October 26, 2026 - 190 views
A chef who honed his skills at London's world-famous Savoy Hotel is bringing a taste of fine dining to school meals in North Wales.
Danny Wild, 45, from Rhos-on-Sea, has cooked for celebrities including former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, chef Gordon Ramsay, adventurer Bear Grylls and Spice Girl Mel B during his time at the prestigious hotel.
He also worked alongside the late culinary legend Albert Roux before moving into school catering, where he is now helping to transform perceptions of what pupils can expect from their daily meals.
Danny has spent the past five years as head chef at St David's College in Llandudno, an independent day and boarding school where freshly prepared dishes, locally sourced ingredients and an emphasis on nutrition are at the heart of the catering operation.
The school's 12-strong catering team is led by manager Will Jones, 48, whose own career includes working at the five-star Chester Grosvenor Hotel.
Between them, they bring experience of cooking for high-profile guests and delivering food to exacting standards, but their focus is now on making sure pupils enjoy the same commitment to quality.
The menu at St David's includes dishes such as shin of beef cooked with red wine, salmon teriyaki, biryani and korma curries. Other popular choices include seafood gratin, a variety of fish dishes and vegetarian lasagne.
Danny, who trained at Llandrillo College, said he was impressed by the standard of cooking when he first visited the school for an interview.
“I came for the interview and was taken around the kitchen and I just thought, ‘Wow, they do proper cooking here’,” he said.
“You have an image of school meals and you think they just buy stuff in, but that doesn't happen here.
“The ingredients are sourced locally, the preparation and cooking is of the highest standard, everything is freshly cooked, everything is homemade.
“I have the same dedication of delivering delicious, nutritious food here as I had at The Savoy. The expertise and the commitment to the job is exactly the same.”
Danny said the team was keen to encourage pupils to try unfamiliar dishes and develop an interest in different flavours.
“Everything we serve is nutritious and we encourage the students to try new things and introduce themselves to new tastes.
“They surprise you in the end, they will try anything and some become real foodies. It's great to see.”
Curries are among the most popular options, with a dedicated curry day proving a particular hit with pupils. Biryani and korma regularly feature, while salmon teriyaki and other fish dishes are also well received.
“The most popular dishes include our curries. We do a curry day and that always goes down well, we will do a biryani or a korma,” Danny said.
“Salmon is really popular too, such as a salmon teriyaki, and fish dishes go down a treat, especially the seafood gratin.”
He believes the quality of the food at St David's is a world away from the traditional image of school dinners.
“Back in the day school dinners had a terrible reputation, but what we do here is a thousand miles away from that,” he said.
“I think I probably had chips, beans and cheese most days at school, with the dessert being a blancmange or a rice pudding.
“It is a different type of school here. We take huge pride in what we do and where we get our produce.
“We use local butchers, local fishmongers, local fruit and veg guys.”
Among the businesses supplying the school are Mermaid Seafood in Llandudno and Llechwedd Meats, alongside foodservice companies Harlech Foodservice and Castell Howell.
Danny said buying locally made practical as well as culinary sense, helping the team obtain fresh ingredients while supporting businesses in the surrounding area.
“Getting the produce locally is more convenient, it's fresher, it's price competitive,” he said.
“I have grown up here and lived here all my life, so I know local produce around here is excellent.”
The school's relationship with local suppliers is part of a wider contribution to the regional economy. St David's College spends around £1.5 million a year with suppliers and contractors from the area and is estimated to contribute £7 million to Conwy's economy annually, while supporting 213 jobs.
Catering manager Will Jones shares Danny's enthusiasm for freshly prepared food and high standards of service.
Will, from Colwyn Bay, began his career as a demi-chef de partie at the Chester Grosvenor before going on to run the hotel's brasserie.
His experience also included preparing private lunches and dinners for the late sixth Duke of Westminster at the duke's home at Upton, near Chester.
Will recalled the scale of the property and the discretion required when catering for private guests.
“We would go to his house at Eccleston, which was massive, and the grounds were huge, although all the guests were kept hush-hush,” he said.
“The same level of detail we had for the duke and that striving for excellence is exactly the same level of detail that we have here at St David's College.”
The team makes a wide range of dishes from scratch, including pies, chicken dishes, curries and quiches. Desserts and fresh bread are homemade, while the salad bar offers four or five different homemade salads.
The menu also includes more elaborate dishes such as slow-cooked porchetta, prepared using a whole pork belly seasoned with fennel and lemon before being rolled and cooked overnight.
“We do shin of beef with red wine and smoked bacon, or we will do porchetta where we get the whole pork belly, fennel, lemon, roll it up and slow cook it in the oven overnight,” Will said.
“We have a great team here, we all work well together, and we also know the students well, and their parents.”
For all the chefs' professional experience, the verdict that matters most is that of the pupils sitting down to eat.
Year 6 pupil Martha Gunn, ten, is a boarder at the school and said she particularly enjoys the fish and chips and pasta dishes.
“I love the food here, especially when we have fish and chips, and I really enjoy the pasta dishes too. There is a big selection,” she said.
Fellow Year 6 pupil Alastair Preston-Marriott, also ten, attends as a day pupil and is equally enthusiastic about the variety.
“The food is great, there is a big variety, and I really like things like the vegetarian lasagne,” he said.
“I really like the Chinese food as well, especially the sweet and sour chicken.”
For Danny and Will, the aim is to combine that variety with fresh ingredients, careful preparation and the sort of attention to detail associated with fine dining — while helping pupils discover that school meals can be something to look forward to.
