January 02, 2019 - 1443 views
A teenage, multi-award winning trainee chef recently got the opportunity to advance his culinary skills after completing a stint at a Michelin-starred restaurant.
Dalton Weir, 19, from Mochdre, who is studying on the City and Guilds Level 3 Diploma In Advanced Professional Cookery at Coleg Llandrillo's Rhos-on-Sea campus, was not only chosen for a one week, work placement at The Elephant Restaurant in Torquay, but was also awarded a bursary to cover his expenses.
The Ex-Ysgol John Bright pupil won a Welsh Livery Guild bursary for £1,000, after beating off stiff completion from scores of the college's Hospitality and Catering students.
Dalton "achieved the dream of working alongside a Michelin star chef", after being accepted onto the placement by restaurant owner and celebrity chef Simon Hulstone. With multiple successes at the highest levels of competitive cooking behind him, Simon is now succeeding in the restaurant arena, holding a Michelin star at his Torquay eatery since 2004.
Dalton explained how it all came about: "Earlier this year, I qualified for Britain's biggest culinary competition: Toque D'or. During the competition in London, I got speaking to one of the head judges, Simon Hulstone, and I soon found out that he owned a Michelin star restaurant in Torquay called The Elephant. After a while I was intrigued and was determined to work alongside him at his restaurant".
"On returning to North Wales, I wrote to Simon and was surprised to hear back that he was keen to offer me a work experience placement. The trouble was that I had to cover the costs, paying for my own travel, accommodation and meals. Luckily my tutor Brian told me about the Welsh Livery Guild award which is available in order to help young people develop their professional skills. I applied for the bursary and was placed on the list of finalists, and after an in-depth interview I was awarded the bursary".
"This work experience has given me an understanding of the highest standards of cooking and what is required to be excellent. I will take the knowledge and tips and tricks learned and use them in my future competitions, on the road to becoming a professional chef".
Dalton has been interested in cookery from a young age after taking the subject at school.
His list of competitive achievements since enrolling at college is impressive: he won Gold in the 'Street Food' category at this year's Welsh International Culinary Championships; qualified for the final of the UK Young Seafood Chef of the Year competition; represented Wales at the Future Talents competition in Holland; was among the Welsh team that took part in the acclaimed Toque D'or competition at The Dorchester Hotel in London, as well as recently qualifying for the 'Skills Competition Wales - Hospitality' national final after winning the North Wales heat.
