RACA ‘Seat At the Table’ - The Stafford

Ahead of our next ‘Seat At The Table’ lunch at Galvin La Chappelle on Monday 1st July, take a look inside our last lunch in The Cellar at The Stafford, where we discussed nurturing the next generation, competitions, development, and support with our guests.

Hosted by The Stafford’s executive chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen and head chef Jozef Rogulski, both Academicians of The Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, we were joined by guests to discuss nurturing the next generation, competitions, development, and support. Sitting down for lunch, we asked our guests why competitions such as the AAE and the MCA are so important to the industry. AAE alumnus Rizwan Khan jumped to answer.

“It’s important to push yourself out of your comfort zone. It’s difficult but important to do so. After entering the Gold Service Scholarship and after Covid, I saw the AAE in 2022 as a second opportunity to recognise mistakes and help myself to improve, and I see mine as one of the only careers that pays you to learn.”

“While you might initially enter competitions like these to impress your mentors, on the other side now and as a young member of the industry I can also see how it’s important to push and encourage other young members, and ultimately to encourage them to see hospitality as a career to stay in.”

“It’s also important not to be discouraged. The AAE in particular is a scheme; you need to remember that you can keep trying if you don’t succeed the first time round.”

Sal Gowili, general manager at The Ritz also spoke about the importance of titles like MCA in helping to maintain the prestige of the industry.

“Elsewhere in the world like in France, achieving such an award is considered on the same level of skill as being a doctor or an engineer.” Competitions like these, then, starting with the AAE and working up through the Gold Service Scholarship and the MCA serve as a testament to the immense skill that those high up in hospitality must hone.

The AAE for example is a benchmark qualification for young people in the industry that all employers recognise and respect.

Game Bird Duck Pie, Buttered Turnips, Mushroom

We also discussed how all of these competitions serve as publicity for the industry and the careers that are available within. The University of West London’s Michael Coaker spoke about how it’s equally important for parents of young people entering hospitality to understand the opportunities available. We all know too well of the stigma that still exists of hospitality as a last resort, for young people who didn’t do the best at school and don’t know what else to do, but parents need to understand what is on offer. Young people can earn while they learn in hospitality and go on to achieve amazing things. These competitions embody such an idea.

Conversation then turned to the difference between these competitions and opportunities, and competitions that are featured on television, for instance. While TV competitions can often be excellent for exposure, they often serve as unrealistic entertainment, highlighting what doesn’t work rather than what does instead of helping competitors to progress and improve.

Programmes such as the AAE and the MCA can be stressful for entrants, yes, but we have to remember that they exist to help them exhibit their amazing skills and improve as chefs and service staff.

Aside from the competitive aspect, these initiatives also help to facilitate relationship-building, be it from mentors encouraging staff to enter, buzz in restaurant kitchens where the competitions are discussed, or from entrants getting to spend time with peers from other high-level establishments.

The Royal Academy of Culinary Arts is proud of its involvement in these conversations, and we are excited to see how our next generation or chefs and waiters will continue to develop.

Inside The Cellar ‘museum’ - from when the space was used as the hotel’s air raid shelter during WWII!