Murrayfield Upskill Day – “A Passion to Inspire “
6th November- What a culinary Adventure – Great Lecturers and teachers supporting and going the extra mile to Inspire their Students through Colleges and Schools – a Great way of Inspiring - learning – sharing and on the day we had over 450 students and lecturers with us on site and colleges online and all Schools connected to Springboard/ Future Chef – online over 5,400 – watching a fantastic Culinary Journey.
This Wonderful and inspirational day is live on YouTube so as a learning curve you have the recipes and video – and watch fantastic learning sessions with great People – who care– the great thing about Hospitality is you NEVER stop learning and we all need to be Inspired Passion – Upskill Day Murrayfield – Live YouTube Link
A massive big thank you to the wonderful team of people at Murrayfield / Elior and Key people Lorna Allan and Orla Rowe who were so supportive in planning and organising this Great Event – biggest ever event Supporting Education – thank you all so very much 😊
Great chefs came together who are stunning and inspiring people creating and cooking. Kieran Wight’s Great journey on the use of Stunning products making Great dishes for event catering – Dean Banks and Dan Ashmore wonderful Scottish produce – Oysters and their Adventure with Forging Land and Sea and the main culinary journey through his Michelin star restaurant – Adam Smith – a wonderful experience taking all involved through and with such depth of textures – smell and flavour – and so happy for Finlay MacDonald, Holly Preston and Lecturer Simon Rodgers – they reached the Zest Quest Asia Final 2023 and they produced their stunning Ardgay Game Venison dish with Mizkan ingredients – and shared a massive tasting session with all – Magic .
Then The Culinary Legend Willie Pike – just setting the whole place alight with his skills of blowing and pulling sugar – so proud to have put on such a great experience for all – and remember please share the recipes with your students and Inspire them - and giving up their time to inspire the students – Pupils and Chefs – the adventure was all about where, why and how they created their brilliant dishes and to tap into their imagination’. Whilst they created their dishes, we had the privilege of having Peter Joyner and Daniel Ayton also discussing the importance of taste and texture and the students career paths. As the Chefs were plating and discussing the Creative journey of their dishes– adding another level of experience, Thank you to Stars -Steve Hobbs and Stephen Chapman (MC Bro ) for welcoming all the guests as they arrived .
The event had magical support from brilliant producers, Stunning Produce, Great suppliers – thank you all so very much – Springboard/ Future Chef, The Craft Guild of Chefs, Russums, Disciples of Escoffier ,Tilda Rice, Grande Cuisine Academy, The Marine Conservation Society, Blackthorn Sea Salt, Hallgarten Wines , Scottish Chefs Association , Ardgay Game , Zest Quest Asia ,Sushi School Tokyo/London, Talking Food, Elior , Hospitality Health– and they all very kindly brought special presents and educational information for all attending – MAGIC and very special funding Support from Grande Cuisine Academy – The Craft Guild of Chefs and First Contact Chefs
When you have Inspired and had a Wonderful day – with Great friends – it is always Magic to hear from the people involved and those Inspired by the adventure!
Wonderful and Inspirational Lecturers and Teachers – so Happy and Proud of you all Magic – City College of Glasgow , Forth Valley College ,New Durham College , West Lothian , , Middlesborough , South Lanarkshire College , North Highland College , New College Lanarkshire , Edinburgh College, Darlington Newcastle and Stafford College , Inverness UHI , Perth UHI , Ayrshire College, Gleneagles Hotel , North West and Hebridges, Mintlaw Academy – Aberdeenshire , George Watson College
Great Support from Media Students from Edinburgh College
3 Brilliant Students -Lukasz Augustyniak -Tomas Gonzalez Onate -Grant Deans – who had a wonderful day Supporting this wonderful event – Great interview Videos with all Chefs and Key People Supporting – and stunning work on Social media – Instagram and extra video’s as the Chefs were doing demonstrations – All Students need to need Inspired
Wonderful Quotes from a Great Adventure
Culinary Legend – Willie Pike
“So Happy to have been involved with this Inspirational event and have had the opportunity to excite and motivate the next generation of chefs, well done to Murray Chapman and the colleges and lectures for making the effort to attend. Cheers Willie 👍 “
Peter Joyner – Director of Food and Photography – Elior
“As food development director at Elior UK, we were absolutely delighted to welcome over 450 students and their lecturers to Murrayfield Stadium. I’m sure everyone in attendance (and those joining us on line) were inspired by the fantastic skills demonstrated by Kieran Wight and the other chef demonstrators. It was great also to see seasonal Scottish produce showcased as part of the diverse subjects covered throughout the day. A truly inspirational day. “
Dean Banks – Director – Dean Banks Group
“ I absolutely love spending a day with Murray and helping a passion to inspire as a one of the industry leader in Scotland I do feel it’s part of my duty to help inspire the next generation of hospitality staff. I was absolutely blown away with the organisation that must go on behind the scenes by Murray himself, a true hero of the industry! “
Adam Smith – Executive Head Chef -Woven – Coworth Park
“Amazing to see so much future talent in the same room, a real privilege to have the opportunity to Inspire the next Generation “
Daniel Ayton – President, Disciples Escoffier UK
“It was wonderful to be part of this event, to be able to witness the passion of the 450 students and lecturers who were in live attendance, to be able to chat directly with them and inspire them to reach and achieve. the chefs who did presentations and passed on their wealth of experience and inspired dishes to be viewed and sampled was second to none, all matched perfectly with some samples of wine. for the student to be able to spend the day in the company of these Michelin chefs and witness their chosen craft being displayed so beautifully must have been amazing and then in addition to this to be able to visit the stands meet and try such amazing produce of Scotland must have filled them with so much pride. Thank you, Murray from Passion to inspire for once again putting together such an event, i am Proud as the President of the Disciples Escoffier UK to have been a part of this event, and offer my little bit to help guide and inspire the next generation of Hospitality craftsmen to reach with passion for all they want in our beautiful industry. whether live in the room or globally via the live webinar. “
Jack Clarke, Seafood Engagement Manager at the Marine Conservation Society
“Murray has long been a champion of our work and an inspiration to early career chefs nationwide. This Upskill Day was the perfect place to launch our new training program, the School of Fish, to so many passionate young people. We learned so much and made some valuable contacts in the industry.”
