12th April 2013
Autumn 2010: Making the grade
Even higher standards were set in the stringent Graduate Award examinations this year to task young chefs from across the industry to produce the very best results to make the grade.
Four young chefs pushed the boundaries and achieved top marks in the 2010 Graduate Awards. Jack Allibone, commis chef at the House of Commons; Jordan Bailey, commis chef at The Elephant Restaurant in Torquay; Chris Kenny, demi chef de partie at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons; and Emily Webb, first commis chef at the Royal Garden Hotel, were all top scoring graduates achieving the 85% pass mark. But with a staggering 87%, Allibone was acclaimed the highest achiever of all.
Just four days before, 11 young working chefs aged up to 23 years old had been put through their paces at Thames Valley University (TVU) in their bid to become a Craft Guild graduate. This year renowned chef Chris Galvin, notably from Galvin at Windows, took on the challenging role of chair of the examiners and, as a first time judge of the exams, he said it had been gratifying to see that so many of the chefs’ employers had bought in ingredients for them to practise on and had given them time to practise, which you could see in the results. “Those chefs who put them through this deserve a pat on the back,” he said.
Having got through the regional heats held simultaneously at TVU and Westminster Kingsway College, these finalists had the arduous task of a theory exam to judge their knowledge about food, a practical exam to showcase their skills in butchery and fishmongery, and then they had to produce a dish of their choice from a mystery basket of ingredients, a classical fish dish – sole Flaubert, and a classical pear dessert – tarte Baudelaire.
For Allibone, it was his second attempt at becoming a graduate, having got to the final last year. “I didn’t think it was any easier to do, but I was more prepared this year,” he said. The examiners thought his meat dish prepared from the mystery basket of ingredients was particularly good (see page 9). It consisted of roast short saddle of lamb, butternut squash purée, wild mushrooms, lamb kidney mousse, pickled beetroot wedge, fine beans with shallots, vegetable concasse and lamb jus.
Luckily for Allibone his mentor, House of Commons chef David Bush, was already familiar with the classical fish dish, as he had produced it for his own MCA exam. Bush, who describes Allibone as a natural, said: “Jack came to us three years ago with no qualifications, no training, yet he got his NVQ3 and diploma from Westminster Kingsway straight off.”
All the finalists were feted by the industry at a special awards ceremony lunch held at the Royal Garden Hotel in London on September 14, which received high praise in the santé du chef given by Craft Guild vice chairman Christopher Basten. Guest of honour was last year’s highest achiever Dan Inniss-Fitzhugh from Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, who spoke about the amazing year he had had since becoming a Craft Guild graduate.
To reward this year’s achievers, all four graduates won a study tour to Luxembourg with Villeroy & Boch and a trip to a Scottish fish farm with James Knight of Mayfair. Highest achiever Allibone received an extra prize of a three day study tour to the south of France, courtesy of McCormick’s Schwartz for Chef, accompanied by the company’s concept development chef Steve Love to witness at first hand the journey of herbs and spices.
All the finalists were awarded a personalised chef’s jacket, a year’s Craft Guild membership, a bottle of Pommery champagne, and a knife from Robert Welch Knives. This year the Employers’ trophy for excellence in training, which goes to the person who mentored and supported their chef during the training for the exams, went to Gary Jones of Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons.
Steve Munkley, Craft Guild vice president and organiser of these exams, said the new graduates should be extremely proud of their achievements. “Eleven chefs reached the final stage, who were all focused and there was a good vibe coming from the kitchen. The four graduates however really shone and all had their own particular area of competence.
“Chris Galvin had never been to this event before and thought it was fabulous; he’d never seen young chefs tested so thoroughly with such a level of support. To impress top chefs who have been in the industry more years than they care to remember is no mean feat and all four graduates thoroughly deserve the recognition they worked so hard for.”
Galvin said he was blown away by the attention to detail in the competition and did wonder: “Could I do this at that age?” “I was really impressed by the calibre of the chefs who turned up on the day – smart and well turned out too. I’ve seen great chefs around London supporting this competition and I’ve had great feedback for all these competitors,” he said.
Galvin, reminded of the days when he had little money to spend on eating out and how important it was for chefs to do this to experience other restaurants’ dishes, awarded all the finalists a bonus prize of dinner with their partner at Galvin La Chapelle in Spitalfields, London, which is headed by his brother Jeff.
