How I lead a team of chefs in Davos just after graduating from Leiths

From the moment I accepted the invitation to join the Liquid Chefs team in Davos, Switzerland, I felt nervous. Nervous, but excited, for an experience like nothing I’d had before. I had just completed the Foundation term at Leiths and started my first professional kitchen role as a Commis Chef at Cubitt House, so the prospect of travelling the world as a chef was daunting. Luckily, I had to fellow Leiths grads joining me on the trip, and we met blurry eyed and not-so-bushy-tailed at 4am for our flight from Heathrow.

We landed in Switzerland, taking the mountain roads into Davos before immediately being plunged into the busy working kitchen. As we disembarked the minivan we were told ‘chef whites on, knives out, let’s get going’ – there wasn’t a moment to feel even the slightest bit of doubt, it was straight into the action.

Emily, a fellow Leiths grad, and I were immediately placed onto pastry, weighing and rolling over 300 protein balls for a high-profile client alongside seasoned chefs from South Africa. It became methodical – one person weighed, the other rolled, the next boxed up, and repeat. It was a true lesson in working the line: you do your bit and you keep the party, literally, rolling. We went to bed that night absolutely wiped but excited for what was next.

The next day, around 8am, we rolled into the kitchen to work on cookies – same process, weigh, shape, bake, box, until I was pulled away to return to our lodgings known as Ski School. I had no idea what was going on but word of my mild professional experience had reached the staffing team and I was asked to help run the kitchen that would go on to feed over 250 chefs, baristas, front of house staff and management. To say I felt out of my depth and honestly terrified was an understatement, but that’s where the Leiths training kicked in. Take a step back, think, write a plan, tackle the big jobs, then head down and work. I would go on to spend eight days running this staff kitchen, producing breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for 250 people across almost 40 sites, working to a staggering amount of dietary requirements to very strict time limits. 

The brief from Liquid Chefs was simple: no waste. So, we would begin by assessing our stores, which were stocked with not only staples like flour, eggs, more bread than you’ve seen in your life, and the finest Swiss dairy, but incredible cuts of meat, fresh crunchy vegetables, exquisite Swiss chocolate and so much more supplied by the main kitchen. We used all these leftover/waste ingredients to feed the teams.

We would start around 7am, prepping and serving hot and cold breakfasts: from coconut and peach porridge (a speciality of our amazing Ski School manager Shannon) to scrambled eggs and toast, plus all the cheese and meats that Switzerland had to offer. 

By 8am, prep for lunch was in full swing – think stacks and stacks of filled sandwiches and vibrant salads, or comforting tray bakes like cottage pie, Thai-style chicken curry and endless batches of rice. The main kitchen run would leave at 11:30 and we would serve any team members in Ski School around 12:30. Then, start again for dinner: Hungarian-inspired goulash with plenty of beef, smoky paprika and waxy potatoes; a much-loved spinach and ricotta cannelloni bake; and even a pizza night. My favourite moment has to have been teaching my young team how to make lasagne from scratch including the bechamel sauce (20/20/300 was repeating in my head over and over, if you know you know!), rich, four-hour simmered beef ragu and the crucial crispy edges.

I would go to bed each night, which incidentally was above my kitchen, around 11pm before starting over again.

I reflect that with just three months training, I had gone from a full-time fashion editor to running a kitchen of four commis chefs, two KPs and the Ski School manager. I can’t think of another profession where you can be thrown into the deep end quite so early and manage to find your feet. I feel so lucky to have had such an incredible experience and grateful to Shannon, Damien and the Liquid Chefs team for believing I could take on such an challenge so early in my career. I also want to shout out my amazing team of chefs and KPs, all of whom had never left their home countries of South Africa and Portugal before coming to Davos. 

If you’re interested in doing training at Leiths like Ellie did, find out more here.