News

Out and About 26th February 2015

By Johanna

Just myself and Kim in the office this week (and of course Bentley) and a good week it has been.

Gary Imlach is off to The Grant Arms, Grantown on Spey for a second time.

Obed Omwoma is into his second month up on Shetland where Mark Bellingham is for a second long stint.

Victor Garcia will be finishing at Auchrannie tomorrow and will be returning to The Moorings Hotel in Fort William.

Stuart MacColl is also up on Shetland at The Brae Hotel but his time is coming to an end as they have offered the Sous Chef position to Daniel Bartos.

Jonny Lewis and Tim Morris are still over at The Crusoe Hotel in Fife and getting on very well.

James Paton after being up at The Castle Hotel in Huntly he is now working down at the Cairndale Hotel in Dumfries with John Forestier.

Scott Galloway is working at The Inchture Hotel for 9 days before he takes his permanent position up at the Toravaig Hotel on Skye.

Out & About Wednesday the 18th February

By Johanna

Relief last week was good and we got 14 jobs out and there are around 27 chefs out working.

Glyn Musker is working in Monifieth near Dundee at The Milton Inn as Head Chef.

After Paddy Farren finishing his stint at Ramnee Hotel he is off back the The Lovat in Fort Augustus where he spent a few month last year.

Alan MacPherson has been kept busy most of the winter being back a Loch Insh Watersports and Knockomie House.

Lillian Clarkson is back at Kames Hotel after having the cold/flu for a few weeks (glad you’re feeling better Lillian)

Mark Shaw is working at Mondo in Coatbridge is has been asked to stay on twice.

Edvinas Stankaitis is getting excellent feed-back from Jake at The Three Lemons where he spent 1 week then he was off to a care home in Forfar and is going to The Carlton Hotel in Edinburgh for a couple of day this weekend.

Scott Bolton is back at the Golf Hotel in Silloth where he spent some time 2 years ago.

New girl Jenny Quashie is out on her 1^st job at The Dunavon Hotel up at Dyce Aberdeenshire.

For those who have filled in their disclosure Scotland forms we can keep them on our system for care home jobs.

A very good start to the year so far, thanks for all your hard work girls and guys.

10th February 2015

Tuesday 10^th February 2015

Relief work is starting to tick, tick away like a little clock as we move towards lighter nights and the middle of March.

Adverts are pounding away, coming in daily, come in at the rate of six, seven, eight or nine per day. Busy.

There seems to be plenty of us working in the offices, almost working shifts at the moment. Johanna is getting the most adverts as befits a five year chef recruiter. The new ladies Kim and Beverley are helping also.

Kim used to work at the Smugglers in Auchencairn and has owned and run her own restaurant as a chef in Palnackie for the last four five years, so has relevant experience to the job.

Perm recruitment.

We are getting a smattering of permanent positions filled, never enough and never easily enough. Two last week and one last Saturday with plenty of other options for permanent jobs on our growing list of jobs which we are attempting to fill.

The structure of the office here over the coming weeks will be Johanna Watson and myself with Kim Ellis coming in to work here four days per week and Beverley Stewart helping out part time in between looking after two young children. Beverley has a background in graphic design and we are working in a sleek new Chefs In Scotland brochure which we hope to have out shortly.

Ten past four and bright light, I managed up at twenty past five last night for 3 holes of golf.

Out and About

Glyn Musker has undertaken a few relief jobs via Chefs In Scotland over the years, more so since last September when he finished a couple of years at Greshornish on Skye. Glyn got on well at Burts in Melrose and also at The Drovers Inn on Loch Lomond and Dalmunzie hotel over New Year and has seen his grading on relief go up the scales to 2.

Stuart MacColl headed up to Brae Hotel early January and as per usual we have not heard a noise out of one of Scotland’s top relief chefs over many years. Many thanks Stuart.

Paddy Farren is completing a three week stint as relief head chef up at Ramnee in Forres up by Inverness and will be getting on well as usual.

Steve Nye who we have not met completed several jobs via us at back end of last year at Kenmore, Kintail Lodge Hotel as well as a few days at City Holdings head office in Glasgow. All completed so thanks Steve and all the best with the new job.

