Where did you train to cook?
I didn’t go to college; I began on the job working for Simon Hopkinson at a restaurant called Bibendum in London, which was Sir Terence Conran’s flagship restaurant, squeezing oranges! I stayed with the Conran empire for a while until I came down here to take a year out as a scallop diver. But I had a great big accident which gave me the Bends and shut me down for quite a while. So I went back to London to open a place with my brother. I thought I’d look at a different side of life so I did front of house, but it was horrendous! I get very Basil Fawlty. It was a good thing to do but it did burn me out. So I came down here; I didn’t want the pressure of big brigade kitchens- I couldn’t deal with it- and I wanted somewhere where I could make my own mark. So basically I went straight to Otterton Mill.

What made you want to be a chef?
My mother was a cordon bleu chef but never really had to work, so she just enjoyed it which was great and she always backed me. I remember when I was 6 going to stay with my great great aunt in Corfe and she made me take all my clothes off and sit in this enormous enamel bath. She then produced a blank chocolate cake and bags of icing, piping bags, and spatula knives and put them all in the bath and told me to decorate the cake, which was great! Then when I was 10 I shot my first squirrel, and I thought it would be fun to cook it. But in the process I spilt Ribena on it, and it was really nice! Slightly sickly, but blackcurrant and squirrel worked well. Then when I was 11 my mother let me roast a chicken and I covered it in peanut butter and that worked really well. Lastly, I was 12 and went to Greece with my school, where I ordered some calamari. It was so wonderfully fresh and simply done, and it was then that I realised how important food is. Of course, I know that chefs are not vital to humanity, but it is an art form and a society is, to a degree, valued by its cultural output and food is part of that. The simplicity of that calamari was what I carried forward, and now I always trust in the ingredients that I buy and find. I don’t think I ever had a moment where I thought ‘I will now be a chef’; I think it was always going to happen. When I started it was the most natural thing in the world.

How would you describe your style of cooking?
Simple. I concentrate on flavour, and to a degree I don’t really care about what it looks like. My style is really drawn from three influences- Simon Hopkinson, Elizabeth David and from living directly in the countryside. If you were going to give it a title: I am Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall meets Keith Floyd. It is about simplicity. I don’t cook what I don’t know so I am not going to put out vindaloo skylark nipples. Asian cooking is a whole world of its own and I could only do a very poor imitation of it. My food it brought to my kitchen by game keepers, by wild foragers, by the market gardener that lives half a mile away. My beef is brought to me from the farmer next door- those are my suppliers. I don’t buy what I don’t have immediate access to.

What’s it like being an executive chef of somewhere like the Mill, which has other facilities, as opposed to a restaurant?
I have to wear two hats- I have to please the tourists with their cream teas and scones, as well as the more serious cooking. For as long as I am at the Mill, there will always be that element. Were I to move from the Mill, I would need to move somewhere that was my own kitchen. I don’t have a passion to run my own place, I’m happy to use someone else’s money! But if you were to go to a chain restaurant or to a restaurant cooking something specific, it wouldn’t be my cooking. I couldn’t do that. I get my kicks from creativity. I cook what I know will satisfy me, and will satisfy others. Of course you can’t please everyone all the time. I need to have fun, and I can only do that if I’m allowed to get on with my own thing. The pressure at the Mill is much harder to a degree because I have to try and please everybody. The expectations of people that come to the Mill are so far ranging and I’ve got to be able to reach them all.

What personal attributes are important to be a chef?
I would say that you need to have the skin of a rhino; it is very hard to not take things personally if a customer comes up to you and says your food is horrible, you’ve got to take it. You’ve got to have the belief in yourself. You have to do your best and work hard. In the last five years I’ve had a lot of kids come through my kitchen, but I’ve only had one who could handle the hours. Of course you need passion and discipline too, but you also need a sense of humour. It can be a horrible job; it can be very hard, very physical and very demanding in terms of hours. The higher up the chain, the more you have to pack in to your schedule, but if you enjoy it then you’re going to be able to have fun. You’ll know if you’re going to be able to stick at it.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to enter in to a career as a chef?
Don’t become a pub chef. That is the graveyard of 99% of chefs. Yes, go to college by all means because some of the courses are now exceptionable. But I would say the best advice is to call a chef that you admire and appreciate, and ask if you can work there for a month unpaid. The chef will find out what you’re like and you’ll find out what the chef and kitchen is like. You have to start at the bottom, but if you are any good, a chef will see that and he or she won’t want to let you go. You’ll know at the end of that time whether you get a kick out of it. You’ll be very tired but if you go to bed still inspired, then that’s good. Get into a kitchen, find out if you actually want to do it, and then go and get trained formally. Or, beg and wheedle your way into an apprenticeship.

