Students basking in the success of The Great Bath Feast’s launch event hope the experience will help them to convince employers they have what it takes to work in the industry.
City of Bath College was thrown into the limelight when its Catering and Hospitality students played a starring role in preparing and serving the gourmet food for the festival’s unique opening event at Bath Abbey.
The first event of its kind saw more than 100 guests eating a three-course banquet between the choir stalls as the Abbey was transferred into a restaurant for one night only.
The College’s Level 1, 2 and 3 students hit the local and national TV, radio and newspaper headlines as they put their employability skills to the test.
They were described as ‘professional’ ‘very impressive’ and ‘so talented,’ and praised for having the skills to ensure Bath has ‘many more Great Bath Feasts in future years.’
The event has left the students with an appetite to follow in the footsteps of the Michelin-starred chefs they worked alongside; Sam Moody, executive chef at The Bath Priory, Chris Staines, head chef at The Allium Brassiere at The Abbey Hotel and Hywel Jones, executive chef at Lucknam Park.
The students are grateful for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and are excited to continue to be involved in the month-long food festival with public cookery and cake decoration demonstrations next week.
You can see staff and students ‘in action’ outside BHS in Stall Street from 3.30pm to 5.30pm on Wednesday, October 16th and from 10.30am to 12.30pm on Friday, October 18th.
Toby Stelcel, 17, said taking part in The Great Bath Feast banquet was “an amazing experience” and he would be proud to put the sell-out event on his CV.
The Level 2 Catering and Hospitality student, who was interviewed for BBC’s Points West, took part in the event on his day-off. He spent the morning preparing food at The Priory, then helped to present and serve the food at the Abbey in the evening.
Toby said: “It was a really great, once-in-a-lifetime experience, I really enjoyed it.
“It was a long day but I learnt so much from the chefs; they remained calm in such a stressful environment.
“It’s made me even more determined to work in the industry. I’m going to put it on my CV and mention it at job interviews, I hope the experience will help me to get a good job.
“The event was very high-profile, it got our faces out there and showed others what we could do. One guy even came up to me on the bus to say he saw me on the TV.”
Level 2 Catering and Hospitality students Hope Starr and Ashley Bradbury agreed that the Great Bath Feast was invaluable work experience that they’d never forget.
Hope, who helped to plate and serve the food in the Abbey, said: “It was really interesting and completely different from anything I’d done before.
“I learnt new skills which will be useful when I start working, such as learning about the speed and accuracy needed in a busy restaurant.”
Ashley, 17, was handing guests glasses of champagne as they walked into the Abbey, then serving them different wines with each course.
He said: “It was busy but enjoyable. It increased my confidence as I was working with new people. I will definitely put in on my CV as the guests were saying so many positive things about us.”
On the menu at The Great Bath Feast banquet was salmon with avocado, grapefruit and ponzu, glazed cheek of local beef, shallot and horseradish confit, leeks and red wine jus, followed by sticky toffee pudding and bitter chocolate bar, cannelloni of roast apple and butterscotch ice cream.
Bridget Halford, Head of Hospitality, Hair, Beauty and Floristry at City of Bath College, said the students had been introduced to new skills at the high-profile event that was a city-wide collaboration.
She said: “It’s been an absolutely amazing experience for us all, everyone has been full of praise for the students and we’ve been recognised in the local and national media. Even a week later, everyone is still talking about it!
“Taking part in the Great Bath Food Feast has increased the employability of our students.
“It has showed them they too could soon be working in Michelin Star restaurants. They have learned first-hand what the industry is like.”