Ed Stankaitas who kindly left us some pecan nuts amongst other goodies when he visited us whilst working in Moffat continues with his 100% track record.

A good set of guys and girls, not forgetting Lillian Clarkson who is back at Kames Hotel for a 2^nd stint or is it 3^rd in the last couple of years.

Ok time to search and update the database before close of play

Many thanks for continued support and patience

Michael in Moffat

4th February 2015

Wednesday 4^th February 2015

“Out and About”

We do our management statistics over the week-end and one of the numbers we tally up is the amount of relief chefs out working in placements via Chefs In Scotland who we are still charging for, which is up to 8 weeks.

So anybody we placed up in Tongue in 2000 and is still lurking about up there we are not charging for. I think the first permanent placement up there was the late lamented Iain “Bad Boy” Baird a politely spoken big brute of a man, coming in at about twenty stone. He went up there in 2000 as a sous chef to work alongside Callum Marr and left after about four months. Iain subsequently did quite a few relief jobs via us in Fort William, Oban amongst others before sadly meeting his maker not long after getting off the ferry on Harris. I had one memorable night out with Iain in Portree in about 2003 when we had a few beers at The Isles Inn in the square followed by an excellent steak meal with sweet chilli sauce through the sautéed veg and a good pile of chips, all served on a black rimmed rustic plate. One of us fell asleep at the table; I can’t remember which of us it was.

Back to the numbers

Last Saturday we had 14 out down from 31 on the 31^st of December 2014. This compares with last year when we had 12 out and only 7 the same time in 2013. Not a huge amount then, although as the days start to stretch into February and a man’s thoughts turn to a few holes of golf at 5pm when the snow clears from Moffat Golf Course, the number will increase. We can expect to have out about 40 by Easter and perhaps just about touching 60 in the summer. Ideally, we will have met all of those chefs and they will mainly have a good pedigree with us.

This does leave quite a few chefs sitting idle at the moment waiting for the phone to ring.

Henry Samms has been up in Aberdeen at Palm Court alongside well known chef Sebastian Schoeder and also managed a couple of three day stints to provide cover down at St Cyrus just down the coast from Aberdeen. Henry was a CIS placement for the first time in 2002 at the Portree Hotel, again on the island of Skye and had an excellent year on long term relief last year, mainly at The Four Seasons in Onich.

Douglas “Denzil” Gillies is completing his stint at The Cairndale in Dumfries and does so before taking a full time permanent job closer to home in the Hamilton area. “Denzil” heads off for a permanent job with his relief grading intact and our best wishes for the future for both himself, his family and his slightly ailing football team, although I believe that some help is en route from “Doon Sooth”, certainly not the Doonhamers of Dumfries. Cheers “Denzil”

Up north, Gary Imlach has completed a couple of stints at Y Not up in Thurso and spends a lot of time working on his croft and helping out with his family. Gary stretches back with us a very long time and has a three year stint under his belt at Chirmside in the Scottish Borders as well as a great many longer term relief jobs (three years at Scourie) under his belt and retains an excellent grading year on year.

Ryan Williamson has only been on our books for about a year but so far has a good permanent placement at Tor Na Coille in Banchory to go with a few relief jobs at The Four Seasons, St Fillans, a good stint at The Royal Hotel in Bridge of Allan and now out at The Westerton Arms. Grading on the rise for Ryan.

Roger Brown and Philippe Avril are both down working at The Dryfesdale in Lockerbie and have been for approaching a month now and both staying put for now and getting on well. Many thanks Roger and Philippe.

Obed Omwoma undertook his first relief job at Scotland’s Hotel in Pitlochry over Christmas and New Year and has now been up at the Shetland Hotel for over a month on his second stint. This after completing a 10 years stint as head chef in Dumfries at the Cairndale. Thanks Obed.

Mick Kitson who is based down here in Moffat has taken on a new permanent placement job at Moffat House and we wish him all the very best for his many fine jobs over lots of years doing back to his first job with Jo Fenner up at Ben Nevis when we were still on Skye.

Glad to see Ben Nevis posting a job on our website for a bar manager paying £37,000 per year, we can take front of house postings also on our website as adverts.

OK, ten past twelve, will get this up and move on

Many thanks for continued support and patience

Michael in Moffat