The Student: Hannah Measure & Joe Wheelan

Rick Stein’s: ‘Day in the life’ Diploma work experience diaries

Every year, two students from our culinary arts Diploma course are picked at random from a hat to undertake a placement at Rick Stein’s flagship destination in Padstow, The Seafood Restaurant. This year, it was Hannah Measure and Joe Wheelan and they’ve sent us their diaries of a ‘day in the life’ as a Culinary Diploma student on work experience.

Joe Wheelan

Monday

I arrived at The Seafood Restaurant at 9am, a little sleep deprived after a noisy night above a pub. Pete, the head chef, gave me a quick tour of the many storeys of kitchens, stores and fridges, then I jumped straight into prep which included chiffonading herbs and doing some petit brunoise of veg. I’d just got my practical assessment feedback from Leiths and I needed to work on my knife skills, so this was good practice. Helping the sous chef plate and send mains that I’d never seen before at lunch service was overwhelming but by the end I had a grasp on at least some of it.

Tuesday
The next day I was back in the morning for prep and lunch service again, though this time the head chef was running the pass. He’s lovely but there was a noticeable pressure on the other chefs (and me) to get everything out fast and to a high standard. Watching a busy service run was interesting – the way he managed dozens of chefs across the kitchen, timing all the different elements and getting food to the tables was impressive. It flew by. I got fish and chips on the way back to the cottage I’d be staying in for the rest of the week and fell asleep on the sofa.

Wednesday
On Wednesday I had an afternoon-evening shift, so treated myself to lunch at Prawn on the Lawn – ceviche and fried red mullet – and headed in. I was joining Big Ron in the larder – in this case a cold kitchen doing seafood prep like cleaning mussels and scallops, shucking oysters, skinning sole and dispatching lobsters. I learnt a lot of useful techniques that, as a seafood lover, I’ll use in the future. Around 11pm I went home and washed. Despite that, I woke up in the morning with the smell of seafood on my hands and memories of dreaming about huge cuttlefish.

Thursday
My classmates Sophie and Carla popped over from across the bay (they’d been private cheffing for a big family in Cornwall over Easter). We got some ice cream and sat in the sun. I was tired, achy and enjoying the sunny afternoon, so left reluctantly for my shift. But it was a busy Thursday evening service, back at the pass again and I really enjoyed the tempo – especially as I knew what I was doing now. The evening flew by. I was still wide awake when my friends arrived past midnight to join me for the Easter weekend. However, my last shift was coming up, bright and early at 8am on Friday morning.

Friday
On the last day I was in the pastry kitchen making desserts. Prior to Leiths, I baulked at the idea of baking and desserts – live molluscs and raw fish was more my comfort zone – so I was a little nervous. But all the chefs on the section were really helpful and, despite being busy, it felt very calm. Perhaps it was the absence of open flames and smoking fat in the air, but it felt another world from the night before. Crucially, I understood the things we prepped. There were huge tarts to build, crème[SK1]  pâtissière to make (and then lighten with whipped cream to make crème diplomate), and then the fun of plating these for lunch on Good Friday. I surprised myself by coming away from it actually enjoying the pastry section even more than service or larder! At the end of the afternoon, I got ready to leave. They were short of a couple of staff and asked if I wanted to stay for the evening service – if my friends hadn’t told me they were cooking me dinner that night then I would have!

The Weekend
I had the weekend free, so we ticked off the remaining boxes for a Cornish seaside holiday – pasties, ice cream, swimming, fishing and eating a lot of seafood all before visiting Padstow lobster hatchery to balance out my karma.

Hannah Measure

Monday – Mains Section

Walking through the doors of Rick Stein’s I was so nervous. I have wanted this moment since first considering applying to Leiths. Luckily, excitement took over quickly as I received a warm welcome from head chef, Pete Murt, who then introduced me to the team and instantly made me feel calm. I was offered a hearty breakfast of scrambled eggs and then started to petit brunoise shallots and slice red onions which helped me get used to the precision expected in a professional kitchen. I also made a sundried tomato and chilli paste using the Thermomix. I observed service and helped with the thorough clean down at the end of the day.

Tuesday – Starters & Mains for Service

Learning about seasonality is a key aspect of being a chef and is a huge focus at Leiths.  Wild garlic is a sustainable, seasonal and delicious ingredient, so I blended it with butter to be used in ballotines. I plated dishes during the lunch service and I can’t lie to you, this was terrifying. With no room for error, I had to use all my attention, from selecting the right crockery to adding the ingredients in the correct order. Pete then called me over with a smile on his face, he handed me the dessert menu and asked me to pick whichever dessert I wanted to try – WOW! I went for the chocolate fondant which is served with caramel, vanilla ice cream and a white chocolate biscuit crumb. This is a core memory of my time at Stein’s Seafood Restaurant and shows the kind, appreciative atmosphere I felt when I was there.

Wednesday – Larder Section

I worked the evening service and was immersed in a real seafood masterclass. These are delicate, expensive ingredients the restaurant cannot afford to waste so they must be prepared carefully yet confidently. I couldn’t believe I was learning these skills at the renowned Steins’ Seafood Restaurant! I developed core skills such as cleaning scallops, shucking oysters, preparing lobsters and crabs and plating seafood platters with precision.

Day 4 – Pastry Section

My time at Stein’s really was flying and I had already learnt so much, the pastry section was no exception. I worked on a blueberry Basque cheesecake, a popular dessert on their menu. Then I practiced my quenelling of Cornish clotted cream, working against the clock and the heat of warm desserts. Later during service, I was asked to make a couple of banana breads for staff food, I roasted pecans and added dark chocolate chips to the banana breads.

Day 5 – Larder Continued

For my final day, I recalled what I’d learnt about preparing scallops and oysters. I also had the delicate task of skinning whole Dover soles. My day continued with further lobster preparation and plating during service. I cannot thank the team at Stein’s enough for the opportunity, insight, and knowledge they gave me during my time with them. I felt so much more confident and capable in just five days, I had a better understanding of the rhythm and expectations within the kitchen and felt like I had a place there. I’ll never forget the nerves I felt when I first walked through the door, the buzz of their live service and the memories I made.