Do you think it’s better to train at college or gain work experience?
No serious restaurant, no good chef, will want to see your NVQ results- they’ll want to see what you can do and if you can take it. But there are comparatively little amounts of those kinds of jobs in those kinds of restaurants- the majority of them are in hotels and the general catering industry. And then they do require qualifications. Do either but be aware of what one thing will give you over the other. If you go into a small, very good restaurant you will not be equipped to deal with a big-brigade hotel, and vice versa.

Website: http://www.ottertonmill.com

Ed Chester

Where did you train to cook?
I originally trained at Combe House at Gittisham near Honiton. I spent three years there and I started when I was 17. I also spent some time working in France, Switzerland and Ireland.

What made you want to be a chef?
I took a summer job before I went back to do my A-Levels. I enjoyed it so much, I didn’t go back to college, I just carried on cooking. It was just a local pub but from there I went on to Combe House and I really learnt a lot there.

And were you inspired by anyone in particular?
My first head chef was a part-time college lecturer and he took me under his wing and pushed me in the right direction. He knew the owners of Combe House, which was the best local restaurant for 30 or so miles at the time so I got introduced to them through him.

How would you describe your style of cooking?
My style of cooking is quite British but I wouldn’t pigeonhole myself to say that I only ever cook British food. If you look at Great Britain through the centuries, imports and exports have always been strong, and now we’re a melting-pot of different cultures and ethnic minorities and that influences us quite a lot. So I would say that my food is based within the locality, but is also influenced by Britain as a whole and the history that it has.

What are the differences between your role as head chef, and Michael Caines’ role as executive chef?
The difference is that Michael has been here for a long time- fifteen years I think- and the food is his food, he created it. The food has evolved from his personality, his own ideals, his background and the people he’s worked with. His food evolves constantly- we’ve just had a load of new dishes go on the menu in the last few months, and you can see the change. I’ve been here three and a half years now, and I can see how Michael’s food is still evolving and it’s becoming more personalised. Yes I do have an influence, because anyone that works in the kitchen will have an influence, but the food is based around Michael; he creates the dishes and we help along the way.

So do you get any input in to what goes on the menu?
I’ll look at what we’ve got seasonally at the time and what I think are the best ingredients that are coming through. Michael has a repertoire of dishes that he’s created over the years and we’ll look at those and decide which will be best according to those factors, and then Michael will look at it with a fresh pair of eyes each time it goes back on the menu. That way we’ll evolve the dishes over the years. I do have my own ideas which Michael will look at, and then we’ll develop them.

What do you think makes the restaurant here so successful and highly-praised?
The ingredients we get here are fantastic; we’re lucky with the budget we have and the location we have because it allows us access to the finest ingredients around. We’ve got great basic ingredients and from there Michael’s got great technique and training and he passes that through to the rest of us in the kitchen. I think consistency is important too, as well as our location. We’ve got a very professional front-of-house team who give a warm welcome and it’s a beautiful house. You put it all together and we’ve got a pretty good package.

What personal attributes are important to be a chef?
Passion is important; you’ve got to put your heart and soul in to everything you make and create. You’ve got to want them to be perfect, and you have to strive for excellence. It’s really important to make everything as perfectly as you can and don’t accept second best; from collecting the ingredients at the back door, to peeling a carrot. Give it a bit of love! It’s attention to detail. Discipline is important aswell.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to enter in to a career as a chef?
I would say that it is a fantastically rewarding career and it’s really enjoyable. But you have to be dedicated to it; you have to really want to be chef. It is long and it is hard and it’s a hot kitchen. And when all your friends are out having fun on Bank Holiday Monday, and you’re working, you have to be able to enjoy that to be able to sustain that kind of lifestyle. If you don’t really enjoy it and you don’t really want it, don’t do it, because you’ll never achieve anything.

Do you think it’s better to train at college or gain work experience?
I think a combination of the two. It’s really important to have a good foundation and good basics. There are some great cookery schools and colleges out there now- I know it’s been criticised a lot over the years- but they’re a great way to learn the basics. However nothing will beat industry experience- that’s crucial. I wouldn’t stay in college for 3 or 4 years because I think you’d find that you’d come out and a commis chef that’s been in the trade for the same amount of time will be further ahead of you. But I also think that to come straight in to a Michelin star environment at a young age can be a big ask for people. So I would say your basics are really important and do maybe a year or so at college first.

