Dinner across the decades
Wednesday night saw Mrs Foodie at City of Glasgow college for a unique dinner with Royal Academy of Culinary Arts.
This was a one-off event in the City of Glasgow college's new city centre training restaurant, which retains the name of the old restaurant: Scholars. Have you been to Scholars? It really is a hidden gem. We hadn't been to the new site, as it's been sold out for ages, but did review the original Scholars some years ago.
The event was a four-course dinner prepared by the students in collaboration with some of the country's most talented chefs. These were Andrew Hamer, founder of Wild Thyme Event Catering; Alan Matthew, Executive Chef at Trump Turnberry; Martin Hollis, Executive Chef of The Old Course Hotel; Ross Sneddon, Executive Pastry Chef at The Balmoral and Roy Brett, Chef / Patron of Ondine. Managing the Front of House and service will be Alan Hill, Food Retail Director and Elaine Watson both from Gleneagles.
Each chef was responsible for one course, working in the kitchen ahead of the event to teach the students, who are on the HND Professional Cookery course how to create their dish. Each chef took inspiration from a different decade to design a course based on an iconic or popular dish from that period.
Jeff Bland, Michelin-starred Executive Chef at The Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh is the Chairman of the Royal Academy in Scotland and explains what the event is all about:
"One of the main remits of the Academy is to educate and encourage the next generation of hospitality professionals, so what better way to motivate and inspire some of Scotland's young chefs than give them the opportunity to work alongside some of the best mentors in the country. City of Glasgow College's new restaurant is an awe-inspiring venue with chef lecturers dedicated to giving our young people the very best training and education and we are delighted that they have invited us to host this special event."
Principal and Chief Executive City of Glasgow College, Paul Little said: "We are delighted to welcome The Royal Academy to our world-class training restaurant within our incredible new City campus. These high profile events allow us to showcase the amazing talent within our college as well as giving our students a truly unique experience. I'm sure the imaginative gastro menu will inspire our many future chefs too."
Menu Wines and serviceElaine Watson and Alan Hill, Gleneagles
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CanapésMartin Hollis, Old Course Hotel, St Andrews
* Prawn Cocktail (1970s)Home smoked langoustine, avocado, cognac sauce, Bloody Mary sorbet and langoustine fritter
Andrew Hamer, Wilde Thyme
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Classic Fish Soup (1990s)Rouille, Croutons and Comte
Roy Brett, Ondine
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Supreme of Chicken Maryland (1980s)Sweet corn soufflé, banana fritter, crisp chicken and kale crisps
Alan Matthew, Trump Turnberry
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Maracaibo 65%, peanuts and passion fruit (2000s)Maracaibo 65%, peanut nougatine and passion fruit cremeaux
Ross Sneddon, The Balmoral
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Petit FoursKenneth Hett with City of Glasgow College HND Profesional Cookery Students
Each course was paired by wines, which were expertly chosen.
It was a great night to support the hospitality industry and let's hope there are more events like this to motivate the students. We'll certainly keep you informed if there is!
