News

4 weeks at Chefs In Scotland

I have been at Chef In Scotland for 4 weeks now. I have enjoyed the last 4 weeks in the office with Johanna and Jessica and had the chance to work with Alannah for a few days whilst Jessica enjoyed some time off.

I have learned a variety of new skills in the last four weeks and have received excellent training from Jessica, Johanna and Michael. I have learned to use new Microsoft packages which I had never used before, as well as using my own email to contact chefs and establishments.

I received my first advert last week and my first permanent placement yesterday with the guidance of Johanna and Jessica. I enjoyed the thrill of getting my first placement and enjoyed the process of doing so and hope to get many more in the near future.

My daily tasks throughout the day include: references, invoices, filing employer forms, adverts and sending out CV’s to establishments. I also enjoy keeping my Facebook page updated and keeping in contact with chefs and owners of hotels that I am working with.

Working at Chefs In Scotland has been a complete change for me as I used to work in the retail industry as a sales assistant. Working for Chefs In Scotland is a much more rewarding job compared to what I used to do and suits me much better.

Out and About 24th August

Over 70 chefs out working, the availability of chefs is still very tight in August and the availability in September is looking slightly better.

I have a few jobs to confirm this morning 😊

If you are out working via Chefs In Scotland and are due to finish please get in touch with your finish date and your next available date.

We are still meeting chefs in Moffat for relief work and permanent senior positions, get in touch to check our availability.

Relief jobs still have around a 90% success rate.

Next month I will be doing a list for “MAGIC 20”.

If relief work is something you want to do I would suggest if you are currently employed on a permanent basis for you to email over your CV and we can chase up all relevant references, meet you and we can let you know when the season will kick start next year.

Some chefs who are still working that we have final billed for

Denzil Gillies at the Western Isle hotel in Mull

Neil Hawthorne at Stonefield Castle in Tarbert

Sara-Jayne Moffat at The Granary Restaurant in Portree

Dave McConnachie at the Station House Inn at Corrour Estate

Scott Maciejewski at The Tavern in Fort William

Daniel Haig at Drovers Inn at Loch Lomond

Alex Burns at Royal Dornoch Golf Club in Dornoch

Ian Godfrey at Eddrachillies Hotel in Scourie

Nancy Rafferty at The Kings Manor Hotel in Edinburgh

Bruce Robertson at The Glen Nevis Restaurant in fort William

Ally Brown at Balmacara Hotel in Kyle of Lochalsh

Dmitrij Cvilij at Saucy Mary’s in Skye

Taylor McFarlane at The Tavern in Fort William

James McInally at Dalhousie Castle in Bonnyrigg

Chris Daily at Alyth Hotel in Perthshire

Johan Sikkema at Carrbridge Kitchen in Carrbridge

Paul Whitecross at The Garth Hotel in Grantown on Spey

Laure Galloway at Orde Food Company in the Borders

Thanks for all of your hard work and continued support

Walking out

I read in the news this week about a wedding venue in England where the chefs walked out on the day there was a wedding which ruined the couple’s special day. Luckily the bride’s brother had experience of being a chef and he got in the kitchen to help plate up the food. It got me thinking about what would lead the chefs to do this on what some would consider the most important day of someone’s life.

I personally have never walked out of an establishment although I have felt like it on occasion but never actually could bring myself to do it. I think being in a kitchen is just like everything, taking the rough with the smooth. Like chef recruitment sometimes we come in to chef placements and adverts straight off and other times we can come in to no-shows, fall-downs and lots of things going wrong. This can be frustrating to say the least but its just a case of getting the team together and seeing what we can do to help and make the best of a bad situation. I just wonder at which point does it get too much that it causes a chef to walk out.

I have been in situations where the staff accommodation has certainly not been what it has been agreed on and after trying to resolve a situation with no luck I chose not to stay. This made me learn a very valuable lesson. Always check out the staff accommodation before accepting a permanent job!

I know kitchens can be hot, frustrating places with plenty to go wrong but feel its unfair on the paying customers on such a crucial day. This probably was a classic case of the final straw on the camels back.

Out and About Friday 17th August

Counting the relief chefs, we still have 80 chefs out that we are billing for.

19 confirmed for the week so far, waiting on establishments to get back to confirm more today.

We are meeting chefs here in Moffat to discuss permanent and relief, for relief especially we are keen to meet all chefs we have on our books and are providing work to. Get in touch to arrange a time and day so we can check our availability.

Relief chef availability still remains very tight, but this expected for the time of year, we are unable to take any more jobs on in August.

Happy to put on from September onwards as the availability is better from then. Happy to take details if you can pay the chef weekly and provide accommodation.

Some of the chefs are not as well known to us and it may be their first relief stint with us. We will give you all the information we have, and the onus is on the employer as to whether they want to take them on or not.

A few chefs we have out working, lets go with some of the ladies 1^st

Lillian Clarkson is at Archiestown Hotel

Sarah Pozzi is at The Galleon Grill in Tobermory

Sarah Jeffrey is at Murray Arms Hotel

Laura Galloway is at Orde Food Company

Sara-Jayne Moffat is at The Granary Restaurant

Angela Richards (great having you back) is booked out next week at the Buccleuch and Queensberry Hotel

And some of the gents we have out working

Callum MacMichael is at The Cross Keys Hotel

Graeme Kennedy is at Mackays Hotel

Douglas Gillies is still over in Mull at the Western Isles Hotel

Patrick Johnston is at The Green Hotel

Steve Moffat is at Lomond Hills Hotel

Tim Morris is at The Deeside Inn

A very big thank you to everyone we have out, your hard work is very much appreciated 😊