Independent London caterer, Vacherin is celebrating over a year of its partnership with esteemed chef Robin Gill, which gives its chefs the opportunity to gain experience and development within Gill’s restaurant environments.
Gill is the owner and director of three London restaurants – The Dairy, Sorella and Counter Culture, and was named Good Food Guide’s Chef of the Year 2016.
Gill is continuing to work alongside Vacherin’s Deputy Managing Director of Food and Operations, Dan Kelly, and Head of Food Development, Candice Webber, in developing a series of new concepts and strategies.
Kelly said “We’ve developed a collaboration that is truly unique. Our aim was to create something that was different to the other chef partnerships that we’ve seen in the B&I market. Our work with Robin is driven by the development of our own chefs, which has tangible benefits for our customers.”
Gill has also hosted stagiaires (cooks who work briefly, for free, in another chef's kitchen) at two of his restaurants in Clapham for 15 of Vacherin’s chefs.
Kirk Sandiford, Vacherin’s head chef at Regent’s University London, said, “It was amazing to have the experience of working at one of Robin’s restaurants. The opportunity to do this was something I didn’t think I’d have the chance to do working in corporate catering, but it’s given me the opportunity to think outside of the box when delivering services and menu offerings to our customers.”
Gill’s bespoke Vacherin workshops and stagiaires are open to chefs at all levels. They are used as a way for the team to gain experience and understand more about restaurant service and unique cooking techniques. As well as running regular stagiaires, Gill has also run workshops on butchery, fermenting and curing and Vacherin chefs joined Gill’s teams at the Taste of London Festival last summer as well as other specific high-profile Robin Gill events.
Gill said, “Working with Vacherin has given me the opportunity to influence a broader type of emerging culinary talent. Mentoring is a key component of a chef’s development and I am proud to continue in this long tradition”.
Vacherin is running an exclusive chef’s table event with Robin this June for its customers and contacts.