"Kendal College, home to one of the most influential cooking courses in the country." - Jay Rayner
Hospitality is one of the main sources of income for the Lake District economy. And with past students working for celebrity chefs in Michelin-starred kitchens, what’s not to like about pursuing a career in hospitality & catering at Kendal College?
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Hear from our students, tutors & alumni on our Hospitality & Catering playlist.
Navigate through the films by clicking on the top right icon!
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Thanks to the college's location in one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations, there is no shortage of opportunities for students to gain work experience, traineeships and apprenticeships with some first-class tourist and hospitality businesses. The college has an unrivalled reputation for delivering some of the UK's most talented chefs, managers and industry professionals.
Unlike many other colleges, Kendal College has a focused Lakes School of Hospitality & Management, which is run like a hotel to prepare students for the same high-pressure environment that awaits them after college. Highly experienced tutors have worked in the industry at all levels and have a dedication and passion for the job that is second to none.
Tutor expertise and reputation ensure that placements, guest chef events, and foreign trips to dining hot spots are always available for hospitality & catering students. The team regularly hosts and supports high-profile functions and events at the college (like the Cumbria Food Awards in the video above!), giving them the confidence and experience to advance to their future careers.
Students also have the opportunity to join the Culinary Team, who can travel to countries such as Japan, the USA, and Dubai to experience different culinary cultures.
There is a wide range of part-time, full-time and degree-level courses, plus a choice of apprenticeships available to study hospitality & catering at Kendal College.
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I really like getting real-life experience and working in the college restaurant, whether it’s front-of-house or in the kitchen. I currently work in one of Simon Rogan’s restaurants and I got the job with help from college. I love the atmosphere here, it’s been really fun making the dishes and working on food presentation. After college, I want to progress and hopefully become a Michelin star chef in the future.
Kyra-Anne Mendelson, Professional Cookery Level 3
Meet your tutors
Yannick Lequitte
I began my catering career in my native country France before coming to England to work for a well-known hotel group. I have also worked as a private chef to the French Ambassador in London, where I catered for state and presidential visits. Kendal college is a great place to learn with state of the art facilities. Bakery and patisserie is a subject that I am very passionate about. There are excellent opportunities to learn, progress and secure a job in our industry.
Meet your tutors
Graeme Hedley
I have worked in the hospitality and catering industry for 20 years, working in London after finishing college in the North East. I have experience working in fine dining country houses and hotels up and down the UK ranging from 3 and 4 AA Rosettes and some properties gaining Michelin Stars, including The Samling Hotel above the shores of Lake Windermere, where we earned three red stars, 3 AA Rosettes for the food and a Michelin Star. I have been at the college for 20 years, working in the restaurant and teaching bespoke courses.
Meet your tutors
Paul Waring
I have worked in hotels and restaurants in the northwest & Lake District for over 20 years, and my last job in the industry was as Head Chef of the four-star, two-rosette Lakeside Hotel at Newby Bridge. I’ve taught at Kendal College for 16 years, mainly regarding chef, food service, and hotel management qualifications. I also do lots of work within the local schools, including cookery demonstrations, helping to organise fundraising events and liaising with potential students for taster days!
View our courses
This course runs over three days a week. You would spend three days in the restaurant, thus gaining experience in the restaurant learning about the various areas and sections relating to food and beverage service. You will also spend up to 2 hours a week in theory where you will have the opportunity to expand your knowledge about food and beverage service in relation to the units you are doing, studying units such as; customer service, team work, preparing and setting the restaurant, bar service and payment handling.
This course will appeal to those who are serious about a career within the patisserie or bakery sector. The course will comprise of mainly practical aspects in both the bakery and patisserie kitchen with some theory. Work experience, directed study and on-line learning will also be given.
This course gives students a realistic experience of working in a busy hospitality environment and with high end clients. For example, in the morning you could be serving breakfast to the Lake District Hotel Association, followed by lunch in the college restaurant and then setting up a buffet and canapes at the Town Hall for the international Mountain Festival. The department caters for many prestigious community events throughout the year, such dinners for the Mayor and for the Cumbria Life Food and Drink Awards.
This course gives students a realistic experience of working in a busy hospitality environment and with high end clients. For example, in the morning you could be serving breakfast to the Lake District Hotel Association, followed by lunch in the college restaurant and then setting up a buffet and canapes at the Town Hall for the international Mountain Festival. The department caters for many prestigious community events throughout the year, such dinners for the Mayor and for the Cumbria Life Food and Drink Awards.
This course runs over four days a week, usually Monday-Thursday. The course is delivered during the normal college day (9am-5pm) three days a week, and one evening will be working in the college restaurant for the evening service (you will need to arrange transport home anywhere between 9pm-11pm). This course develops your skills front of house and you will be given responsibility to lead a team of level 1 and level 2 students, delegating tasks to them and supervising their progress. Students are given the opportunity to participate in many enrichment events over the year. The Hospitality department also recruits a Culinary Team who are employed by the college to support additional corporate events, with the money raised going into an end of year foreign experience. Students in previous years have visited top restaurants and hotels in Chicago, Dubai, Toronto, China and Barcelona.
This course gives you some freedom to develop your ideas and give you the opportunities to create your own dishes. You are also given responsibility to lead a team of level 1 and level 2 students, delegating tasks to them and supervising their progress. If you take the Multiskills route, you will work one day in pastry, two days in the main kitchen and one day developing your skills in the training kitchens. The multiskill qualification is a combination of larder and pastry units.
If you opt for pastry, your time will be spent developing your patisserie skills in pastry. You will have the opportunity to develop your skills in cakes, pastry, enriched dough products and hot and cold desserts with sauces, sauce and filling. You will also work with chocolate, sugar and decorative work.
Our Wines course will give you a solid grounding in wine tasting, enable you to focus on the key grape varieties and regions of the world, as well as tasting and understanding the principles of wine production.
This course is for anyone working in a catering or hospitality setting where food is prepared, cooked and served.
