Young Chefs’ Academy Johannesburg
You may be interested in knowing that there is young chefs’ academy in Johannesburg. If you investigate exactly where this is situated, you will find that it is, in fact, in the Centurion suburb of Hennopspark, just a few minutes drive from the N14 where it joins the N1 highway. This young chefs’ academy (close to Johannesburg) is called the Prue Leith College of Food and Wine. Several of South Africa’s recognized catering industry leaders spend time at the college giving regular demonstrations and talks to the students.
All of these leaders recognize the college for what it is – one of the best catering colleges (if not the best) on the African Continent. The Diploma that is awarded by the Prue Leith College to those students of the young chefs’ academy, Johannesburg, that graduate is recognized as being an outstanding qualification by catering establishments all over the world. Students have to work hard to get their Diploma, and they cover an extremely comprehensive list of catering subjects doing so. To be admitted into the college they have to have reached eighteen and must have passed Matric (this can be at standard grade). They must satisfy the Board at an interview and have to complete a questionnaire. If accepted by the college they will find themselves starting the Diploma course either in January or July – forty students are generally accepted on each course, and this runs for eighteen months. Students must report for training as rostered – this will be either for a day or an evening shift. They are expected to complete between three and five hours’ homework a week.
One of the main objectives of the board of trustees is to produce chefs who are qualified in cooking, restaurant service, knowledge of wine, kitchen management and financial controls. They believe that students of this young chefs’ academy Johannesburg should be exposed to the harsh realities of the workplace at as early an opportunity as possible in order to retain the academic and practical knowledge that they have learned in the classroom. This is why, within a few days of them starting at the college, students are put to work in Prue Leith’s, the college’s own restaurant that is situated in the college grounds. Here they will be waiting on table (both taking orders and serving them), preparing and cooking meals in the kitchen, and doing all the other jobs that come with a good restaurant.
Not only that – in their third semester students get a break from the young chefs’ academy Johannesburg and are placed in catering establishments across the length and breadth of South Africa and as far away as Ireland and the Persian Gulf. These establishments include many fine hotels, restaurants and lodges, such as the Dubai Sheraton, the Cape Grace, Sabi Sabi lodge, Le Quartier Français and Haute Cabrière in Franschhoek and not to forget The Old Bull Hotel in England’s Cotswolds. This invaluable experience takes up to six months before they return to the young chefs’ academy in Johannesburg to complete their graduation at the Prue Leith College of Food and Wine.
