Chefs Training to Gain a Competitive Edge in the Culinary World

Enter the Prue Leith Restaurant’s kitchen and you will encounter chefs training to become skilled in various aspects of the culinary arts. Our Prue Leith Restaurant, located in Centurion, is one of the most prestigious restaurants in the country and for good reason. Here, you will find some of the top chefs in South Africa teaching, guiding and overseeing potential five-star chefs in training. You will also find some of our training chefs in the front of house, where they are serving delectable dishes to restaurant patrons, welcoming our guests at the door and helping to pair wines with world class cuisine.

The Prue Leith Restaurant forms an integral part of our training process, apart from the on-campus lectures, practical training and examinations. Our students also do internships at selected world-class restaurants, hotels, lodges and catering kitchens in South Africa, and depending on the course, also in Italy. Choosing Prue Leith as your culinary training institution is certainly wise, since our school is well-recognised in the industry, and our qualified chef graduates find that having a qualification from our training institution opens career doors around the world.

The Chef’s Career and Training

Unlike many other occupations where specialisation often leads to a very narrow career path, becoming a chef opens various career doors. You can work as a hotel, lodge, restaurant, guesthouse or personal chef. You can also choose to work on one of the many cruise ships or luxury yachts and have the opportunity to see the world, while living out your passion for food. Many chefs own their own restaurants, while others open patisseries or bakeries. Still more venture into the food and beverage production industries, where they develop and perfect recipes. Whether you want to follow one of the above routes or want to work as a hospital chef, start a catering business or become a food critic, studying with us, at Prue Leith, provides you with a head start.

Types of Training

Generally, you can follow one of many training routes, although getting a highly valued qualification is certainly the best. On-the-job training in restaurants gives you excellent practical exposure, although you may miss out on learning about the foundations of particular cuisines and kitchen skills. This is a hard route to take, as you will start at the bottom and have to prove your worth, before you ever get to work with food. You will become a line cook, but without a proper qualification, you will not be able to work in five star culinary establishment as one of the top chefs.

We afford you the opportunity to get the theoretical base, practical training, restaurant kitchen experience and internship experience – all contributing towards a fine qualification and the desired experience.

There are many apprenticeship programmes running, but studying with us, at Prue Leith, already means getting in on an internship programme at one of the top lodges, hotels or restaurants. The benefits of formal chef training include:

• Immediate recognition for your qualification.
• Faster progress in your career path.
• Gaining experience and practical training while you study.
• Higher earning potential.
• Prestige.
• Excellent knowledge base.

You will learn about the classical French cuisine preparation principles and techniques, various other cuisines,  kitchen hygiene and safety, management, front-of-house responsibilities, menu planning, stock taking, , patisserie skills, knife skills, amongst many other skills required to become a world-class chef.

Why Prue Leith?

We offer a stunning campus and superb facilities. You will train under the guidance of top chefs and will gain a lot of practical experience. With over 18 years of experience in chef training, our academy offers several courses and ample opportunities for you to become the best chef that you can be. Our courses are comprehensive and include aspects such as Finance & Kitchen Management, European and Pan African Cuisine.

You will write the City & Guilds exams alongside the Prue Leith exams, to ensure that you can earn a qualification within the national framework for qualifications and an internationally recognised qualification to open up overseas career opportunities. Get your career off to the right start. Contact us for more information regarding our training courses.