Hospitality Skills Academy

I must admit that after talking with a young chef that will only refer to John Williams (Executive Chef at The Ritz) as ‘Chef’ I was slightly scared to barge into his office and ask him about WorldSkills.  However, it was clear from the start that ‘chef’ was raring to speak proudly of his young protégé.

Natalie:  So how did it all start with Adam?

John:  I knew a great lecturer at Birmingham college, Bill Farnsworth.  When I moved over from Claridges he sent me down three students, now Adam is the only one who stuck at it and stayed.  He was clean of habits from the outside world, he had no pre-conceptions.

Natalie:  How did you help Adam to prepare?

John:  He has been very fortunate to gain lots of exposure to certain competition- this is quite unique.  He has been working closely with Brian Turner as it is his role to help train the candidate for WorldSkills.  There are a lot of competitions that he hasn’t won and he did become disheartened- but it’s good, he has gained experience and skills from them.

But really its all down to Adam, he is the one who has put the house in and the hard work.  We have just been happy to support him all the way.

Natalie:  Did you have any advice for Adam before he left?

John:  “You’ve got the list of ingredients, you know what you have prepared for- you’ll come back with a gold”, oh and I asked him to be my sous chef!

Natalie:  Why do you think he won out of all the other countries competing?

John:  Young guys can loose confidence, they need to remember to cook to high standards and to make great flavours, the presentation comes after this.  Being at the Ritz there skills are engrained within him.  He didn’t crack because these skills weren’t alien to him.

Natalie:  What advice would you give to chefs going in for industry competitions?

John: Remember you’re cooking for chefs, they say they want flare and for the plate to look good, but the real scoring comes from putting the flavours together.  Flavours are the key, they should be a chefs ethos.

I believe in competitions, this is a great acknowledgement for him, it has made him very tough and he is an exceptional young man.  He has the right mentality, he works very hard.

Natalie:  What would you say to other businesses that would like to put their chefs forward?

John:  The Ritz has backed Adam with time and you can loose a lot of man hours, finding the balance is key.  Adam has a great infrastructure here, but a chef from a small establishment would need a great support.  Send someone with the understanding of cuisine, taste, technique, confidence and drive.  Money should be the smallest factor in putting someone forward, it is the value that's important.

Natalie:  How do you think skills training is developing in the industry?

John: It is first class in moving things forward. We’ve just had another apprentice from Bournemouth.  I like the overall idea of an apprentice; we have had about 10 now.  I believe what’s involved in them and they are very beneficial to the industry.