Website: http://www.gidleigh.com

Ian Webber with Michael Caines

Where did you train to cook?
I trained at Exeter College for three years and then worked for Paul Da-Costa-Greaves for a little while. After a short time in Exeter, I went off to work professionally in The Crab at Chiveley, near Newbury. So I trained there and that was a really intense year. Then I decided to go to London, and eventually ended up working in Ramsey’s at Claridges. It was amazing but it was 100 hours a week! It was really hard work but I enjoyed it. Then I moved on to The Square which has held 2 Michelin Stars for the last 17 years. When I was working there I saw the advert for The Restaurant and I entered it that way. Ali and I thought nothing would come of it, but we got call-back after call-back and ended up getting on the show. We were very fortunate to get to the final which was amazing, and Raymond offered us a 3 month stint at Le Manoir. In those 3 months we did every single section of the whole hotel, and the kitchen. That was far harder than Ramsey’s- fewer hours- but harder. And then the BBC asked us to do Out of the Frying Pan. I always knew I wanted to be a restaurant-led chef, so I’ve been so lucky with the places I’ve worked at. I’m now teaching at Ashburton Cookery School.

How are you finding teaching at Ashburton Cookery School?
It’s great, I really enjoy teaching and it’s a different side to things. As a chef you never stop learning- there’ll always be a new challenge. Not only are you teaching others to cook, but you’re always teaching yourself a new discipline, which is brilliant. You’re gaining knowledge all the time because the students want to know the tiniest details about the food you’re cooking with, so you constantly have to be on the ball and know your stuff! There’s a fantastic team and fantastic facilities there.

What made you want to be a chef?
Having a Venezuelan background helps because I was always in the kitchen with my grandmother, and my mum. Whenever there were any family discussions, they would always be in the kitchen! So I’d always loved food and wanted to cook. Then I was working as a waiter years and years ago, and they had a private catering company on the side, which I got involved in. Then from there I went to Pizza Express as a waiter, but I did a stint in the kitchen and really loved it. So I decided to go to college and I went from there.
How does the pressure compare between Le Manoir and being filmed on television?
Le Manoir trained us to such a high level that that really set us up well. Then we were asked to do this programme and it was a chance to show what we had learned from Raymond and really go full steam ahead. We were under real pressure, because all the events in ‘Out of the Frying Pan’ were real and we wanted to deliver to the highest possible degree. With every single event there were different pressures. As well as being a chef, you have to be a project manager so you can’t just worry about the food; you have to look at the bigger picture. So it’s fantastic to do and it gears you up towards running your own business.

Do you think you have to develop a different side of your personality to be on TV as a chef?
I think so, you’re absolutely right. If you look at Gordon, he’s really nice, really normal off-camera. You’ve almost got to have two parts to your personality and it all depends on your audience. It depends if you’re presenting to chefs or to the general public. Having a camera around your face is quite full-on.

How would you describe your style of cooking?
I would like to think that my style of cooking is modern contemporary. It’s just taking classic dishes and tweaking them so that they’re very modern- pushing the boundaries a bit. I’m no Heston but would like to think that I’m progressive. I don’t want to stay classical- I want my food to evolve constantly.

What personal attributes are important to be a chef?
You have to be driven and ambitious. You also need to be putting the hours in; you need to be really dedicated. I still don’t call myself a chef, I call myself a cook, and I probably won’t call myself a chef until I’ve done 10 years in a restaurant. A chef is somebody who’s been in the game for a long time. You have to realise that your personal life will suffer. It’s a hard life but you have to love it. It makes me smile and it makes my family and friends smile.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to enter in to a career as a chef?
First of all, I wouldn’t necessarily go to college first. I would go in to a high-end restaurant; write a letter and ask to do a couple of days in the kitchen. See if it’s for you; get your foot in the door. If you do like it, then pursue a career- work in a kitchen and do one day a week at college to get your NVQs. It also depends on how ambitious you are- if you want to work in top-end restaurants, then start in top-end restaurants. Get your foot in the door to see if you can stand the pace.

Do you think getting the right qualifications is important?
It’s a bonus to have the qualification, but if you look at some of the best chefs around, some of them have never been to college. I don’t necessarily think it’s a huge thing that you need. If I had my time again, I would only do college one day a week, and work in a kitchen for the rest of the time, rather than doing 3 years full-time. I would have developed myself a lot more, had I pursued that option.

James Knight-Pacheco

Where did you train to cook?
My dad was a chef, so I got the bulk the basics from him. I started when I was about 8 and then used to go and work with him at the weekends. Then I went to a general catering college, but I didn’t like the other bits like waiting and housekeeping, so I came out of that after 4 weeks. So I went to another college and did a straightforward chefs course and did NVQ Level 1 and 2. I didn’t do level 3 because I was so eager to get into the industry, and from there I went straight to London as a commis chef.

Was your father your main source of inspiration?
Yeah he was a big source of inspiration. From an early age I would see a lot of food and I was born into it really. I’m very arty so I liked animation and graphic design, but whilst I was good at that, my passion was cooking.

How would you describe your style of cooking?
I think my style of cooking has become simpler, but not in the sense of being easier. It’s more naked on the plate- it’s more about the sourcing of the ingredients and the combinations of ingredients and how they work together. I’m not one for over-elaborate garnishes or lots of different flavours; normally there’s 3 flavours on the plate that marry well together. It’s British, and very influenced by seafood; almost to the point where if I could, I’d give up cooking meat and just concentrate on fish. That’s just a passion, I just love doing it.

