6.30am
My working day starts early as I tend to do a morning shift. I open up the kitchen and check in with the chefs on duty that shift.
I have worked at Homerton for 11 years, starting as a Sous Chef and working my way up. Before that I worked as Head Chef at another Cambridge College, and before that at a small Cambridge hotel: I’ve been a chef for nearly 40 years.
The staff and I are really pleased with the new kitchens and facilities. It was a big change as we moved to a completely electric kitchen having always worked with gas. However electric is much cleaner for working and better for the environment. It did take the chefs a little while to get used to the induction hobs as they provide very fast, indirect heat and so it was a learning curve for the first couple of months with a few burnt sauces!
7am – 10am
I focus on the food deliveries coming in today. Our food is sourced from local suppliers where we can: our butcher, greengrocer and prepared vegetable company are all local. We are also part of a couple of consortiums which enable us to bulk buy with other Cambridge Colleges, so it’s all as efficient as possible.
I check all the orders – 12 to 15 each day – making sure that they are delivered correctly, and that the food has come in at the right temperature. A kitchen porter will put the food deliveries away.
10am
At 10am we always have the Catering and Conference Huddle - a five-minute get-together of all the staff working Front and Back of House. Fully staffed we have nine chefs, five kitchen porters and a few casuals in the main kitchen, and on the Front of House side two Managers, three Supervisors and more casuals. They are a great team. Just like the rest of the hospitality industry, we have some staff vacancies: we currently only have five chefs working for us and use agency workers to fill the gaps. I prepared and cooked the breakfasts this morning, and I will always step on to the tools if needed.
At the huddle we go through the shifts for the day as well who is on site – the duty chef and supervisor, plus we identify the fire wardens and first aiders, and we double-check the requirements of any conference clients we have today.
10.10 am Catering tea break
10.30- 11.30am
I do the ordering for the next day. We order a day in advance, so on a Monday, food is ordered to be delivered on a Tuesday, for preparing & serving on the Wednesday. It wouldn’t be possible to have delivery and prep on the same day just in case something is delayed. It gives us a chance to rectify any errors in advance and to change menus and reorder if necessary.
11.30am
I always allow time to check that our allergen labels are correct for the counter lunch service. Every menu, dish, dessert, and salad item must have all allergen details on display. These details are checked and double-checked before service. Where possible, we will always cater for special diets including vegan and gluten-free options.
I confirm with the chefs that they are happy with lunch and advise them on other dishes to prepare should they get very busy and need more food.
I also always check in with the kitchen porters. A kitchen is only as good as the kitchen porters: they are the unsung heroes of our department. You don’t get to see them very much, but they are the champions of the kitchen and do an amazing job.
One of the aspects which I like most in my role is making sure I have a happy team. I find that if my team is happy, then I get a lot more from them. I get on well with the team and they know I always have an open door, and I will do anything I can to support them.
12pm
We have a conference meeting every week, and I also meet with the Assistant Bursar, the Head Chef, Front of House Managers, & Catering Supervisors on a regular basis.
1pm
The new shift team arrive and I get them set up for the evening. I have a 15-minute handover with Lewis, the Head Chef, discussing forthcoming menus, what ordering has been done and so forth. We plan our daily menu over 6 weeks. We cater for breakfast, lunch and dinner all year-round for students, staff and conferences. We all work a shift pattern so I will work on planning rotas, and I finish off with the fruit and vegetable order.
2pm-2.30pm
Lunch time for us!
We are constantly looking at reducing food waste. All food is recycled and picked up by a Waste Food Company, we recycle all our cardboard which is collected along with other recyclable packaging. Waste oil is collected and recycled into biodiesel.
2.30pm
The Catering Managers Committee meet to discuss procurement every month and there is also a quarterly Head Chef committee for Cambridge Colleges. I might be working on a special event like the Charter Dinner, which is planned 8 months in advance. Lewis will create the menu and there will then be tasting sessions with a small group of Fellows, the Bursar and the Principal Lord Woolley to finalise the menu and marry up the wines for the evening, which is a highlight of the College year.
Evening
Once I am home, I will often cook for my family although my wife sometimes queries how many I think I’m catering for – and she reminds me that there are no other chefs or kitchen porters at home to help or clean up!
Daily Hospitality at Homerton by numbers:
In term time:
80 for breakfast
300 for lunch
Up to 300 for dinner
200 each for formal halls every week of term
200 each for Graduate formal hall which take place three times per term
Conference business: Catering for arrival and mid-morning coffee, a conference lunch, afternoon tea and possibly dinner.
Upwards of 700 meals a day!
