Glasgow pupils cook up a storm for top chefs

Michelin-starred chef, Martin Wishart, who runs the restaurant in Cameron House Hotel on Loch Lomond and owns the Michelin Star Restaurant Martin Wishart will take his place among 24 diners at the Hotel du Vin next week (Wednesday, 11 November). The lunch is just one of the nine meals held to celebrate the culmination of the 14th year of Glasgow's Culinary Excellence Programme. The programme is offered to senior Glasgow pupils in 10 schools who are studying Hospitality, and is designed to provide hands-on experience under expert tuition for youngsters considering a career in the industry. It combines a 12 half-day training sessions in the hospitality industry with a year-long school-based hospitality course. This year,140 Glasgow pupils are sharpening their knives in preparation for showing off their culinary skills to more than 300 invited guests in some of the city's top eateries. Nine Glasgow hotels and restaurants - all of which have trained the pupils during their 12 half days - are hosting the meals this year. Pupils taking part in the Culinary Excellence programme also spend half a day at Gleneagles as part of the course. Councillor Jonathan Findlay, the Council's Executive Member for Education, who will himself attend one of the meals, congratulated everyone involved in the initiative. He said: "Glasgow's Culinary Excellence Programme was ahead of its time when it started 14 years ago, and continues to provide the benchmark for similar initiatives across the country. "The course is demanding and takes an innovative approach to teaching and learning, involving close partnerships between schools and the finest restaurants and hotels in Glasgow and abroad. "Plans are already underway to introduce and work with a further four top hotels in the city next year."