You got your first Michelin star when you were 25. Does that give you more freedom to experiment or does it put on more pressure to stick to the high quality you’ve already achieved?
I think really the Michelin star was because of the places I’d worked at before and the high standard of them. I’ve always had that standard and luckily for me, that’s a high standard and nothing will ever go out that’s anything less. Pressure comes if you worry about it. A Michelin star is a great thing to have, but it’s not my motivator and the fact that I’ve moved around a lot should prove that. It comes with it- we’d love to get 2 or 3 stars, but with cooking you need the freedom and luckily the food that I like cooking is of Michelin star standard.

Do you think the simplicity of your food is the secret of your success?
Yeah, I think it’s understanding what you can do. You see a lot of young chefs and they try and do too much. At the end of the day, you should first concentrate on what the customer is choosing, and then do something you can actually achieve- don’t do anything that is going to cause you problems.

You also do a lot of cooking on TV. Do you think as a chef you have to develop another side of your personality in order to do that?
I think in some cases you do. I don’t think I do; I’m pretty much the same all the time! I don’t get stressed or shouty, because I don’t think there’s any need for it. With TV, it wasn’t something I ever set out to do but what I try to do is do the media side of things in the winter in order to bring people in during the summer. When I go on TV, I always do dishes that I do normally. It’s good fun and you meet a lot of people which is great for business.

What personal attributes are important to be a chef?
You need to be level-headed and organised. You need that passion and I think you need to be forward-thinking. The first 4 or 5 years of chef are training and you can do the most rubbish jobs ever! I still love prepping the fish, but there are probably chefs who think that they’re above all that. But that’s what I enjoy. You’re also in a very hot and stressful environment; it puts a strain on you so you need to be calm, because it affects everybody.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to enter in to a career as a chef?
Definitely the first thing you should do is go and work in a professional kitchen for a week or two; not only to learn the cooking, but to learn the way of life that it involves. There are good jobs in a 9-5 world, like contract catering, and the standards are still really high. That way you can have a job and a life. But you’re never going to earn lots of money from doing that. Experience is so important, and then you can make a decision after that.

Do you think it’s better to train at college or gain work experience?
I think it comes down to individuals. Some people need that regimented way of learning but some people are just naturally gifted and will become frustrated in that environment. I think nowadays experience speaks more than qualifications and that must just be a downfall of the system. Some colleges these days just seem to be out for the money. I think it would have been much more beneficial for me to go straight into a job rather than go to college, but that’s just me. Experience is always going to win it.

Website: http://www.nathan-outlaw.co.uk
http://www.enodoc-hotel.co.uk

Nathan Outlaw

Where did you train to cook?
I went to France on an exchange when I was 17, and afterwards I decided to go back and get some work experience over there. I started in an average hotel and I went there for 2 weeks but while I was there I looked around for other work placements. I did a week at a gastronomic restaurant and really liked it. So I came back to the UK to finish college and went back there to work. I did 3 months, came back to the UK for a bit, then went back to France and did another 6 months. It was my intention to live in London, so my chef in France introduced me to Albert Roux. I decided to go to university and did a degree in Business and Hospitality. But as soon as I finished I pursued my career and worked for Albert Roux. And then I went on to La Gavroche and stayed in London.

What made you want to be a chef?
When I saw the careers advisor at school, I wasn’t very interested in school and they suggested I go to catering college. So I did that with the intention of being a hotel manager or something like that. But in fact I really loved the cooking side of it and then from there I wanted to stay in the kitchen, and I got weekend jobs and placements cooking.

How would you describe your style of cooking?
Modern classical really. I don’t try and do anything that’s not been done before, but that’s because of my business and its location. I’m a little bit nervous about being too experimental but it doesn’t mean that in the future I won’t be. But I think you have to learn a lot and I am starting to incorporate some strange flavours on the menu but they’re very infrequent and I’m very sensitive to what the customers think about it.

Is that because of your location in Barnstaple?
When I opened up the restaurant there was only two of us in the kitchen, and the cooking was simple and rustic. As we’ve developed, we’ve got neater, cleaner, more complicated. And our customers have grown with us, which is great. But to jump from simple to more complex would be too much of a leap- maybe in London or Exeter you could get away with it, but not in Barnstaple.

You run cookery courses twice a year at the restaurant aswell…
We do four different cookery days twice a year. People just want to come in to a professional kitchen and do some cooking. We’re not formal; it’s basic stock making, break making, ice-cream making and pastry making. We get people in the kitchen, and do workshops with 7 or 8 people. It’s been really successful, and people just love experimenting, having fun and being involved.

