Jamie Oliver, UK celebrity chef, to open local one-stop shop for cooking and food

UK celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver, is opening a chain of high street shops designed to inspire people to cook.

Called Recipease, the food emporiums cum cook shops will offer consumers the chance to assemble dishes themselves in-store, to be taught by professional chefs to cook whole meals from scratch or to buy freshly prepared food-to-go.

The first branch will open in the Battersea/Clapham Junction area of south London at the end of the month (February 2009).

A second store is already in the pipeline, although the location is underwraps. Further UK outlets are planned to open during 2009 and 2010.

As well as inspiring consumers to cook, Recipease stores will feature a ‘store cupboard’ element, selling food and lifestyle items from the new Jme range www.jmecollection.com

Oliver said: “I’ve wanted to create something special like this for a long time; something which offers the support and solutions in the neighbourhood that people need these days as so many people were never taught to cook at home or in school.

“As well as that, people want ideas, hints, shortcuts and tips to keep them excited about cooking. With Recipease, I wanted to work with the public to make people want to cook because they love cooking.

“By having trained chefs helping the customers I think we can really get people excited about food – young mums wanting ideas for the family, blokes wanting to impress the girlfriend, professionals planning a dinner-party, everyone. Whether you’ve got time or not, we can add a little bit of something extra and teach people in a friendly way, like I was taught.

“I really believe that if the produce and product is exceptional and good value, then people will find this service dead handy.”

According to Oliver, Recipease aims to teach and inspire people to be able to cook simple, tasty food regardless of their level of experience. “Whether they are a foodie, average cook or complete liability, it’s a way of experimenting and using our resources to help,” he said.

Recipease will offer three types of food experiences for the local community including:

Easy To Make – a concept that allows people to prepare a Jamie Oliver recipe using good quality fresh ingredients which they can then take home to finish off in the oven as a feast for family or friends. All the preparation – chopping, measuring etc – is already done so most Easy To Make recipes take no more than 10 minutes to prepare in the shop. Bookings can be made online or in-store.

Easy To Learn – a step-up from Easy To Make, this is for those who want to learn a bit more actual cooking. A number of sessions will be available every week for anyone to learn to prepare a meal from scratch under the supervision of trained chefs. Bookings can be made online or in-store.

Easy To Go – ideal for those with very busy schedules, Recipease will offer around 14 dishes changing every couple of months, which can be bought freshly, prepared and then cooked at home.