The Beacon ‘Come Dine With Us’ Event
3 May 2023
Following the success of our MasterCook Competitions, we were excited to launch a brand-new initiative in Cooking and Nutrition to showcase the skills learnt and culinary talent of our boys; The Beacon ‘Come Dine With Us’ event.
A group of our Year 8 boys teamed up to devise a delectable menu including canapés, starters, mains and desserts for 18 special guests, comprising of Nick Baker (Headmaster), Nikki Olhausen (Lead Director of Studies), the boys’ parents as well as Laurie Gear (Patron Chef of MICHELIN-starred restaurant, The Artichoke).
On Tuesday afternoon, the pressure was on… our Year 8 chef team worked flat out in the Cooking and Nutrition room to prepare all the pre-selected dishes from scratch. The Beacon front-of-house team did their fair share in helping the chefs with the volume of preparation needed, alongside transforming the Art Room into a fine dining experience!
Throughout the day, our boys worked brilliantly as a restaurant team, supporting each other when needed to ensure they were keeping on top of everything, leading their appropriate sections and planning cooking timings accordingly.
The evening started with a drinks reception and an array of canapés served to our guests on arrival. Our keen diners were then seated at the table to enjoy their chosen starter, main and dessert from the menu:
In-between courses, our front-of-house team did an excellent job in communicating with the chefs as to when the guests were ready for the next course. This allowed our boys to practice and develop their skills of working efficiently under pressure. They did a superb job in keeping calm and ensuring that everyone had the correct dishes, as well as working on quality control to deliver creative and presentable cuisine. It was a long day that was finished off with enjoying some delicious food!
Each boy took responsibility for his role and worked incredibly hard, they should all be extremely proud of themselves. Our diners thoroughly enjoyed their ‘Come Dine With Us’ experience, it is fair to say, the event was a huge success! Well done, boys!
