Prestigious Chefs’ Forum hosted by WLC

A student from Ealing, Hammersmith & West London’s College has been offered a trial shift with a Roux Scholar and another student will get an apprenticeship opportunity with the restaurant at Hilton London Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 following a highly successful Chefs’ Forum at Ealing, Hammersmith & West London’s College.

Over 50 of London’s top chefs and food industry professionals descended on the College’s TASTE Restaurant for the event headlined by Roux Scholar and Chamberlain’s Restaurant chef Andrew Jones and featuring a butchery masterclass from Walter Rose Butchers. The event was a great day of cookery demonstrations and networking with College students given the opportunity to work closely with industry innovators and influencers.

The event began with Andrew Jones preparing and serving canapes from West London’s College – an experience that impressed him so much he offered a trial shift at Chamberlain’s to Level 3 Professional Cookery student Maliece Thomas-Payne.

Maliece said: “This has been an amazing experience – to work with Andrew in our college kitchen has really encouraged me. I loved working with fish today and have really appreciated being part of this amazing event.  I can’t wait for my trial shift at Chamberlains. Andrew was very inspirational and it was fascinating to see how many things he could do at once”.

The forum then featured showcases from Nestle Professional and Koppert Cress before Jack Cook from Walter Rose Butchers performed a butchery masterclass and held a steak cutting competition, won by JJ Kirijanovas (17). JJ won a fantastic Flint and Flame Santoku Knife, kindly donated by Chefs’ Forum sponsor Adande refrigeration and presented by its London representative, Matt Fewins.

Denise Charles, Curriculum Manager for Hospitality & Catering and the College said: “Hosting the Chefs’ Forum was a fantastic event for the College and it was a real pleasure to have the chance to give our students access to such a wide range of industry professionals. The College is making big investments into hospitality through the Southall Manor House project so being able to meet and discuss opportunities with companies like Harrods and Hilton Hotels was a wonderful experience. I was delighted for Maliece to receive her trial with Chamberlain’s, and to watch our students rise to the challenge of working with an industry leading chef.”

Andrew said:  “Being here at the college takes me back to when I was training and I have been really impressed with the standard of the students work today, their positivity and willingness to get on with the job. I am looking forward to welcoming Maliece into my kitchen at Chamberlain’s as a result of excellent performance in her college kitchen and as my commis chef on the Chefs’ Forum demo stage today.  She was first in the kitchen this morning which is always a good sign. She had a positive attitude and was a pleasure to work with.”

Find out more about hospitality and catering at West London’s College at wlc.ac.uk/courses/hospitality-catering