Ora King Next Generation Mentoring Programme: Stage 2

On Tuesday the Ora King New Zealand team descended upon Christchurch for stage 2 of the Next Generation Mentoring programme.

The recently opened Empire Bar and Izakaya played host as our venue. The day begins with Executive Chef for the Empire group (which also includes Baretta and The Cuban), Mark McCracken picking myself and Anne-Marie up bright and early on his way into Empire.

Set up commences, Anne-Marie and I are determined to make use of all the space and cool quirky corners available. Anne-Marie thankfully takes on technical duties setting up the overhead for slideshows and getting the camera going whilst I get handouts and name badges organised in addition to snacks for the day – very important.

A phone call from Shaun at Christchurch airport – apparently Clem, the NextGen chef from Queenstown is missing…..crisis averted when he turns up – I never found out what actually happened there. The airport party arrives at Empire shrouded in winter scarves and with ruddy faces – it’s cold in Christchurch!

Warm greetings and welcomes follow; hugs for those who haven’t seen each other in a while and strong handshakes for those meeting for the first time – I feel as though I know all the Next Gen chefs already, having been talking on the phone and emailing each of them for so long – it’s good to finally meet in person. 

Jemma McCowan gives a warm welcome and introduction to the day ahead in the main area of Empire Bar & Izakaya. We then move next door to Baretta’s private dining room where each of the mentor chefs and their Next Gen counterparts give us a brief introduction to themselves before reflecting on their week spent together.

Individual personalities shine through, some Next Gen chefs are more shy and reserved than others and we get a real insight into their learnings, experiences shared and the bonds that have been formed.

Andrew Brown reinforces the importance of networking and making connections. Chetan Pangham talks of his time spent in huge hotels both overseas and in New Zealand and how his personal mantra is to “under-promise and over-deliver”. Darren Johnson talks of his experiences in London and how a ‘psychopathic chef’ nearly drove him away from the industry entirely. Kevin Hopgood amuses us with his honest admissions of being sent to catering college as he was a “bit of a delinquent at school” and how he was inspired into a career in cooking by his mum – because she was such a s**t cook! Simon Green admits that having been born into a culinary family he was working from such a young age it was probably slave labour.

 

The underlying themes coming through from this part of the day were attitude, training and willingness to learn.

In addition to the mentor chefs sharing their individual journey of how they got to where they are today, they all spoke highly of their Next Gen matches and discussed how encouraging the overall experience has been. Seeing the young chefs come through with the right attitude, hearing them talk of their learnings and their enthusiasm to learn – Simon noted that the experience has shown him that there is “light at the end of the tunnel” regarding the catering industry in New Zealand.

Following on from the initial ice breaker, Carlita Campbell takes the podium and is joined by Jemma, who, much to Carlita’s mock indignation, ‘steals half her speech’ when she introduces her to the group.

For a chef in her early 20’s Carlita has some big ideas. Jemma describes her as “genuine” and she’s not wrong. There is no ego and no arrogance to Carlita, she speaks honestly and candidly of her experiences in London as part of the 2014 Ora King International Bursary – although not too much is said about her time with Ramsay as she is “still sworn under contract” and not allowed to discuss…….

Carlita talks of the injection of confidence that winning the bursary has given her and how her experience overseas highlighted her own capabilities to herself – she now finally realises her own worth. She tells us about her current position at Blanket Bay Lodge and her travel plans for the near future.

Carlita sparks an interesting group discussion on the subject of work/life balance and the challenges facing the hospitality industry today. Most around the room have a contribution to make on the topic and all mentor chefs share their own experiences with “bullying Head Chefs” or the general expectation on them to work 90 hours + per week.

Carlita has made it her own personal mission to “create in NZ, Michelin quality food and service matched equally to ‘quality of life’ for staff”. She is savvy, has big plans and a can-do attitude and she is definitely one to watch. I personally can’t wait to keep track of her overseas adventures.

In our last session of the morning, Kevin gives us an insight into the ethos behind his local Nelson bistro Hopgood’s.

