Rising stars at Ashdown Park Hotel

A remarkable training opportunity gave Highbury College Portsmouth's Chimes restaurant the four-star treatment as chefs from Ashdown Park Hotel, East Sussex, took charge of the kitchen.

The night's menu tested the students' abilities with complicated combinations such as the Pan Fried Fillet of Halibut, 24 Hour Blade of Sussex Beef, Lobster Ravioli, Spring Vegetable Bisque and Vanilla Air.

Gadsden commented: "The commis chefs of today are the head chefs of tomorrow so if you can train them and teach them well, when they become sous chefs and head chefs, what they have learnt gets passed down."

The students then served their gourmet dishes to customers in the fully-booked Chimes Fine Dining restaurant.

Oberon Day-West, 17, studying for an NVQ Level 2 in Professional Cookery, continued: "It's been really good fun. It has put me in a different mindset because they are outside bodies it makes me want to step up my game.  I think I have learnt that I can push myself more- I have got the potential."

Simon Martin, hospitality and catering lecturer at Highbury, added: "I think this is an amazing opportunity for the students to work alongside rosette awarded chefs doing what they do best in their own kitchen but here.

"This is the first time Highbury College has worked with Ashdown Park Hotel and hopefully it will be the start of a good partnership."

Words: Maria Bracken

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