THE guests enjoyed a fabulous meal but for the 14 apprentice chefs who transformed a warehouse into a banqueting hall and pulled out all the stops to host a gala dinner, it was an event that will influence their future careers.
The impressive banquet was part of the final assessment process for apprentices at the Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board’s College of Further Education and Training Hospitality Campus in Roxboro.
Key figures from the hospitality and tourism industry attended the event including Irish Hotels Federation President Elaina Fitzgerald-Kane; Chef John Clancy who is Director of World Association of Chefs and Chef Paddy Brady, President of the Panel of Chefs of Ireland.
Also in attendance were managers and chefs who were directly involved with the apprentices over the past two years as part of a special steering group. But the visitor who attracted the most attention was Culinary chef trainer at KSG Catering Pat Carey who was there to assess the trainees in his capacity as External Authenticator For National Commis Chef apprenticeship.
The apprentices showcased the many skills they acquired over their two years of training and, after completing 22 modules, it was an impressive display of their talents.
The entire event was organised by the apprentices themselves and they also designed the extensive six course menu, overseen by their instructor Chef Kieran Shaughnessy.
But that was only part of the hard work for the apprentices as part of their final assessment.
They must now complete PowerPoint presentations and various reports and assignments based on the final year event.
This will include everything from food costings to what went well on the day and what could be improved.Also there to support the gala event were the Hotel Management class under the direction of Ivan Tuohy as well as Transition Year students from Mungret College under the direction of Liam Doherty who were there as Customer Relation hosts and servers.