Munkley added: “On top of the wonderful privileges they receive from the Craft Guild and its partners, plus the opportunity to gain new skills and build on their CV, our new graduates have instantly elevated their status in the culinary industry ten-fold.”
Just four days before, 11 young working chefs aged up to 23 years old had been put through their paces at Thames Valley University (TVU) in their bid to become a Craft Guild graduate. This year renowned chef Chris Galvin, notably from Galvin at Windows, took on the challenging role of chair of the examiners and, as a first time judge of the exams, he said it had been gratifying to see that so many of the chefs’ employers had bought in ingredients for them to practise on and had given them time to practise, which you could see in the results. “Those chefs who put them through this deserve a pat on the back,” he said.
Having got through the regional heats held simultaneously at TVU and Westminster Kingsway College, these finalists had the arduous task of a theory exam to judge their knowledge about food, a practical exam to showcase their skills in butchery and fishmongery, and then they had to produce a dish of their choice from a mystery basket of ingredients, a classical fish dish – sole Flaubert, and a classical pear dessert – tarte Baudelaire.
For Allibone, it was his second attempt at becoming a graduate, having got to the final last year. “I didn’t think it was any easier to do, but I was more prepared this year,” he said. The examiners thought his meat dish prepared from the mystery basket of ingredients was particularly good (see page 9). It consisted of roast short saddle of lamb, butternut squash purée, wild mushrooms, lamb kidney mousse, pickled beetroot wedge, fine beans with shallots, vegetable concasse and lamb jus.
Luckily for Allibone his mentor, House of Commons chef David Bush, was already familiar with the classical fish dish, as he had produced it for his own MCA exam. Bush, who describes Allibone as a natural, said: “Jack came to us three years ago with no qualifications, no training, yet he got his NVQ3 and diploma from Westminster Kingsway straight off.”
All the finalists were feted by the industry at a special awards ceremony lunch held at the Royal Garden Hotel in London on September 14, which received high praise in the santé du chef given by Craft Guild vice chairman Christopher Basten. Guest of honour was last year’s highest achiever Dan Inniss-Fitzhugh from Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, who spoke about the amazing year he had had since becoming a Craft Guild graduate.
To reward this year’s achievers, all four graduates won a study tour to Luxembourg with Villeroy & Boch and a trip to a Scottish fish farm with James Knight of Mayfair. Highest achiever Allibone received an extra prize of a three day study tour to the south of France, courtesy of McCormick’s Schwartz for Chef, accompanied by the company’s concept development chef Steve Love to witness at first hand the journey of herbs and spices.
All the finalists were awarded a personalised chef’s jacket, a year’s Craft Guild membership, a bottle of Pommery champagne, and a knife from Robert Welch Knives. This year the Employers’ trophy for excellence in training, which goes to the person who mentored and supported their chef during the training for the exams, went to Gary Jones of Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons.
Steve Munkley, Craft Guild vice president and organiser of these exams, said the new graduates should be extremely proud of their achievements. “Eleven chefs reached the final stage, who were all focused and there was a good vibe coming from the kitchen. The four graduates however really shone and all had their own particular area of competence.
“Chris Galvin had never been to this event before and thought it was fabulous; he’d never seen young chefs tested so thoroughly with such a level of support. To impress top chefs who have been in the industry more years than they care to remember is no mean feat and all four graduates thoroughly deserve the recognition they worked so hard for.”
Galvin said he was blown away by the attention to detail in the competition and did wonder: “Could I do this at that age?” “I was really impressed by the calibre of the chefs who turned up on the day – smart and well turned out too. I’ve seen great chefs around London supporting this competition and I’ve had great feedback for all these competitors,” he said.
Galvin, reminded of the days when he had little money to spend on eating out and how important it was for chefs to do this to experience other restaurants’ dishes, awarded all the finalists a bonus prize of dinner with their partner at Galvin La Chapelle in Spitalfields, London, which is headed by his brother Jeff.
Munkley added: “On top of the wonderful privileges they receive from the Craft Guild and its partners, plus the opportunity to gain new skills and build on their CV, our new graduates have instantly elevated their status in the culinary industry ten-fold.”