Training Courses
Overview
Interested in asking questions, seeing new techniques and touching and tasting food that is modern, molecular and in-vogue, then Culinary Innovations training courses are for you.
Our training courses are designed to inspire, give insight, excite, educate and provide cause for debate amongst chefs. Written and developed by professional chefs and delivered in chef’s language, they provide a forum for you to see and learn new ideas in one concise place on a single day. They also offer you a chance to gather information and learn by either theatre style presentation or hands on practical work according to your skill level. There are no daft questions on our courses so why not come along and learn?
We have had three star Michelin chefs all the way to home chefs on previous courses and if you are a corporate customer we can deliver bespoke training days at one of your chosen venues.
Features & Benefits
Each of our courses has its own features and benefits.
We currently have nine separate modules that can be taken independently of each other. The skill levels are either intermediate (theatre style presentation) or advanced (practical). Details of the current modules can be found in our Shop. The course subjects are as follows:
- Introduction to Sous Vide & Low Temperature Cooking
- A Practical Water Bath Workshop
- Liquid Nitrogen, Dry Ice & Other Modernist Presentation
- Hydrocolloids (in two parts)
- Modernist Butchery (in two parts)
- Smoking, Preservation & Curing (in two parts).
Chefs from as diverse companies as Fuller, Smith & Turner plc, Restaurant Associates, Aramark, Wilson Vale, Shire Hotels, Harbour & Jones, Park Plaza, Cannizaro House, CH & Co., Lindley Venue Catering, Hilton Hotels Waitrose Cookery School and many others have participated in our enlightening training courses.
Chef Presenters
Our courses are currently supported by the following chef presenters:
James Graham (right)
James Graham has been our lead presenter since 2008. James has presented to many high profile chefs and establishments. He has presented at The National Chef of the Year's Mentor Day with all eight finalists and Chair of Judges, Phil Howard, present, as well as Master Classes for the likes of Rick Stein's Seafood Restaurants. James is also the Chef Proprietor of Restaurant Allium situated in the Cotswold wool town of Fairford. Restaurant Allium serves modern cuisine using classic British culinary heritage with the latest techniques and innovations. The restaurant includes its own exclusive 12 seater Tasting Room where James cooks in front of his guests in an open kitchen and imparts his passion and knowledge to his customers. James possesses an unmatched passion for utilising the finest local produce and in his spare time loves to shoot wild deer and game for butchery and use in his restaurant. Prior to opening Restaurant Allium, James worked at the Wickham Vineyard in the heart of the Meon Valley, as well as Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, Peter Gorton's Horn of Plenty, Le Petit Blanc in Oxford and Oxo Tower in London. His restaurant, which is co-owned by his wife Erica, has gained multiple awards and plaudits from the UK’s leading critics at The Times, The Telegraph and Country Life, The Good Food Guide, the Michelin Guide, Harden’s and Gourmet Britain. The restaurant also has interests in outside private and corporate fine dining.
Mark Ramshaw
Mark Ramshaw is a new Culinary Innovations presenter. Mark undertook his Chef training at Stratford College. He has been Allium's research and development chef since 2008 and has been instrumental in the development and direction of the food offering at Allium ever since. Mark writes the highly regarded "A Feast for the Senses" R&D blog and also runs his own extremely successful outside catering business. His enormous knowledge and relentless inquisitiveness combine extremely well with James' desire to make Allium's food totally unique. Together they form a team that is at the beginning of an exciting culinary journey.
Simon Stocker qualified as a Professional Chef Diploma at Highbury College in the 80’s then moving on to study 706/3 at Westminster College whilst working up to head chef level in London's west end restaurants, clubs and casinos. His role as Advanced Practitioner at Westminster Kingsway College is varied and his responsibilities lie in the quality of teaching and food production at the college and staff development for the culinary arts department. Simon's career in teaching has seen him recognised by his peers and in 2009 he was awarded the prestigious Craft Guild of Chefs Education Chef Award. He has always mentored students in culinary competitions leading to him being appointed British Junior Team Manager for the last Culinary Olympics in Erfurt, Germany. Simon regularly organises and judges cookery competitions for The Craft Guild of Chefs.
Venues
Culinary Innovations use a variety of fine dining and college locations.
We currently use four locations and are interested to add more to provide a greater national geographical coverage. Our current training venues are:
The Grove is more than a five-star hotel. Set in 300 acres and only 18 miles from central London, The Grove is also a luxury 18-hole golf resort, a fabulous spa and unique country estate. The Grove hosts a number of dining facilities, including their fine-dining restaurant Colette's, The Stables, The Glasshouse and The Lounges. With over 70 chefs passionate about quality and seasonality and modern, clean kitchen facilities, this is a fantastic venue to host our practical water bath workshops. For more information on The Grove Hotel please visit: www.thegrove.co.uk
Restaurant Allium, Gloucestershire: Set in the rural Cotswold countryside, Allium provides the ideal place for chefs from a wide area, including London, to enjoy a peaceful and quiet setting to focus and concentrate on learning. The restaurant is about 10 miles from Swindon which is situated on the M4 motorway and main train line from Paddington to Bristol, the South West & South Wales. There is free parking all day and overnight accommodation can be arranged at a number of local B&Bs. The kitchen is kitted with any number of new and modern gadgets, including 8 water baths. Many of our previous guests have travelled from as far away as Scotland and Ireland and loved their day out to Fairford. www.alliumfood.co.uk
The Lighthouse Restaurant, Leicestershire: A simple honest seafood restaurant in rural Leicestershire owned by our customers Lino and Sarah Poli. Lino & Sarah have been good friends to Culinary Innovations for a number of years and represent to us a local restaurant that we enjoy working with in pursuit of our training courses. Lino is the Chef Proprietor and Sarah leads the front of house team. www.lighthousekibworth.co.uk
Westminster Kingsway College is one of London’s leading educational colleges working with the Hospitality Industry. The college offers a number of short courses and master classes for those working in the Hospitality Industry who wish to achieve a further qualification or learn new skills. These courses include our own Introduction to Sous Vide Cookery course, as well as courses on Food Safety, Wines, Game, Kitchen Science, Cake Decoration, Chocolate Skills and others. For more information on Westminster Kingsway College please visit: www.westking.ac.uk
Future Dates
You can find out more about future dates from our Training Calendar.
Bookings
All training course spaces booked by delegates will receive a booking confirmation via first class post outlining the nature of the event and details of venue and times. This booking confirmation constitutes a delivery and once issued is subject to our Changes, Cancellations and Returns Policy. Should you wish to exchange dates for an alternative future date or cancel, this can only be done three weeks prior to the scheduled event.
Contact Us:
Please call 01858 464411 for any further assistance.
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