The Student: Josh Million

Culinary Diploma student Josh’s love of food started long before he stepped into the Leiths teaching kitchens. With eight years of hospitality experience already under his belt, primarily in front of house, and a dad who’s a brilliant home cook, Josh’s path to professional cooking seems more like an inevitability than anything else. But it’s been a winding road.

‘My dad is not a chef, but he’s just a brilliant cook. And I’ve learned everything that I know from my dad, which he learned from his mum. So he’s American, from North Carolina, so there’s a very Southern American influence on my early stage of cooking.’

Growing up, Josh was always in the kitchen watching his dad work. ‘I’ve always had an interest, never knew what I was going to do with it,’ he explains. That uncertainty led him down various paths – including a stint studying personal training during lockdown – before he came back to what he really loved.

His hospitality career began at fifteen, working front of house in pubs around Teddington. By the time he joined his current pub, the plan was ambitious: start a kitchen and bring proper food to the venue. Josh created multiple menus, considering everything from airflow and kitchen logistics to the pub’s older clientele who wanted classic pub fare, not ‘bougie knife and forks.’

‘There was a lot to go for,’ he recalls. ‘Classic Scotch egg for the old boy sitting around the bar, sausage roll – stuff that’s done really well. It’s not frozen. It’s homemade upstairs.’

When the food plan fell through, Josh knew he needed formal training. Recommended to Leiths by family friend Lucy Offer, who taught at the school in the 1980s, Josh did his research and enrolled.

Now several weeks into Foundation Term, he’s embracing the challenge. ‘You’re gaining knowledge of the most important but basic components of cooking. Every part of what you’re doing can be taken and changed into something else.’

The teaching style suits him perfectly. ‘The teachers are just great. They’re very understanding of your knowledge not being as high as theirs. I did my meringue four times today because I kept messing it up – they’re so fine with you doing it again.’

His long-term vision? Private cheffing, potentially working with families or even doing a ski season as a chalet chef. ‘I’m open to working in kitchens for a year or two if I have to, to gain experience in different cuisines,’ he says. And one day, there’s the dream of a food truck with his dad. ‘Making Southern fried chicken, bringing biscuits to the UK – that would be amazing.’

For now, though, Josh is focused on Foundation Term. ‘I’m never dreading going in. It’s always exciting.’