What inspired you to open the cookery courses side of things?
I think I’m just passing on my knowledge which is something that I love to do, and I love to see people’s faces. You can give someone a different way of doing something and they’ll be amazed that they didn’t do it that way before, and that’s really key. You’ve got to passionate, and sharing that passion with other people is what it’s all about. It gives you immense satisfaction. It’s all about the love affair with cooking.

What do you think goes in to making a restaurant successful?
Consistency is very important. I strive for consistency more than anything, and in an environment where there’s high staff turnover and long hours, consistency is difficult to achieve. What you’ve got to do is to create a dish and serve it perfectly every time. But that’s just the cooking side; you’ve got to have a good front of house that’s amiable and understands the customers’ needs- when to serve, when to leave people alone etc. It’s also about good marketing- providing the customer with want they want whilst achieving your own objectives.

What personal attributes are important to be a chef?
Nowadays there are different types of chefs; a chef that does modern classical cooking, and a chef who does scientific, technical cookery. They all serve in a restaurant, but they’re very different. For both of them, organisation is important and one of the most important ingredients is desire because you’ve got to go through a lot to get there- it’s never an easy ride. Desire, drive, hard work and dedication are the secrets and you can’t get anywhere without them.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to enter in to a career as a chef?
You need to look at all the different kinds of places you can work as a chef. I’ve known people who’ve had very successful careers as chefs in hospitals and schools. They’re superb at their job. My advice would be look at your options- determine what type of chef you want to be at the beginning. It’s got a bit of a glamorous label at the moment because all you see is people on TV. But those people are there because they’ve worked hard to get where they are. Read up and research. Work in a kitchen for free for a day and find out if you like it.

Do you think it’s better to train at college or gain work experience?
I think it totally depends on the individual. There are so many people that go college and after a year get totally put off. There are some people that excel and become really good. Then there are others who start as a kitchen porter and before you know it, are working their way through the different sections and then get offered a job at some fancy restaurant. I struggled for a while in some kitchens and it took me a while to get used to it but some people are just naturals.

Website: http://www.jamesduckett.co.uk

James Duckett

How would you describe your style of cooking?
My style of cooking is, I suppose, innovative, creative, balanced, different, and alternative. And basically, yummy!

Do you have a particular cuisine that inspires you?
For years and years I always used to cook meat, but I always wanted to push the boundaries and cook with fish. And that’s what I did when I bought the Galley. I pushed the boundaries and introduced a lot of spice in to the fish, whilst still giving it the subtleness that the fish holds, but with a contemporary twist.

You’re also a Spiritual Healer and Alternative Therapist. How does this influence your cooking?
Well years ago I always thought I was wacky, off my head because I used to enjoy nature and essential oils, but I could never understand why I could be interested in it. It wasn’t until later on in life, when I started experimenting in the alternative therapy side, that I really appreciated marrying the food and the energy, and also the therapy in to that. It keeps me sane; as a busy chef, you can easily go off the rails because you’re so busy, but you need to take yourself out and I tend to use spiritual healing to take me out of that busy process. It gives you something back because you focus on another identity. By putting that balance in to the food, it gives me the energy and progression to deliver food made with love, light and experience.

You also run ‘Feeding Your Imagination’; what is the ethos behind that?
In terms of the ethos, it’s very nutritional. Seaweed is very nutritional. During my experimentation I worked out that I’d have to drink 15 glasses of milk to a mouthful of seaweed. But it wasn’t really consumed in the western diet, so that’s how I started creating sauces, certainly within the restaurant. And consumers started saying that they liked the seaweed and lavender pesto- can I buy it? And that’s how it started. With the chocolate, I needed to find chocolate that was from a range of different plantations so you didn’t just support one farmer- it was a mass of farms. I found this cacao, which had a certain spicy tone to it, in Ghana. I was experimenting with it and added peppermint oil and cardamom and that’s how my chocolate started. It’s very therapeutic, with essential oils for that mood-enhancing indulgence.

The Galley is renowned for its excellent food and has won awards to prove it. What do you think has made it so successful?
When I first took over here we used to enter a lot of competitions but as time has gone on we’ve done so less and less, because I’m just so busy with Feeding Your Imagination. Most of our customer base is drawn by word-of-mouth. In terms of success, it’s keeping your standards high and not compromising on quality. I believe that you can easily get in to the situation of buying foods cheaply but the quality isn’t that great. But quality is fundamental to your business and consumers these days are becoming more and more aware of what they’re eating. If you serve quality food, the consumer will like it and will come back again. They know they’re going to have an experience and a true taste sensation.

Do you have a signature dish?
I do! I have a couple; at the moment one of them is grilled fillet of turbot on a bed of sweet potato mash and I garnish that with scallops and I gently pour over spiced coconut cream sauce. It’s very light, and just so yummy! My favourite desserts are knickerbocker glory with a twist, banana split which is to die for, or I’ve got a new bakewell tart.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to enter in to a career as a chef?
I would say it’s hard work. Take any opportunity you can. My advice would be with the NVQ qualifications at the moment there are some modules which ask you to submit the bare minimum and I would suggest do the maximum possible. That will help you further down the line. Rather than just doing the NVQ 2, do the NVQ 3 aswell.

