ANYONE who has ever tasted Anton Mosimann’s mouth-watering food would jump at the chance of spending an entire day at his academy and private club, tasting his food and learning his cooking techniques.
The Swiss-born chef, world-renowned for his culinary career, which began at London’s acclaimed hotel The Dorchester, now runs a training academy, members club and restaurant in London. He has developed numerous partnerships in the tourism industry, creating menus for guests of companies such as Sun International and Ski Independence.
But while his day culinary course is open to the public, you must pay around £85-£90 for the pleasure.
Unless, that is, you are cabin crew working for British Airways who are entitled to do the course for free.
BA in-flight product development Michael Lenihan said: “We first offered our crew the chance to do the course for free about three ago when we introduced the new style of service in first class, long haul. Research showed that passengers didn’t want to be told when to eat so we introduced a flexible a la carte menu. This meant that instead of serving a prepared plate, crew had to prepare food so it was important they learn presentation skills.
“We chose Mosimann because we consider him the ultimate first-class restaurateur, which our first-class catering aspired to,” he added.
Around 20 BA crew participate on the day course which has now been increased from once to twice a month following demand from employees.
“Reports have been excellent and we receive unprompted feedback from the crew,” said Lenihan.
The day is split into two with the morning spent at Mosimann’s training academy. Crew are taught about food trends and preparation. In the afternoon, they are taken to The Belfry in Belgravia, Mosimann’s private club.
“Staff are given a behind-the-scenes tour. They spend time in the kitchen being shown how to work in restricted space as this is essential when working in the galley,” said Lenihan.
“They are shown tips on delivery and taking orders and there is also time to speak with the manager, ask questions and try the food. It is probably the most popular course we offer. There is a huge waiting list and crew do it in their own time. There is a large crew community of around 12,000, and even though we keep promotion of the course low key, news of it spreads rapidly through word of mouth,” he added.
The course is open to all BA crew but tends to attract those who trained to work on are first-class long-haul flights.
The success of the course prompted BA to look at its short-haul menu and training programme. The airline partnered up with London’s trendy Conran restaurant Mezzo about 15 months ago and day courses for around 20-25 cabin crew now take place twice a month.
In-flight product development manager, short-haul brands, Julia Luker said Mezzo customers and BA passengers are similar, as is the way the two businesses operate.
“Mezzo is a vast restaurant with large numbers of customers going through it and we have a high turnover of passengers. We operate very short routes like Paris and longer ones like Istanbul, while Mezzo has people who come for a quick pre-theatre dinner plus those who want to spend several hours eating – our customers’ needs are very similar.”
Cabin crew on the Mezzo day course are given an overview of the business, taught how to plan menus and handle complaints, as well as learning service principles and serving in confined areas. They also have the opportunity to chat to the chef and taste his food.
For more information on The Mosimann Academy telephone: 020-7924 1111; fax: 020-7924 7187; e-mail: academy@mosimann.com; or visit the Web site: www.mosimann.com
On the boil:Mosimann teaches BA cabin crew about food trends and how to prepare and serve food in confined spaces
ANYONE who has ever tasted Anton Mosimann’s mouth-watering food would jump at the chance of spending an entire day at his academy and private club, tasting his food and learning his cooking techniques.
The Swiss-born chef, world-renowned for his culinary career, which began at London’s acclaimed hotel The Dorchester, now runs a training academy, members club and restaurant in London. He has developed numerous partnerships in the tourism industry, creating menus for guests of companies such as Sun International and Ski Independence.
But while his day culinary course is open to the public, you must pay around £85-£90 for the pleasure.
Unless, that is, you are cabin crew working for British Airways who are entitled to do the course for free.
BA in-flight product development Michael Lenihan said: “We first offered our crew the chance to do the course for free about three ago when we introduced the new style of service in first class, long haul. Research showed that passengers didn’t want to be told when to eat so we introduced a flexible a la carte menu. This meant that instead of serving a prepared plate, crew had to prepare food so it was important they learn presentation skills.
“We chose Mosimann because we consider him the ultimate first-class restaurateur, which our first-class catering aspired to,” he added.
Around 20 BA crew participate on the day course which has now been increased from once to twice a month following demand from employees.
“Reports have been excellent and we receive unprompted feedback from the crew,” said Lenihan.
The day is split into two with the morning spent at Mosimann’s training academy. Crew are taught about food trends and preparation. In the afternoon, they are taken to The Belfry in Belgravia, Mosimann’s private club.
“Staff are given a behind-the-scenes tour. They spend time in the kitchen being shown how to work in restricted space as this is essential when working in the galley,” said Lenihan.
“They are shown tips on delivery and taking orders and there is also time to speak with the manager, ask questions and try the food. It is probably the most popular course we offer. There is a huge waiting list and crew do it in their own time. There is a large crew community of around 12,000, and even though we keep promotion of the course low key, news of it spreads rapidly through word of mouth,” he added.
The course is open to all BA crew but tends to attract those who trained to work on are first-class long-haul flights.
The success of the course prompted BA to look at its short-haul menu and training programme. The airline partnered up with London’s trendy Conran restaurant Mezzo about 15 months ago and day courses for around 20-25 cabin crew now take place twice a month.
In-flight product development manager, short-haul brands, Julia Luker said Mezzo customers and BA passengers are similar, as is the way the two businesses operate.
“Mezzo is a vast restaurant with large numbers of customers going through it and we have a high turnover of passengers. We operate very short routes like Paris and longer ones like Istanbul, while Mezzo has people who come for a quick pre-theatre dinner plus those who want to spend several hours eating – our customers’ needs are very similar.”
Cabin crew on the Mezzo day course are given an overview of the business, taught how to plan menus and handle complaints, as well as learning service principles and serving in confined areas. They also have the opportunity to chat to the chef and taste his food.
For more information on The Mosimann Academy telephone: 020-7924 1111; fax: 020-7924 7187; e-mail: academy@mosimann.com; or visit the Web site: www.mosimann.com