Cooking for a full house at the student-led Orpington restaurant, the Tanner brothers, who run and own the Kentish Hare in Bidborough, treated 50 guests to a sumptuous three-course dinner. They were assisted by a team of 15 Level 1 and 2 students from London South East Colleges’ Hospitality, Food and Enterprise Career College
As well as providing the students with an exciting opportunity to work alongside two of the best chefs in the industry – the event raised £2000 for Bromley Mencap and Unicef.
The 16-18 year olds helped prepare for the evening, create the dishes and serve the guests. The seasonal menu consisted of cured salmon trout, roast rump of lamb and rhubarb and vanilla financier.
Special guests included the Mayor of Bromley, Cllr Kathy Bance MBE and Chair of London South East Colleges, Stephen Howlett. Members of The Tanners’ own team also joined the students, including Head Chef, Bobby Brown, Chef de Partie Stephen Ferrari and Sous Chef Alex Floyd.
Speaking after the successful event, Chris and James Tanner, TV Chefs and Co-Owners of award-winning gastropub The Kentish Hare said: “We thoroughly enjoyed another fantastic night at BR6. We are delighted to see this restaurant go from strength to strength, since opening it in 2015.
“As patrons of BR6, we love spending time coaching the students here and know we can rely on them to act and work extremely hard and professionally.
“There are some extremely talented young people here, who will soon be in great demand by our industry. I am grateful to all the guests who came along and supported the students, helping to raise money for a great cause. We will of course be back very soon.”
Jason Main, Executive Head Chef said: “We are incredibly privileged as a college to have such hands-on support from industry professionals like Chris and James.
“This event gave our students another excellent opportunity to produce and serve very high-quality food, under the guidance of two hugely talented chefs. It also gave us another chance to showcase our fantastic facilities and our talented students and staff to the public.
“I am hugely grateful to James and Chris for all their support and helping us to make our BR6 restaurant such a continuing success.”
Gabriel Iannacone (16) from Lewisham was part of the BR6 student team at the charity dinner. Currently studying at the College on a Level 1 Catering and Hospitality course. Gabriel says:
“Working with Chris, James and their team was such a brilliant experience for me. I learnt so much, particularly about the importance of using quality ingredients and seasonal products. The chefs were really impressed with some of the techniques we have already learnt during our course.
“This Career College is not like other colleges, where you just make food for yourselves. We get to create amazing dishes for paying customers in excellent facilities using the best equipment – with guidance and training from top chefs.
“I will be moving onto a Level 2 course here in September and hope to run one of my family’s restaurants in the future.”
If you are interested in a career in the Hospitality industry we have a range of courses on offer from Level 1 through to degree programmes. We provide industry-standard facilities and support top employers.
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