"There's so much talent " - Young chefs shine as Goodwood's apprentice dinner sells out

It’s a yearly tradition at the Kennel Club, coinciding with National Apprentice week, during which culinary apprentices take the reins on a luxury three-course service of their own creation.

The chefs, after honing their skills under the watchful eye of executive chef Mike Watts, work together to develop the menu, source the ingredients, prep the dishes and, when guests come filing into the kennel’s gorgeously appointed dining-room, serve the food hot and on time.

For Kennel Club members, it’s a much-anticipated yearly event, but for the chefs themselves, it’s a chance to flex their culinary muscles, show off their creativity, and put their skills to the test for a dining room full of real, paying customers.

"It’s quite exciting for them, I think,” says Chef Watts. “We’re there to support them, so they’re not left on their own, but ultimately it’s their dish, that they’ve worked on, and their friends and family are coming in to try it, so it’s this chance to show off. And for us, it’s an absolute joy to watch them deliver what we know they’re capable of, to be honest. Half an apprenticeship is about learning, but it’s also about making mistakes – and although that won’t happen – this is about seeing how hard it actually is to run a kitchen and lead a service.”

With an ambitious menu consisting of mushroom raviolo to start, herb-crusted Goodwood lamb for main and vanilla choux buns for desert – all sourced and prepared in-house it’s safe to say the apprentice chefs didn’t shirk from the challenge.

For hardworking apprentice Henry Harvey, who has been based at Goodwood for a year and a half, one of the most exciting parts of this year’s dinner was taking charge of a kitchen himself; leading a service from start, all the way through to finish.

"I took part in this last year as well, and at the time I was given a section,” he explained. “But this time I’m leading the whole service.” It’s a lot of pressure, but Henry and his team weren’t phased. New though it might be to lead the kitchen, everyone in the kitchen knew full-well what their colleagues could do.

"It’s a lot of pressure, but the people I’m working with, they know what they’re doing. And we can all lean on each other to get through. We’ve been working together for months.”

It’s another step forward in careers which could take these chefs all over the country, to some of the best and most prestigious restaurants in the world.

"I want to travel and work,” says Drew Loan, who has been an apprentice for six months. “Spend some time in France, some time in Italy, and just work and work and work, learn as much as I can. I can take the skills I’ve learned here anywhere; there are good connections here, and loads and loads of fantastic chefs – there’s so much talent.”