College welcomes local schools for chef roadshow

120 school students from six Swansea schools enjoyed a hospitality taster day at Gower College Swansea on Tuesday 14 March.

The special occasion, organised by The Chefs’ Forum and free to attend, enabled the College to host school students and give them a ‘taste’ of what to expect from a catering course.

“We call it an insight into the world of the hospitality industry,” said Chefs’ Forum Director Catherine Farinha. “We had a brilliant line up of chefs and front of house professionals and the students lapped it up!”

Mark Clement, Learning Area Manager for Hospitality, Tourism, Hairdressing, Beauty & Complimentary Therapies, said “This is what our relationship with The Chefs’ Forum is all about. Opening up the College so schools can see what we do and who we work with is vitally important to our future. We couldn't do it in the same way on our own. It was brilliant fun.”

The morning kicked off with a canapé and mocktail reception followed by pasta making with Orsola Muscia from The Tailor Made Chef. Orsola invited students from the schools who attended to join her on stage, teaching them the timeless Italian mantra of 100g of flour ratio per whole egg!

Next up was interactive cooking with Leon Lewis from Cook with Lewis and MasterChef: The Professionals 2022 and Clive D’Angelo Smith from Four Seasons Catering.

Students assisted with the demos, then participated in an éclair filling and decorating competition.

All students who helped out on stage as well as the pair who won the competition received a copy of The Chefs’ Knowledge, individually signed by the guest chefs they worked with.

Finally, a talk with local superstar Hywel Griffith from Beach House on what it takes to win a Michelin star. He was joined by his restaurant manager Christie Hayes who is also Restaurant Manager of the Year 2023.

We also heard from Jack, a student at Gower College Swansea who did a work placement at Beach House. He was able to tell the young guests all about his work at the restaurant and what to expect in the industry.

“It was a great morning” concluded Catherine Farinha. “A massive thanks to the College. All the students were well behaved and the demos were brilliant.”

Event sponsors were Castell Howell and Premiere Foods.