At school I did something called “work experience”
Where you didn't go to school for a week and worked in a “proper” job
Because I had a weekend job at a Pub / Restaurant, The Royal Oak at Upton Snodsbury
One of my work experiences roles was working as a Chef in a hotel in Worcester
I was given a number of roles in the kitchen thought out the week
One day the head chef asked me to clean the chip fryer
Now there are two things about working in catering
- You do a lot of cleaning and your stomach will thank me later
- There are “processes” you must adhere to when you clean
For example, in a fridge, you need to keep the raw meat and cooked meat apart
So back to the chip fryer
The “trick” with the chip fryer is you have to switch it on, to warm the oil up
So it flows out, before you can clean it
At the end of the week the Chef called me into to his small office
“Sit down” he said and then he gave me some feedback
As I didn't complain about cleaning the chip fryer and I knew how to clean it
Plus, because of the hard work I put in during the week
He was going to write me a letter of recommendation to a chef friend of his
His mate was none other than the head Chef at the local one Michelin star restaurant
So there I was at 15 with a choice
Did I go into engineering or did I go and work in a one michelin star restaurant?
I'll leave you to work out which path I chose
In the photo, I'm the one on the left and the dog was called Meck
