Fairley's

Hi, My name is Nick Fairley and I’m a professional chef. I’ve traveled extensively, worked in restaurants, and trained in almost every country I’ve been fortunate enough to visit. Admittedly I might not at first glance look like the person you’d imagine seeing cooking your curry but I can assure you I can make some of the best you’ll ever try and I’ve delved deep into the origins of many different dishes that spark my interest. 

After circumnavigating the globe and working in restaurants on my travels, I dreamt up a way to harness my passion for food and I set up my first business Cooking 4 Life in which I teach children in schools around the country about healthy eating and living a healthy lifestyle, but focussing on schools in my home; the North East of England. We’re now teaching adults and children together how to make these tried and tested recipes so you can cook recipes together that you know they’ll enjoy!

Most of my life I’ve been a curry lover so that was the natural place to start with my academy; my love of Indian food and all things spicy got serious when I discovered my need to cut a lot of bread/pasta out of my diet and most food from the Indian subcontinent is gluten free by default. Having worked in restaurants in India and having friends with Indian restaurants in England, I started investigating the techniques and working out how to perfect the recipes at home. Now after years of trial and error and consuming copious amounts of curry, we now teach you these secrets in our academy!

If you live in Newcastle, Gateshead, Durham, North Tyneside, South Tyneside or Sunderland then you’re within spitting distance of our academy. Based in Newcastle we have a convenient and easy to find location with free parking on site. Why pick the Academy over just buying the spice blends? Once we teach you the tips and tricks, show you the spices, explain the techniques and demonstrate the fundamentals, we set you off to cook your own dish. Any mistakes can be identified and rectified in a safe environment so its much easier than experimenting at home and possibly getting it wrong and of course we guarantee better results!