Pages

Tuesday 7 June 2011

Pastry Chef

I've been neglecting my blog a bit lately, trying to get myself ready for the big end of school exam. I handed my portfolio in the other day and have been practising in odds and ends trying to perfect my sable/ brioche/mousse/ganache/etc. The exam is just over a week away and I've started having those classic panic dreams about turning up late/ burning my macarons/ general disasters but hopefully it will be okay on the day. Fingers crossed all round. In light of the end of school rapidly approaching I thought I better start hunting for a job in order that my perfect pastry bubble didnt suddenly burst, leaving me no chioce but to turn to serving up soggy sausage rolls in Greggs. Fortunately, and wonderfully, I have actually managed to land myself a great job! So ladies and gentlemen, I am officially (well soon to start) a Commis Pastry Chef!

Its very surreal that this time last year I was finishing up a degree in social sciences and now my career dreams seem to be unfolding right before my eyes. I'm going to be working at an amazing 5 star luxury hotel in London, The Mandarin Oriental, in the pastry kitchen. The pastry kitchen covers everything from breakfast to room service, afternoon tea to one off trial menus so its an amazing opportunity to keep on training and learning with some fantastic chefs. I had a trail shift last week, had a really great day and managed to keep my mess levels low enough and my enthusiam high enough to land a job! The hotel has two amazing restaurants in it, one is Heston Blumenthals latest venture - Dinner and the other is by Daniel Boulud. Basically the place is crawling with amazing food and chefs.

I'm starting on the 27th June giving me 20 days to finish school, find myself somewhere to live and move! Reminds me a bit of when I started school, at least I already have my knives and shoes this time round..

3 comments:

  1. YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

    Well done Claire, you really deserve it :) x x x x x

    ReplyDelete
  2. Congratulations Claire!!!!! This is amazing :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congrats!! The hotel looks amazing! What a fun job! What are the citizenship restrictions like? Are you allowed to stay in London for a bit because of school?

    ReplyDelete