Valentin Girard-Pouech and Ilian Jacquot are students at the Ecole Hoteliere de Grenoble, an international hospitality management school, and have both spent the last month working at St John’s College in the kitchens and dining rooms.
Bill Brogan, catering & conference manager said: “This is the first time we have organised a culinary exchange and it has been very successful.
“Both Valentin and Illian have an outstanding range of skills and a very positive attitude to the tasks they have carried out here which has been recognised by the people who have supervised them including John O’Sullivan, Fellows’ Butler and Franco Elia, Functions Manager.
“In addition to working in the kitchens here, they have also assisted front of house at such functions as College Open Days, a Donors’ Dinner, Fellows’ lunches and dinners and serving breakfast to our conference and B&B guests.
“Not only have they had the opportunity to showcase their skills in a different environment, the visit has had a very positive effect on our own in-house team and there has been a mutual sharing of best practice and ideas.
“We are planning to make this an annual event as part of our commitment to training our staff and achieving the highest possible standards.”
Ecole Hoteliere de Grenoble trains 400 students each year in catering and front of house skills. It celebrates its centenary in 2017.
St John’s College catering & conferences team recently won two stars in the Sustainable Restaurants Association Awards.