Aroundtown Magazine Nov/Dec 2023 edition
Read the November/December edition of Aroundtown Magazine, South Yorkshire's premier free lifestyle magazine.
Read the November/December edition of Aroundtown Magazine, South Yorkshire's premier free lifestyle magazine.
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FOOD & ENTERTAINMENT<br />
Rotherham College’s<br />
culinary secret<br />
If you’re looking for fine<br />
dining at a fair price<br />
this festive season, you<br />
must pay a visit to The<br />
Wharncliffe Restaurant<br />
in Rotherham.<br />
A sophisticated restaurant<br />
offering a quality dining experience,<br />
The Wharncliffe is Rotherham’s<br />
hidden gem.<br />
Where else in the town centre<br />
could you find dishes like moules<br />
mariniere, roast brill with crab crust,<br />
or ox tail raviolone for a fraction of<br />
the cost that you’d expect to pay?<br />
But the most remarkable thing<br />
about The Wharncliffe is that<br />
everything is cooked by some of the<br />
town’s most promising young chefs<br />
and served by smartly dressed<br />
front-of-house learners from<br />
Rotherham College.<br />
The Wharncliffe is first and<br />
Students are taught<br />
“<br />
by a team of tutors<br />
who have all cut<br />
their teeth at some<br />
fine establishments<br />
before moving into<br />
teaching.<br />
”<br />
foremost a classroom that supports<br />
the catering and hospitality<br />
curriculum. But by opening the<br />
restaurant to paying customers,<br />
students also receive real-life<br />
work experience which helps<br />
build additional skills to improve<br />
their employability.<br />
Many people often have a<br />
missed preconception about dining<br />
at a student training restaurant.<br />
But at The Wharncliffe, you could<br />
be in any top restaurant around<br />
the country and experience always<br />
exceeds expectations.<br />
With an innovative menu, the<br />
enticing entrees have been chosen<br />
to test the skills and creativity of<br />
the trainee chefs and change every<br />
four weeks to reflect the seasonal<br />
produce available. Everything is<br />
made from scratch, from the stocks<br />
and sauces to pasta and patisserie,<br />
and students use ingredients<br />
like truffles, fresh seafood and<br />
game birds.<br />
Students are taught by a team<br />
of tutors who have all cut their teeth<br />
at some fine establishments before<br />
moving into teaching.<br />
Behind the scenes, The<br />
Wharncliffe has three kitchens<br />
– two production and one skills<br />
kitchen – where catering students<br />
learn their craft through hands-on<br />
practical work. All equipment is<br />
industry standard, such as rationale<br />
ovens, sous vide water baths, and<br />
commercial grills so students don’t<br />
feel like a fish out of water when<br />
they move into paid employment.<br />
The professional cookery<br />
courses are led by production chef,<br />
Marco, who has been a chef for<br />
30 years working in Michelin star<br />
restaurants and cooking for royalty,<br />
and experienced chef lecturer,<br />
Charlie, who was previously a<br />
private chef for high end clients for<br />
many years.<br />
Catering students learn about<br />
everything from food safety to<br />
butchery and poultry preparation.<br />
But the course also teaches skills<br />
like teamwork, patience and<br />
being responsible.<br />
Ellie has just returned for her<br />
second year of college and the<br />
17-year-old is already looking<br />
towards a bright future. “I started<br />
baking in lockdown with my mum<br />
and realised I might like a career<br />
in it. My school careers advisor<br />
recommended Rotherham College<br />
because of the high standard<br />
of the catering course and The<br />
Wharncliffe. I want to travel the<br />
world in the future and I know now<br />
that cheffing is a career that could<br />
take me there,” she says.<br />
As learners progress through<br />
their time at college, they are taught<br />
more advanced techniques and<br />
supervisory skills. Andreas is in his<br />
third and final year of college and<br />
decided on a career in catering after<br />
watching his parents establish a<br />
popular fish and chip shop in Maltby<br />
that has been a success for over 20<br />
years.<br />
“At college, we started with the<br />
basics in my first year and how<br />
to make everything so there’s<br />
no wastage, but now I’m making<br />
things like crab bisque. As level<br />
three students, we’re learning more<br />
about what skills are needed to run<br />
a restaurant and how to manage<br />
others which will help me with<br />
my plans to take over the family<br />
business and open another branch<br />
in the future.”<br />
Every catering and hospitality<br />
student comes to college wanting<br />
to be the next Gordon or Jamie. But<br />
many students who begin on the<br />
professional cookery course find<br />
their skills are better suited to food<br />
and beverage services.<br />
Front of house service can make<br />
or break a restaurant. Hospitality<br />
students at Rotherham College<br />
receive thorough training from<br />
restaurant manager, John, who<br />
previously worked in food and<br />
beverage management in the hotel<br />
sector before joining Rotherham<br />
Owen, Ellie and Andreas<br />
70 aroundtownmagazine.co.uk
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