Do you think it’s better to go to college to train or work your way up the ladder by work experience?
When I was younger there were two options available to me- either to go to college or to go on an YTS scheme earning £25 a week. I chose the college option. At that particular time the modules were very difficult and thought that full-time education would set me up well for it, and it was a good choice for me. Nowadays I do think that if you find a great restaurant, or ask the Learning Skills Board for the best trainer out there- go down that route. If you’ve got someone that’s passionate about their food then their education qualifications are not so important. Cooking isn’t just about doing it, it’s a much bigger picture. It’s about the person, the energy, teamwork, and cooking from your heart rather cooking what you’ve been dictated to do.

Websites: http://www.galleyrestaurant.co.uk
http://www.feeding-your-imagination.co.uk
http://www.thechocolatetherapist.co.uk

Paul Da-Costa-Greaves

“Being a chef is a exciting, demanding and rewarding career. At the time of writing this blog the hospitality industry is one of the UK’s fastest growing sectors and there are approximately 240,000 chefs/cooks working throughout the UK. While celebrity chefs have raised the profile of this career among young people, there is currently a shortage of qualified and experienced chefs.

A young person interested in becoming a chef needs to be hard working, creative, have an eye for detail and they must have a real passion for food.  They should also have the following skills and personal qualities:

• be able to stay calm under pressure
• be able to cope with several tasks at once
• work effectively as part of a team
• use creativity and imagination in food presentation
• be patient when doing routine tasks such as slicing vegetables
• be good communicators, organisers and managers
• understand health, safety and hygiene requirements
• be able to work with figures, if they are responsible for budgets.

Many chefs start without any formal catering qualifications and learn their skills in the kitchen. However, there are also many ways of gaining valuable qualifications before getting a job, or whilst working.

Relevant qualifications include:

• GCSE in catering
• Diploma in Hospitality
• Apprenticeships in hospitality
• City and Guilds Diploma in professional cookery (Levels 2 and 3)
• NVQ in professional cookery (Levels 2 and 3)
• HNC/HND in professional cookery
• BTEC Diploma in international cuisine (Level 3).

Degrees and foundation degrees in subjects such as professional culinary arts and culinary arts management are also available.

Apprenticeships and Advanced Apprenticeships provide structured training with an employer. An apprentice must be paid at least £95 per week. A recent survey found that the average wage for apprentices was £170 a week.

In addition, Young Apprenticeships may be available for 14 -16 year olds.  If a young person wanted to find out more they should look at the National Apprenticeship Website www.apprenticeships.org.uk or contact Connexions on www.connexions-direct.com or call 080 800 13 2 19.

Salaries for chefs range from around £12,000 to £60,000 a year, or more.

• A commis chef may earn between £12,000 and £16,000 a year.
• A chef de partie may earn up to £25,000, while a sous chef may earn around £30,000 a year.
• Executive chefs may earn up to £60,000, or more.

A young person wanting to find out more about becoming a chef should contact their local Connexions centre or look on the Connexions careers database website www.connexions-direct.com/jobs4u

May 2010

Where did you train to cook?
I started my career in my home town on the Isle of Wight, and after a few years and a few different hotels I moved to London.
My first job there was working for Milburns Restaurants- a company that dealt mostly with museums. Whilst working there I attended college on day release. Milburns used to prepare everything from scratch and it taught me a lot, from pastry and cakes to canapés and main course foods.
From there I continued through different types of catering in different jobs working for standalone restaurants, pubs and hotels, and finally an outside catering company called Crown Society.
Crown was one of the biggest learning curves it dealt with fine dining parties for top politicians and royalty to massive dinners for up to 1600. After leaving London and moving to Devon I worked for several hotels until I moved to the Queens Court Hotel and I also oversee the sister hotel’s food at the Quayside Hotel.

What made you want to be a chef?
My mother was a pastry chef for a local yacht club and some of my early memories are sitting on the side in her kitchen watching her cook, with flour, and eggs and the beating of machinery- it all seemed very exciting.
Also my family was very traditional and we sat as a family to eat; I feel the bringing of people together to share a meal is a special time. The dining table brings much to life- where else do you get to feel so many emotions? Laughter, tears, love, friendship and sometimes arguments- it all happens around the centre piece- the food.

