On The Menu This Month: April

It’s astonishing just how far our Diploma students have come since September. A long way from perfectly soft boiling an egg, they’ve now completed the Intermediate Term with tuiles, trifles and tortellini under their belts. To wrap up the term, students were treated to guest demonstrations from the inimitable Steven Lamb (author of some of the River Cottage books), Andy Oliver chef owner of som saa and Kolae and alumna Ayesha Kalaji who was a recent Great British Menu contestant.

Over the course of the Easter holidays, our students are ironing their whites and buffing their crocs in preparation for work experience in an enviable list of restaurants and food businesses.

Coordinated by Leiths List Connect, our in-house recruitment agency, the doors are opened to a wide variety of kitchens, many of them holding Michelin stars, where students can get a taste of real world cheffing. From trendy Notting Hill bistro Dorian and The Harwood Arms, the only pub in London with a star; to the beautifully considered Luca, an Italian restaurant in Clerkenwell and the ever-popular Kitchen W8, which has retained its star serving exceptionally seasonal dishes for almost fifteen years. Indeed, our students can expect to be truly inspired.

On the Diploma, they have been honing skills that will be vital as they engage in the teamwork required in a professional kitchen. From making fresh pasta by hand to preparing pastry and maintaining a clean workspace. It’s the embedding of these skills that allow our students to slip through the staff entrance into some of London’s most sought-after restaurants; places with waiting lists longer than their wine lists including The Quality Chop House and The River Cafe.

Further afield, every year two students travel to Cornwall to work at The Seafood Restaurant, Rick Stein’s flagship location in Padstow; while a group heads in the other direction to Ballintaggart, a foodie destination par excellence in Scotland, owned and run by Leiths graduate Chris Rowley. For students exploring the food world outside of restaurants, throughout the year they have the chance to work behind the scenes with the home economists on Saturday Kitchen Live; and this Easter there are exciting placements with the team at Lettice Events, the development chefs at meal kit company giant HelloFresh as well as research opportunities with brand consultants Egg Soldiers. With the connections made on such placements, and on the Diploma course itself, our students are setting themselves up very well for graduation, which, believe it or not, isn’t too far away. Bring on the Advanced Term!