A pair of talented chefs from Ipswich got to spend a week at Gordon Ramsey’s Michelin Star restaurant in London.
Phoebe Chew, 17, and Davide Oggero, 17, both from Ipswich, are on level three cookery courses at the Suffolk Centre for Culinary Arts based at Chefs’ Whites restaurant in Ipswich.
Earlier this year, the duo who study with Suffolk New College, took part in the annual UK Restaurant Team of the Year competition – getting to the semi-final stages of this event.
They impressed judges and thanks to their efforts in the competition, the teenagers were invited to spend six days learning from the best at Pétrus by Gordon Ramsey.
They travelled to Belgravia with their tutor Chris Martin and spent some time with the head chef of the restaurant, Orson Vergnaud, and the executive chef, Jocky Petrie.
Davide – originally from Italy, and with an ambition to open his own restaurant one day – said: “We got to see how a Michelin star restaurant runs. How they do their prep, their service, and clean downs. We chatted to Orson, and talked to him a little bit.
This experience has made me want to work in a Michelin star kitchen. We got to ask lots of questions and I got lots of ideas about ingredients and flavours to use in different dishes.”
Phoebe – who is hoping to eventually open her own bakery in the future – said: “We spent five days learning from the best, working eight hours a day including one evening. Orson asked us what we wanted to do in the future. He was very nice. I’d definitely like to do something like this again.”
They will now take part in the 2024 Restaurant Team of the Year competition later in the year.
On this, Davide added: “We hope to learn from our experiences in 2023 and progress even further.”
Chris Martin is a chef lecturer at Suffolk New College. Chris said: “What an amazing experience for our students. Thanks to everyone at Pétrus for giving two of our talented chefs this opportunity of a lifetime.”