How would you describe your style of cooking?
Modern British. I don’t believe there are many countries that cook like the Britons. Since the British Empire we have been exploring the world and stealing the ingredients and bringing them home to infuse into our food.
There aren’t many countries that use such a fusion of ingredients; taking inspiration from China, India, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Thailand and America and of course the United Kingdom. You only have to look in a supermarket these days to find exotic produce

Do you think there are differences between being the head chef of a restaurant, and being head chef of a restaurant within a hotel?
Hotels are harder work! With a hotel you have breakfast, lunch, dinner, room service and functions to deal with and normally more staff to manage. The downside is that it can be harder to fill your restaurant in a hotel, as there is a certain stigma attached to dining in hotels.
On the standalone restaurant side it can be stressful because if you have a quiet night there is no other trade to fall back on; whereas in a hotel if you have a quiet night in the restaurant the hotel bedrooms and functions can still support the business. I feel that hotels give you more job security.

Do you have to work harder to increase your reputation?
Definitely, a bad day means nothing in this trade- you get no second chances.
You have to prove your reputation every time you send a plate out of the kitchen and every time you greet a guest. Guests deserve the best treatment, service and food that you can produce for them, no matter what maybe happening behind the scenes or in your personal life.

What factors go in to making a restaurant a successful one?
Good service, good food, good ambience, good wine list, nice decor in the public areas, well maintained toilets and value for the product you are selling.
Most of all, happy customers.

What personal attributes are important to be a chef?
You have got to be motivated, willing to work long hours (in your early career for little money!) enthusiastic, thirst for knowledge, passionate, be able to learn from your mistakes, obsessed by food.
Do not be fooled by celebrity chefs, this is a tough job and it takes many years to climb to the top and understand the techniques, combinations and science of food. And many many hours of peeling and chopping onions!

What advice would you give to anyone looking to enter in to a career as a chef?
Start your career in a decent kitchen working for a chef that is knowledgeable. If you’re serious about catering there is little point working for a chain restaurant or pub; they may offer better money in your early career but they will teach you little. You need to be in a kitchen that prepares all their food from scratch and not just opening a freezer and turning on a fryer. Be willing to start at the bottom even if you have qualifications in catering as experience is key in this trade.

Do you think it’s better to train at college or gain work experience?
Both are important; college will give you a base knowledge to kick-start your career. However some of the best chefs are self taught. In some ways whether trained at college or at work you still need to keep learning to stay in the game. I personally would advise day release so you gain both at the same time. But I also believe that no matter how many qualifications you get at college you will have to start at the bottom in a professional kitchen- no catering employer in their right mind is going to give you a head chefs job fresh out of college.

Website: http://www.queenscourt-hotel.co.uk

Where did you train to cook?
We both attended colleges, West Kent College of Further Education to learn the basics and gain qualifications, at different times! Chris then spent 6 years with the Roux brothers in London, New York and France. James also spent a little time with Roux in New York and then went to work for the 2 star Michelin Chef Martin Blunos.

What made you want to be a chef?
The atmosphere, the buzz of a busy kitchen, the excitement of food, the variety. The fact that a raw ingredient arrives and within a few hours has been changed in to a stunning plate of food. It also helps if you like the cooking!

Considering you’re brothers, how does this affect the dynamic of the kitchen? Who makes which decisions?
We’ve perfected the art of working together and most importantly we’ve got one another to back each other up and bail them out if any mistakes happen! Everything we do is calculated and discussed. Now we’re a company its important to have board meetings – ours take 5 minutes, usually over a cold beer at night!

As well as running your restaurants, you do a lot of TV work. How do you find the pressure of being in front of a camera compared to being in a restaurant kitchen?
This is James’ department really. Its depends on the programme format really. Whether its Ready Steady Cook where 20minutes is your limit (and believe me, its tough), compared to a masterclass for 12 foodies, every situation is different making it pressurized and exciting, just like being in a restaurant kitchen really.

What do you believe has made you, and your food, so successful?
Sacrifice, blood, sweat, tears, laughter, error, each other, fate, luck, passion, dedication, hard work!

How would you describe your style of cooking?
Seasonally simplistic, we don’t mess around with things. Why mask the flavour of a piece of fresh line caught seabass? Our job is to enhance the flavours. We have never tried to reinvent the wheel.

What personal attributes are important to be a chef?
Dedication, discipline, and a strong will. The hours are brutal and you spend more time with your work colleagues than you do with your family. You need to learn to pace yourself as well, this comes in time.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to enter in to a career as a chef?
Firstly please, please, please work for a professional operator. Someone you can learn from. Look for someone or an organisation that cares about its employees. You will gain huge benefit from this and set yourself up for an extremely rewarding career. Don’t be afraid to approach your superiors and ask questions:  nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Do you think it’s always better to train at college, or gain work experience?
From experience its good to train at college first. Most people work part time whilst at college. The other option is a day release college course whilst you are working. This option allows you on the job training, with a day at college. All routes have their benefits, make sure you explore the options available to you. It’s now a respected profession to go and make something of yourself!

