The Student: Don Dobrenski

Quick Fire

Teacher? Caz – she has a great sense of humour
Course? Full Year Diploma 24/25 
Best moment? Taking my celebration cake as a surprise to a birthday party.
Worst moment? Cutting myself in the first week of the course – our knives are super sharp! 
Favourite demonstration? I’m looking forward to the demonstrations that tackle more advanced pastry. 
Favourite dish? The roast duck breast with port and brambles. 

The Leiths Three Term Diploma attracts students with incredible stories from all over the world. Don Dobrenski, a Canadian librarian and teacher, joined this year’s cohort for the Foundation Term with a plan to stay if the course felt like the right fit.  

Zooming in from Leiths, talking about the logistics of student visas, Don tells me, ‘I was only here a couple of weeks and I was like “No, no, if I can stay longer, I’m going to stay longer.’’’  

For Don, whose grandparents were fruit farmers, food has always been ‘part of the fabric.’ He had teenage ambitions to become a chef, but life took him in a different direction.  

‘I ended up going to uni and got into teaching.’ He pauses, ‘So a year ago, when I was evaluating a lot in my life, I thought “What do I really want to do?” And I thought “This is what I really want to do.” So I’ve come back to it.’  

Comparing the professional kitchen to a library, Don says ‘It is a change of pace but because of my background in teaching I was doing children’s programming at the library so there were times it was frantic.’ He adds, ‘Here, in the kitchens when there’s sixteen of us and you know we have to serve at a certain time and there’s a lot to do I really enjoy the energy and the buzz. You just kind of get this adrenaline and go, go, go.’  

On the Intermediate Term so far, Don reflects, ‘I mean looking through the recipe pack there will be some challenging things. So I think it will be a matter of drawing on some of the skills we learnt in the first term, focusing a bit more and checking a bit more for clarification on things. But it’s definitely a step up.’  

As for the future, Don is open to different opportunities. After a conversation with Ukrainian food writer and guest demonstrator Olia Hercules, discussing their Ukrainian surnames, Don is considering uniting his passion for books and cooking by pursuing food publishing. Equally, with years of experience teaching, he is interested in Key Stage 3 food education, ‘I think I would love that as well. But like I said, I’m open to opportunities.’