Bradley Dorrington – Owner – The Wine Cellar BSE
‘”A Passion to Inspires 2023 Upskill Day at Murrayfield Stadium was a huge success. With 450+ students attending they had a great insight into different sides of Hospitality from fine dining through to mass catering. There was so much passion in the room and speaking to throughout the day there was such enthusiasm to be at this special day. Murray should be very proud of the event and pulling everyone together. A fantastic day indeed and I look forward to the next A Passion to Inspire event “
Kieran Wight – Executive Head Chef – Murrayfield
“ I was absolutely delighted to be a part of Passion to Inspire event, inspiring the great next generation of students coming into our wonderful industry . Thanks to Murray for pulling it all together for such a seamless day
Sharing the stage with some of the industry’s greatest was an absolute pleasure .I can’t wait to see what the next one holds
Good luck to all those budding students in the future my door is always open.. Chef Kieran “
Elke Passon – Talking Food
“Thank you for all the hard work to bring about a wonderful day for our client, the Tokyo College of Sushi and Washoku, London, and the students. What a raging success it was!
We were overwhelmed that so many chefs and students were lined up to talk to us about Japanese cuisine after Masaru’s presentation and delighted to hear that there will be at least two colleges signing up for Zest Quest Asia, representing Scotland.
Many new friends were made and we are looking forward to collaborating with some new partners in the future and delivering demos in colleges when Masaru’s chefs arrive from Japan in the New Year. “
Richard Russum – Russums
“ A Passion to Inspire is a magical mix of industry and education, delivering skills, knowledge and inspiration to Hospitality’s future teams “
Steve Hobbs – Grande Cuisine Academy
“It’s always great to support this event – it’s great to be able to get in front of so many lecturers and students in one place and one time and hopefully provide some inspiration for the next generation of chefs… “
Grande Cuisine Academy – Videos
Julie Kelly – Regional Account Manager -Tilda Rice
“ It was an absolute pleasure to attend the upskill day at Murrayfield Stadium. Speaking to both students and lecturers who showed so much passion in what they do was inspirational and I truly believe we have met some quality stars of the future. The engagement form both students, lecturers and Chefs who attended was superb as lots of questions were asked about all things rice as well as sustainability. A truly inspiring event showcasing wonderful recipes by some of the industry’s greatest. Thank You from Tilda”
Whirly- Blackthorn Salt
“ “It is really lovely to be included the Passion2Inspire events – what they do chimes so closely to our ethos. We are proud to be able to support (albeit in a small way) an entity that promotes healthy eating, understanding flavours, using fresh produce and education. Being able to meet these students, (and so many of them at that!) face to face is a rare privilege. At Blackthorn, with the Tower being so bizarre and attention attracting as it were, we have a responsibility to help spread these messages and very much hope to inspire a little bit of passion or intrigue /to be able to show that challenging the norm can be ok, successful and positive and that there is more to some things than meets the eye. The students were really engaging and interested, they asked great questions when they came to see our Tower model and it was completely my pleasure to be able to meet them. The atmosphere was fantastic – there was certainly a lot of smiles and interest in the room and the opportunity for the students to meet and talk with so many talented chefs was incredible!
On another note, these events also give me a chance to learn – it was amazing to listen to the chefs, and touch base with some of the other sponsors as well, all complete experts in their field from whom we learn and often work with too, so thank you Murray and Passion2Inspire!”
Miranda Jones – Ardgay Game
“What a superb event ‘A Passion to Inspire’ was! There was a great atmosphere throughout the day, and it was fantastic to see the students so engaged. We were grateful to be invited and to have the opportunity to talk to so many students, lecturers, and chefs about our Scottish wild venison. The chef presentations were captivating I’m sure everyone went away inspired.”
Finlay MacDonald and Holly Preston – Zest Quest Asia Finalists 2023
“What an inspirational event was had at Murrayfield on Monday, it was great to see such an array of industry professionals and suppliers present. It was a great opportunity to learn and also to present our Zest Quest dish from the 2023 final to the crowd of attentive student. Thank you A Passion to inspire.”
Simon Rodgers – North, West and Hebridges
“Where to start, what a successful and inspiring event! Huge learning opportunity for students and lecturers alike. It was such an honour to be given the chance to show our venison dish from the finals of ZQA 23 and hopefully we have inspired some more student teams to enter for next year’s competition. The venue 1for the day was brilliant and thanks to Murray for pulling this together and of course for the invitation to be involved.”
Kellyanne Cockburn- Edinburgh College
“Thank you for organising the event, it was a jam packed day and one the students will certainly remember. Wow, what a day! Filled with inspiration, innovation and information. Inclusive for both staff and students and always focused on the students experience.”
Student quote:
I enjoyed watching all the demonstrations, all of the chef’s were clearly very passionate about their jobs and the industry. My favourite was Willie Pike and I’m looking forward to trying the skills in my patisserie course”
Paul Clark- New College Lanarkshire
“ Just a note to say thank you for yesterday. A great day out for the students in an inspiring location. Each demonstration had something new for the learners…and teaching staff. I particularly enjoyed what I saw from Dean and Dan and it was wonderful to be able to try Adam Smith’s crab and halibut dishes. Thank you once again, take care “
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