It took me nearly 2 months to make my first placement that actually turned up. Since then in the 16 months that I have been working at Chefs In Scotland it has got easier and I have placed lots of chefs all over Scotland and some in the north of England. There are a few placements that stick out as being my top placements that I was very glad to achieve.
The first was Peter Cullen at Kinloch Lodge in Skye. Peter just lived about 12 miles away and we always say that the location is key. He had previously been working at Duisdale which has 2AA rosettes and had done quite a lot of relief work with us including at loch Melfort Hotel which also has 2AA rosettes. He went to work alongside Marcello Tully as sous chef after interview, trial and much discussion and both parties seemed equally happy. My first placement in a 3AA rosette establishment, delighted!
Next was my first Head chef placement tied in with my first placement in the north of England. George Soutar had been working in Arbroath and went all the way down to the Ancient Unicorn which is near Barnard Castle in Durham. George made the journey down twice, once for interview and then for trial before accepting the position. He is still there and the reviews that the Ancient Unicorn have been getting after taking over when George started in October have been very good.
Then a pastry chef, Diana Cerga at the lovely Burts hotel with excellent head chef Trevor Williams. She seems to be getting on excellently going by the photos posted on Trevor’s facebook page. She had a very stable CV as she had been working over in Inverary since coming to the UK in 2014 and was keen to progress her pastry experience.
Placing a chef at a place you have worked at is never an easy feat as it is typical that everything that will go wrong does go wrong. But with Raymond Murray this was not the case. After chasing up references, The Buccleuch and Queensberry Hotel took Raymond for a one month trial as chef de partie and he stayed nearly a year. I have since placed Raymond in another establishment when he left to move closer to home. It is very nice when the good placements come back to you.
Last but not least was Kamil Gloeh at Gleneagles as sous chef. Although I have placed many chefs at Gleneagles getting to place the sous chef in the 5* resort was a great achievement. Kamil had previously worked at The Old Course and Malmaison in Dundee so was a perfect fit for the job and he has been there just over 6 weeks.
So all in all my favourite placements vary from levels to establishments and there a many more to mention which I am equally proud off as well.
Jessica Huntley
There are two competitions that are very prominent in Scottish hospitality today. They are The Great British Menu and Masterchef The Professionals. At Chefs In Scotland we get to speak to some of the chefs who have either won or been runners up in these competitions. But where are they now?
Jamie Scott won Masterchef
The Professionals in 2014 and was previously Head Chef ay Rocca in St
Andrews. This year he has opened his own restaurant Newport which is doing very well.
Scott Davies who was runner up in Masterchef The Professionals 2013,
previous Head Chef at The Adamson also in St Andrews is now Head Chef at
the very well-known Three Chimneys. Taking over from Michael Smith who
was there for 11 years.
Adam Handling who was also runner up in MasterChef The Professionals
with Scott Davies, he has now opened up The Frog Restaurant in London.
He is also appearing in the new series of The Great British Menu in the
Scottish heats.
Another chef who has taken part in the Great British
Menu is Jak O’Donnell who own The Sisters Restaurant which have a
number of places in Glasgow. She was in the last series and got to the
final but did not make it to the banquet.
There are so many chefs out there all over Scotland taking part in these
competitions of which I have named only a few. It is a great privilege
to speak to some of these chefs on a regular basis and watch their
careers go from strength to strength.
If you had to take part in either Great British Menu or Masterchef: The Professionals which would it be?
Head Chef
There are candidates in central Scotland if paying good money in excess of £28,000 and upwards for head chef jobs.
In rural Scotland including Inverness and all the highlands and
islands, there are not many head chefs and we advise offering
accommodation with permanent or seasonal head chef jobs to attract
candidates. Otherwise you may have to wait some time until a relevant
local candidate becomes available.
In rural Scotland and
particular 2AA Rosette country house hotels relevant candidates are
scarce. Skye, Shetland Islands and rural Argyll, it is proving hard to
get relevant candidates despite the payment of good money (about £35,000
for 2AA Rosette head chef)
Suggest paying £28,000 upwards to
£40,000 according to requirements and demands of the job. Ideally we
advise for a five day week and over-time paid on a pro rata basis for
extra days worked and for hours in excess of 48 on a pro rata basis.
For seasonal head chef jobs suggest £120 per day or £600 per week with end of season bonus for completion.
Aberdeenshire, Dundee and East coast, there are a few Head Chefs registered.
In rural Scotland we are advising offering live in also, ideally at no charge to the chef.
The more central, the more candidates you will expect to get and the more rural, the harder it can get.
With all the social media currently available, many chefs are becoming very savvy about where they wish to work and establishments with records of poor chef retention may find it harder to attract good quality permanent candidates. Scotland is quite a small country.
Sous chefs
If it is a live in position for 4 star hotel suggest paying £24,000 to £30,000.
In central areas such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth and Stirling can try
live-out and there are a few relevant chefs. In rural Scotland, it is
particularly hard to get candidates at this time of the year but there
are some candidates if there is a good package in place.
2AA Rosettes and are quite scarce. Suggest wages of £26,000 - £28,000 upwards to £30,000 for 3AA Rosette sous chef.
A good way to attract candidates is to pay hourly rates for every hour worked by chefs.For sous chefs suggest £11 to £14 per hour this will help to attract and retain good candidates.
If paying salaried, we suggest five day week with overtime pro rata over 48 hours.
Chef de parties
Availability currently ok in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perthshire and central
belt. Quality is mixed. In rural Scotland with accommodation there are a
few candidates if wages are decent, suggesting £8.50 to £12 per hour.
There are some chefs looking for live in accommodation and may be happy to relocate and again are of varying quality.
If paying by salary suggest £19,000 for a 45 hour week works out £8.11 an hour which is on the low side. Suggest paying up to £22,000 or hourly rate £8.50 - £12 per hour with live in accommodation at a small charge. We would hope you will get decent candidates with this.
Commis
A few bodies available including students coming out of college. Enclosed link to minimum wages.
Pastry a few available happy to have a look
For perm we can look if pay “fee of interest” or advertise
Availability of Relief Chefs change daily and we can advise.
What I love about living in Scotland is the abundance of fresh, quality produce we have access to, especially fresh seafood. When I am cooking at home, probably as like most chefs I like to keep it simple. However, last night I was out for dinner and I had a beautiful piece of fresh plaice with parmentier potatoes, confit fennel and a chive butter sauce. The fish itself was so beautifully cooked it literally melted in the mouth and didn’t require a single other thing. Restaurants have such good access to quality produce at this time of year and I love to see it on the menu. In August with strawberries and cherries now going out of season means room for other fruit such as raspberries, nectarines, apricots and apples.
When I am cooking at home I do like to experiment but usually don’t follow the recipe as I always find bits I like and bits I don’t but I guess that’s just each to their own to use their initiative. Now summer doesn’t have many days left I will be trying to fit in as many barbecues as possible and some smoking with our new barbecue smoker. Any hints or tips will be much appreciated.
After working quite a few barbecues during the summer season up north I have lots of recipes and ideas for different salads with bulgar, couscous, grilled vegetables and lots more other than just lettuce and tomato. I also picked up lots of marinades for fish, meat and vegetables. What is your favourite thing to cook at this time of the year either at home or in the kitchen that you work in?
RSS