Many corporate businesses in Gauteng do not have their own catering division within their own company, and when it comes down to organizing a corporate function they have to start searching for a catering company to work with. Centurion is ideally placed for corporates in either Pretoria or Johannesburg, and there is one catering company in Centurion in particular that they should consider. But this does not just apply to corporate business – most small businesses will find the need for a catering company every now and again and Centurion is definitely the place to look. Prue Leith Catering is an offshoot of the Prue Leith College of Food and Wine. Tiny Barnetson and Graham Ledger started this college in 1996 after identifying a need in the catering industry. South Africa had just undergone democratization, and with the lifting of sanctions the tourist industry was starting to experience a rapid growth for the first time in years. The problem was that catering establishments just couldn’t keep up with the demands made upon them, and very soon it became obvious that there was a general shortage of reliable and well-trained personnel available to fill vacant positions. Students from the college spend much of their practical time working either in the college’s own restaurant, Prue Leith’s, which is in the college grounds, or at the catering company in Centurion just a couple of kilometres from the school. Prue Leith’s has been awarded its Blaizon from the Chaine Des Rotisseurs and has been ranked in the top twenty restaurants in the country and the top ten restaurants in Gauteng by the Business Day. The restaurant is fully licensed and is open to the public five days a week.
In order to enter the college, students must be eighteen years of age and have completed their Matric Examination at standard grade. They will be facing an eighteen-month course that is split up into three semesters. Courses commence in January and July. The catering course is extremely comprehensive and the subjects covered during the course are many and extremely varied. Subjects range from Finance and Management to Hygiene, from bush cooking to International cuisine. Visiting lecturers supplement the curriculum with lectures on specialized subjects such as Indian and Thai cuisine, cake icing and kitchen planning.
The catering company was launched in 2005 as a means of delivering high quality food to a venue of the customer’s choice. Corporate catering in Gauteng can only benefit from the introduction of this new catering company. The 200 square-metre state-of-the-art kitchens are situated on an attractive commercial estate 2½ kilometres from the college, and the company is in an ideal situation for catering projects throughout Gauteng. Students from the college man the kitchens and are under professional supervision. So, whether your function is a huge corporate launching or a quiet private wedding, there is a catering company in Centurion there to take all the worries out of planning the event. They will take everything into account, and you will be able to sit back and watch, secure in the knowledge that your function is in good hands.