Meet the Kitchen – Ex royal chef ?
Meet the Kitchen
As we put our mostly empty trays away every day and bellow “thank you” down the pot-wash, do you ever wonder whose speedy hands clear the plates and cutlery ? Do you ever wonder who fries your weekly Friday fish , or who plans the menus, or who washes all the plates and cutlery, or who has been serving you breakfast since year 7? Well I wondered all of these things and decided to find out, and discover who works behind the scenes as our Kitchen team.
Past the polished surfaces of the kitchen, lies the Managing teams office where I was invited to ask questions and queries. I discovered ( many exciting facts and ) that despite the morning shift beginning as early as 6:00 AM every day, the members of this close – knit team still look forward to work because all of the staff who “ always have a good laugh, are caring, honest and just warm” according to Liliane.
In the picture above you can see the Management team of the Kitchen.
The multi Michelin awarded catering Manager ,Liliane, who can be recognised by her lovely french accent, is the organiser, planner and leader of the kitchen department. Alongside Liliane works the Assistant catering manager Michele Harper, seen on the left. Michele previously ran a restaurant in Spain making her accustomed to efficient but careful work, and so she can seen at events ensuring that every guest is correctly seated before they arrive and even personally presenting allergens their meals to prevent any issues. The supervisor of our school kitchen is Daisie, known to be an “all round superstar” . Her role is to guarantee the high standards of our school food ( which I think she does very well) whilst additionally overseeing other operations. She juggles all of this while also being in her final year of Uni studying forensics science ! In the middle of the image, you can see Tony to the left and Micheal to the right. Tony is the Head chef, and has amazingly has worked in Buckingham palace in the past. And the executive head chef Micheal, was formerly in America but is currently on the celebrity ( who you may recognise from master chef ) Marcus Wareing’s programme. Their joint experiences shine through all 3 meals of the day from Monday to Sunday, but especially during the special events at RHS such as the CCF dinner or Trafalgar night.
Besides the Management team there are 14 chefs and 19 Kitchen porters that work equally as hard to keep our DH running. We see these staff everyday and in my opinion, don’t acknowledge them enough for their regular efforts.
So the next time take you’re putting your tray away try to catch a face to flash a smile to. Or, when waiting in line on Sundays at brunch for what feels like an hour, spark up a conversation with the chefs and you may discover some facts as interesting as I have.
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