HIT Chef Academy

The academy provides intensive practical cookery workshops where apprentices can hone their culinary cookery and preparation skills, or learn new ones, to fully meet their apprenticeship standard. These one-day workshops take place in selected demonstration kitchens in 20 venues across the UK. Our Chef Academy workshops deliver the highly skilled apprentices needed to meet the continuing growth in fine dining across the country.

What the Chef Academy Offers

The academy supplements our professional chef apprenticeship programme for any apprentices working in a ‘fine dining’ kitchen and nominated by their Head Chef to participate in the academy’s enhancement activities. It is therefore suitable for Commis Chefs, Chefs de Partie and Production Chefs. It is also accessible on a commercial basis by other learners whose chef skills could benefit from a refresh or boost.

HIT is proud to have recruited some of the best professional chefs from industry to deliver our Chef Academy workshops and to mentor and guide your apprentices back in their workplace kitchen. Our team of chef trainers are led by Paul Mannering (Principal) and Mark Belford (Deputy Principal).

Apprentices spend time with industry experts, sharing ideas and boosting their understanding of key areas such as preparation and cooking, as well as flavour profiling, dish composition and seasonality. The workshops deliver content extracted from industry recognised qualifications.

Apprentice chefs who are enrolled onto our Chef Academy, in addition to their normal apprenticeship schedule, will be invited to attend additional programmes, roughly every six to eight weeks.

Commis Chef Workshops

The Commis Chef academy programme comprises five exciting workshops:

• Game and Offal  – boosts knowledge and polishes practical skills of working with this versatile, lean and flavoursome family of meats

• Fish and Shellfish – takes an in-depth look at the many delicious and versatile cooking ingredients provided by the ocean, focusing on practical skills

• Vegetable Protein and Vegetables – develops skills and understanding of the potential for creating tasty and exciting meat-free savoury dishes

• Bread and Dough – focuses on practical dough skills, and explores the vast array of sweet and savoury breads to be enjoyed from breakfast to bed time

• Bakery and Patisserie – hones skills in creating, preparing and presenting a range of tempting, eye-catching bakery and patisserie products

Chef de Partie Workshops

The Chef de Partie academy focuses on key leadership and management skills alongside technical and complex preparation techniques in a range of subject areas:

• Leadership and Communication – builds skills in leading and communicating with team members in the kitchen, explores leadership, motivational theories and interactions

• Menu Planning and Costings – supports learners to plan and cost a balanced dish or menu, looks at the many influences to consider including seasonality, sustainability and budgets

• Fish and Shellfish – focuses on accuracy, technical and complex preparation, cooking and finishing methods of fish and shellfish from our seasonal recipe bank

• Nose to Tail – this butchery masterclass involves the breaking down of a pig into the primary and secondary cuts, and covers a variety of preparations as well as seasonality

• Bakery and Viennoiserie – involves making pastry and doughs for a variety of preparations including puff pastry, Danish pastry, croissants, sourdough and financier

• Patisserie and Desserts – this patisserie masterclass involves the technical preparation, cooking and finishing of complex patisserie items, and looks at seasonal influences

Production & Senior Production Chefs Workshops

The Production Chef academy programme offers flexibility with the following workshops:

• Brand Standards – looks at the power of a brand and the importance of adhering to the brand in terms of the ingredients, presentation and flavour of food and drinks prepared

• plus your choice of any two Commis Chef workshops (see above)

The Senior Production Chef academy programme provides skills in key areas in the following three workshops:

• Brand Standards – looks at the power of a brand and the importance of adhering to the brand in terms of the ingredients, presentation and flavour of food and drinks prepared

• Leadership and Communication – builds skills in leading and communicating with team members in the kitchen, explores leadership, motivational theories and interactions

• Menu Planning and Costings – supports learners to plan and cost a balanced dish or menu, looks at the many influences to consider including seasonality, sustainability and budgets

Production Chef Apprenticeship – Fish Frier Route

• Fish Frier –​ This workshop involves a variety of preparation, cooking and finishing methods across a variety of takeaway and restaurant settings

Professional Chef Apprenticeships

Apprenticeships are not just available for school or college leavers but to any chefs already working in the industry who wish to improve their skills, undertake more responsibilities or gain promotion. Chefs at all levels and ages can gain new skills with the apprenticeships involving on-site learning and assessment, e-learning and assignments, with frequent on-site visits by our industry experienced chef trainers.

The intermediate apprenticeship at level 2 is for Commis Chefs, the advanced apprenticeship at level 3 is for Chefs de Partie and the Senior Chef Culinary Arts higher apprenticeship at level 4 is for Sous Chefs, future Head Chefs, Executive Chefs and Kitchen Managers.

Who Can Apply?

For national or regional hotel, restaurant, contract catering or gastro pubs chains, a bespoke programme will be organised to meet the specific culinary and skills requirements of that organisation. For individual restaurants, hotels, contract caterers, pubs, or any outlet offering fine dining, HIT will be organising regional masterclasses near you so contact your local office for more information.

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