Posted: 15/06/18
An evening of elegance and flavours for students
Elegant black and gold décor, floral displays and a vivid spectrum of colourful cocktails will be just some of the delights welcoming guests to West Nottinghamshire College’s final graduation dinner next week.
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Left to right Tommy Hudson, DanaElise Moore, Ben Jepson, Stephanie Dove and Jordan Booth
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Lemon meringue with sable strawberries, lemon gel and a mini meringue
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The very colourful, fruity Pridelicious cocktail
Student chefs and hospitality supervision Level 3 learners will be putting on the glitz next Thursday (21 June) and showing off their talents for diners at the final graduation dinner of the academic year.
Cookery students Ben Jepson, Dana-Elise Moore and Stephanie Dove, and hospitality students Tommy Hudson and Jordan Booth are in the final stages of practicing their menu, cocktails and styling for next Thursday’s almost sold-out event in the college’s Refined fine dining restaurant.
The chef trio have a packed menu which will put their very best skills together with the season’s finest ingredients. Starters include goat’s cheese tartlet with rocket and tomatoes, a pork trio with crackling and salad, or salmon and cod fishcakes with mayonnaise and chicory salad.
Diners can enjoy slow-braised lamb, artichoke purée with potatoes and red wine jus for one of the main course options, or chicken supreme with fondant potato, broccoli and chantenay carrots in a mushroom sauce or a vegetarian option of wild mushroom risotto with artichoke crisps and walnut pesto.
A choice of desserts include lemon meringue with sable strawberries, lemon gel and a mini meringue, mango baked custard with passion fruit sorbet or a milk chocolate cheesecake with honeycomb crumb and chocolate and honey praline.
Stephanie, 18, explained: “We’ve picked a wide range of food to cook – some which are a challenge so we stretch our skills. I love bread baking so I’m looking forward to doing the bread. Dana-Elise is particularly skilled with desserts and Ben is amazing with meat cooking.”
Both Jordan and Tommy, aged 18 and 19 respectively, will be meeting and greeting guests with a selection of cocktails. These include a non-alcoholic and an alcoholic strawberry milkshake cocktail with cream and cherries.
Jordan said: “I also have a signature cocktail which is really tasty and is infused with peanut butter. Tommy’s signature cocktail is called Pridelicious which is very sweet and fruity and has the colours of the Pride flag.
“We’ve put a lot of effort into the evening, buying some decorations and ingredients ourselves but we’re so proud and hope to make it a brilliant evening.”
When the students aren’t busy studying, they are working part-time jobs within the sector. Stephanie currently works at Il Rosso restaurant in Mansfield and will be taking up a full-time position after her studies. Her long-term goal is to work within the bakery industry with her recently-found passion for pastry and dough cookery.
Dana-Elise, 17, works at Newstead Abbey’s café and is currently sending out her CV to prospective permanent employers, while Tommy will soon be swapping his supervisor role at Mansfield Town’s Football club’s 1861 function suite to becoming the manager.
Jordan will be continuing his role at Frankie and Benny’s in Mansfield although he has been offered employment as bar staff at a five-star hotel in Majorca as well as a waiter role at Nottingham Crowne Plaza hotel.
Ben, 19, has been busy putting his CV out to employers and is keen to work as a chef either abroad or in Nottingham’s city centre.