Website: http://www.tannersrestaurant.com

Chris & James Tanner

Where did you train to cook?
In England. I was a baker by trade when I was in France but I moved over here about 22 years ago. I trained to cook with people like Marco Pierre White and Jean-Christophe Novelli and all those guys who had already been in France. I was hanging around with them and I started by accident really but it has always been in my blood.

So bakery is really your niche?
Yes, I’ve got two bread books out and we teach bread classes here too. I started baking when I was 13 years old, so I was a baker first and a chef after.

What made you want to chef?
Essentially the love of food. And taking some ingredients at their raw stage and doing something with them. You can transform anything into something you can eat. Now my passion is teaching and the students get the same verve as I’ve had for so many years. You pass it on all the time.

How would you describe your style of cooking?
Easy-going, stuff you want to eat. I like my food to be served in the middle of the table and very communal, for people to eat together and share. I love people just helping themselves and everything to be very free-flowing. And my food is healthy. I serve what I want to eat myself, so I don’t do high towers of things on the plate; everything we do here is something that people can do at home whilst learning technique aswell. It’s all about confidence food.

What inspired you to open the cookery school?
When I was working in London with Jean-Christophe Novelli, I found myself opening my own consultancy company. I did one class at one cookery school in London and I really enjoyed it so it all started from there. I think teaching is a skill by itself; to be able to teach people is very very addictive and when you see the reaction of people when you cook a dish for them and they like it, they appreciate it- you want to do it again and again. The pleasure of teaching is that you cook with them and you eat with them too so you get a double-whammy of reaction! We’ve been open for 4 years now and it’s a real buzz- it’s like stand-up comedy when you teach because you get to perform every time.

Do most people who come for classes have a little bit of experience of cooking, or do some people turn up and have no idea?
For our bread classes it really doesn’t matter if you’re a Michelin-starred chef or a complete beginner – the method I teach is generally everyone and we treat everyone in the same way. We do offer some advanced classes, but the whole point of our teaching is that we want people to have fun- we give people the confidence to cook. We teach in groups of 4, so they have a good day out- they’re not petrified thinking they are the worst in the class- that’s not cooking. Cooking is really a social thing, like cooking with your mother in the kitchen when you were little. So that’s what we try to do here.

You’re about to have your third book published- what’s the concept behind that?
Yes, it’s called Cook. What we’ve tried to do with it is really recreate what we do here and put it into a book and there’s a DVD that goes with it, with the full recipes on it so you can follow them step-by-step and really give you the confidence to cook. It’s perfect for beginners or for people who are stuck in a rut a little bit. There’s a lot of technique and a lot of new ideas, things that are really easy to make. From spaghetti carbonara to roast lamb, to all sorts of things, so every recipe has got new skills to learn. It’s very exciting and due out in April.

How do you find your working environment here compared to being a head chef in a restaurant?
There’s still pressure when you teach because you are with your customers- from the time they arrive in the morning until they leave at 4- there’s no escape, no break. It’s a different kind of pressure. Some chefs aren’t very good with customers but are fantastic in the kitchen. In the kitchen you do your lunch service and your dinner service. The cookery school allows me to have more flexibility in my life, and see my children a bit more. Also, working with your customers all the time, you get so much back from them, so you learn a lot about what people like and what they want.

What personal attributes do you think are important to be a chef?
Discipline- you need to make yourself well-disciplined and have respect for others. You can be rubbish at reading and writing but having respect for yourself, for others and for food can make you a fantastic chef. And also you have to want to learn- be open to it. In a kitchen you’re part of the pack, you learn together, and you gain respect from that.

What advice would you give to anyone looking to enter in to a career as a chef?
Be open- because being a chef isn’t necessarily just about being in a kitchen, there are so many different jobs you can do in there. Observe what’s going on, be aware of your surroundings, watch the front of house, and learn from everything you’re doing. It took me 40 years to learn what I was meant to do- I always thought my life was like a jigsaw; there was a piece here, there and I didn’t think it made sense. But now, everything I’ve done so far makes sense because it’s all about teaching. But I’ve learnt so much. Learn what you can from every experience and then move on- move all the time towards something which will make you achieve better. There’s always something to learn.

Do you think it’s better to train at college first or to just gain work experience?
When someone comes to an interview here, I don’t care how many qualifications they’ve got- I want that spark in their eyes. I want to see that they’re motivated and want to learn. You can have all the qualifications in the world but be rubbish in the kitchen. If you believe you can work, go and work in a kitchen and then do an apprenticeship at the same time because you do need some sort of qualification. But qualifications don’t teach you common sense and you need that, so you need to have the right combination. It all depends on the personality- if you’re young and ambitious it might be better to go and work first and then get the qualification. But you just need respect, confidence and don’t be scared of knocking on the door and asking for a job.

Website: http://www.thebertinetkitchen.com

Richard Bertinet