to stay and expand in Woking. With an enhanced training programme and, its new restaurant, it will be a great attraction to the revitalised town centre."
