Last Friday as it was the end of the month the Chefs In Scotland team took a trip over to The Powfoot Hotel which has recently been taken over by Del Amitri, excellent chef Martin Avey and his wife Lisa. Del Amitri used to be Annan and it was very popular and situated in the centre of town. The new restaurant at The Powfoot Hotel is in an amazing location with a stunning view. We were very lucky to have a dry day and watch the tide come in looking over the Solway Firth.
Martin Avey used to do relief work with CIS and still maintains his grade 1 status on our database so we were keen to sample food from his new venture. I have eaten at Del Amitri before and the food was excellent so I was excited to see the new menu.
To begin with we had a Solway gin and tonic sitting by the floor to ceiling windows looking out onto the sea which I would highly recommend. Then through to the table to be served some delicious tomato and herb, freshly baked rolls and look at the wine list. We chose a dry, Spanish white wine as we were having mainly pork, fish and seafood.
To start I had the crayfish tail with langoustine ketchup, pickled samphire and popcorn. All the flavours balanced together very well and all of the starters looked beautiful. For main I chose belly of pork with creamed cabbage, black pudding bon bon and pomme anna. The pork melted in the mouth and was very tender. We had a portion of chips and aioli on the side which were all homemade and delicious and very moreish.
For pudding with a glass of late harvest desert wine I had Pedro Ximenez cheesecake. Sweet pieces of cheesecake with Pedro Ximenez jelly and a lovely cheesecake base.
I cannot fault the service we received. There when you needed them and the atmosphere in the small 40 cover restaurant was buzzing.
I am hoping to go again next week with the family and I am sure they will enjoy it as much as we all did.
Jessica
Availability of Chefs in Scotland 2nd August
There are candidates in central Scotland if paying good money in excess of £28,000 and upwards for head chef jobs.
In rural Scotland including Inverness and all the highlands and islands, there are not many head chefs and we advise offering accommodation with permanent or seasonal head chef jobs to attract candidates. Otherwise you may have to wait some time until a relevant local candidate becomes available.
In rural Scotland and particularly for 2AA Rosette country house hotels relevant candidates are scarce. Skye, Shetland Islands and rural Argyll, it is proving hard to get relevant candidates despite the payment of good money. (about £35,000 for 2AA Rosette head chef) .
Suggest paying £28,000 upwards to £40,000 according to requirements and demands of the job. Ideally we advise for a five day week and over-time paid on a pro rata basis for extra days worked and for hours in excess of 48 on a pro rata basis.
For seasonal head chef jobs suggest £120 per day or £600 per week with end of season bonus for completion.
Aberdeenshire, Dundee and East coast, there are a few Head Chefs registered.
Inverness and the highlands of Scotland mainland pay good money with good accommodation and you will get some decent candidates unless you are 2AA Rosette or 3AA Rosette in which case it may be a bit tight.
Head Chefs are being put off jobs that offer set wage for 5 or 6 days per week and prefer to work 5 day weeks or if six paid by the day.
In rural Scotland we are advising offering live in also, ideally at no charge to the chef.
The more central, the more candidates you will expect to get and the more rural, the harder it can get.
With all the social media currently available, many chefs are becoming very savvy about where they wish to work and establishments with records of poor chef retention may find it harder to attract good quality permanent candidates. Scotland is quite a small country.
Sous chefs
If it is a live in position for 4 star hotel suggest paying £24,000 to £30,000.
In central areas such as Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth and Stirling can try live-out and there are a few relevant chefs. In rural Scotland, it is particularly hard to get candidates at this time of the year but there are some candidates if there is a good package in place.
2AA Rosettes and are quite scarce. Suggest wages of £26,000 - £28,000 upwards to £30,000 for 3AA Rosette sous chef.
A good way to attract candidates is to pay hourly rates for every hour worked by chefs.For sous chefs suggest £11 to £14 per hour this will help to attract and retain good candidates.
If paying salaried, we suggest five day week with overtime pro rata over 48 hours.
Chef de parties
Availability currently ok in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perthshire and central belt. Quality is mixed. In rural Scotland with accommodation there are a few candidates if wages are decent, suggesting £8.50 to £12 per hour.
There are some chefs looking for live in accommodation and may be happy to relocate and again are of varying quality.
If paying by salary suggest £19,000 for a 45 hour week works out £8.11 an hour which is on the low side. Suggest paying up to £22,000 or hourly rate £8.50 - £12 per hour with live in accommodation at a small charge. We would hope you will get decent candidates with this.
Commis chefs
A few bodies available including students coming out of college. Enclosed link to minimum wages.
www.minimum-wage.co.uk/
Pastry a few available happy to have a look
For perm we can look if pay “fee of interest” or advertise
Availability of Relief Chefs change daily and we can advise.
If you are looking for a relief chef, we will be offering a discount until the end of January for any new bookings.
CIS fee will be £60 + VAT per week for up to 10 weeks
Rates of pay for the chefs
Head Chef £21 per hour
Sous Chef £19 per hour
Chef de Partie £17 per hour
Give me a call with any requirements you may have
Tel: 01683 222830 or email: jojo@chefsinscotland.co.uk
“Chefs In Scotland is pleased to announce, that in collaboration with Vira International of India, we are looking to recruit Indian Chefs to work in the UK.
In the mid 2000’s CIS also brought over many quality chefs through Vira International.
Conditions do apply but if they are met, what we found was that the Chefs who came over had excellent training in 4 and 5 star establishments and were stickers, usually remaining in the same place for many years.
Vira International are hugely experienced in this field.
Ideally, you will have the sponsorship license and we will do all the rest.
This is a reasonably costly process but please do contact me for a quote or to discuss the process and or to register your position with us.
Recruitment costs are a percentage of salary and are as follows:
£26,000 to £35,000 is 12%
£35,000 to £50,000 is 13%
The whole process takes on average 12 to 16 weeks depending on how quickly the home office is working.
These positions are from chef de partie upwards and a minimum wage of £26,200 for a 45 hour week will apply.
We will then, with Vira, suggest the best candidate for your position.”
Please feel free to contact me for further information or to talk through your requirements.
Ruth – 07565 989429
ruth@chefsinscotland.co.uk
With around 25 relief chefs currently out working this number is up on last year.
There are a few relief jobs coming in.
We will be keen to meet relief chefs in the New Year. We have met John Taylor this week and Dale Paton just popped in this morning on his way to Auchen Castle.
Out working just to name a few is Sarah Pozzi at The Alexandra Hotel with Graham McLeish as Acting Head Chef, Jenny Quashie is still up in Wick at Mackays Hotel, Jamie Atkinson is at Kingsmills Hotel in Inverness where Stuart MacColl and Mark Murray are just starting, Sara Jayne Moffat is at Duisdale Stephen MacNiven is just finishing to take a permanent post as head chef at The Moorings Hotel in Fort William, John Wood is over in Shetland for a 4 month stint and Kevin MacAngus is also in Shetland, Alan MacPherson was up in Thurso at Y Not then to Ardvasar Hotel in Skye and then will be going back to Loch Insh Watersports, Bobby Ainsworth is currently at the Stag Bistro in Forfar and Jason Keenan is at the Easterbrook Hall in Dumfries.
Thanks for your continued support and hardwork.
������� �2�
RSS