Twenty-one-year-old Ashlee Gallimore, a commis chef at Wychwood Park in Crewe, pipped five of her colleagues to the post when she was named ‘Chef of the Year’ for De Vere Venues Chef Academy during an internal “cook-off” held as part of the final assessment for the programme which incorporated a Level 2 Professional Cooking qualification.
The cook-off took place in the training academy kitchen at Horwood House near Milton Keynes and was attended by Ricky Dixon (Denham Grove), James Tomlinson (Denham Grove), Dariusz Kumierczyk (Holborn Bars – London), Matt Leppard (Highfield House), John Didymus (New Place) and, of course, Ashlee.
De Vere Venues Learning and Development Manager, Estelle Ellis, and Group Development Chef, Bruce McDowell, coordinated the two-day experience which was the final session in a 12-month structured programme and consisted of sessions looking at future career pathways for the group, testing their kitchen knowledge and skills and a final cook-off, in which the participants had to prepare a soup, a fish dish and a main meat dish from a selection of ‘mystery’ ingredients.
Ashlee was thrilled with her win and said it was the culmination of much hard work and experiments with careers in design and health and social care. “I only realised I loved cooking when I was given the opportunity to try it,” she explains. “I now literally thrive on it and my new-found skills have opened doors for me.”
She is a great traveller and enjoys discovering new tastes from around the world – even haggis in Scotland!
“Doing an apprenticeship has been wonderful, but you have to make sure it will work for you and that you can cope with the workload as the company invests a lot of time and money in you.”
Ashlee says having a structured programme was really beneficial and her training through Lifetime Training was full of information, with her Regional Trainer, Gary Michaels, always there to help her.
Ashlee’s Manager and Head Chef at Wychwood Park, Ionel Timisica, says as soon as Ashlee began work at the venue in October 2013, she was keen to help with prep in the kitchen and very interested in learning cooking techniques.
Ashlee Gallimore receives her certificate from De Vere Venues Group Development Chef, Bruce McDowell. Six De Vere apprentices competed for the title “Chef of the Year” as part of their final assessment.In 2014 and after around six months as a Kitchen Porter, she started to work as a chef. In September 2014 she was accepted onto the Chef Academy and enrolled for the apprenticeship and is now a full time member of the team.
“During her time with us, Ashlee has worked every section around the kitchen, helping with big numbers on Christmas functions and weddings. She runs our breakfast section on her own and also recently started running the lunch. She always displays the right positive attitude, helping other members of staff, even from different departments.
“I’m extremely proud of her and her achievements. I do believe she will continue to progress and reach the next level in her career very soon,” said Ionel.