With ‘Pommy’ anecdotes he highlights the 8 principles of Hopgood’s restaurant, which he believes is testament to how they have stood the test of time. He talks of the challenges he faces, many of which the other mentor chefs can relate to. 

Lunch was catered for by the Empire team and shared banquet style in the main dining area of Empire. Our feast included plenty of Ora King salmon and we were delighted to have the chance to try Daryl’s dish that he created during his week with Chetan in Wellington – Ora King salmon confit, coconut and tamarind roasted belly, nashi pear and lime pickled cucumber – delicious.

After lunch we progressed upstairs to Empire’s private bar area – what a cool spot. All moody blue lighting and perfect for our next topic of social media. Jemma chaired this discussion and introduced the topic by discussing Ōra King salmon’s approach to social media; which platforms we use and our underlying principles or four pillars as we call them.

Andrew & Chetan highlighted what tools work for them in a professional capacity and everyone pitched in with their own experiences. Andrew talked business with things such as ‘return on investment’ and creating his own app.

Chetan noted how things are generally done at the Millenium hotel group (Chetan seems to be the exception to these rules doing much of the social media himself) and he touched on the instantaneous nature of social media and the networking opportunities it provides.

 

From here we moved back downstairs for our Japanese Masterclass with Darren, and who better than the Exec Chef at MASU restaurant to give this masterclass.

Darren enlightened us with some background information on the common ingredients found in Japanese kitchens. We tasted different types of soy and miso pastes while he described how they are manufactured along with their different eating qualities.

(Note to self, do not fill your Chinese soup spoon to the brim with soy sauce – it’s not for slurping!)

 

With some help from his Next Gen counterpart Max, Darren made a ponzu sauce which was put to good use shortly after.

Darren demonstrated the method used at MASU for filleting a whole Ora King salmon which included the unique technique of cutting the scales off.

Equipped with their Ora King aprons and sharp filleting knives, the NextGen chefs were given a whole Ora King each for them to replicate the techniques Darren had just demonstrated. Darren was on hand offering feedback and tips to each chef along the way. Joelle, the only female chef present came out on top. Slow and steady with the scale cutting she was meticulous and a whizz at pin boning.    

In addition to bringing along ingredients to try, Darren also prepared handouts for everyone including information of koji, sake making and his ponzu recipe. The session was interactive, super well prepared and very interesting.

I wanted our last session of the day to be fun and lighthearted whilst still incorporating a relevant skills session. Many of the Next Gen applicants had noted flavour and dish development/presentation/plating/garnishes as skills they would like to develop.

Andrew introduced the topic of trends and dish/flavour development before we launched into a cocktail making competition. After all, the principles of creating a delicious, balanced cocktail are the same principles as creating a delicious, balanced dish.

The mentor and Next Gen Chefs teamed up to create their own unique cocktail using Lighthouse Gin and a variety of ingredients provided. They were encouraged to carefully consider glassware, presentation, balance of flavour, garnish and ingredients used.

The teams were given 15 minutes before they had to present their own unique creation to be judged by the Empire mixologist.

Chetan and Daryl came out on top with their cocktail aptly named ‘Spice Trail Gin NJoy’ – I definitely need the recipe for this refreshing spiced number.

A quick wrap up session included multiple thank yous and a small gift for each of the mentors. Number swapping commenced and Next Gen Chefs shyly (or boldly in some cases) asked about the possibility of jobs with mentors if they were ever to move to their region…..networking at it’s best.

Overall, it was an awesome and hugely successful day; inspiring, thought provoking, positive, creative, stimulating……too many adjectives and not enough space in this blog to do the day or overall programme justice.

We achieved what we set out to do – give young, up and coming chefs the opportunity to develop the essential skills needed to progress in the fast paced food service industry. We forged relationships, created networking opportunities, prompted conversations/discussions/debates about industry challenges and exposed these young chefs to different environments and New Zealand chefs who are at the top of their game.

Needless to say, we’re already planning our next steps from here; how do we continue working with these Next Gen chefs? How do we improve on the programme for next time? Can we replicate the programme across our other markets? All questions we’re currently debating at Ora King HQ.

All I’ll say for now is watch this space!