Why it matters: Two Suffolk New College students have secured positions at celebrity chef Tom Kerridge's award-winning restaurants, highlighting the college's ever-growing credentials in the hospitality sector and providing inspiration for aspiring chefs in the region.
The details: Lilly Popplewell, 19, from Kesgrave, and Saskia Stannard, 23, from Ipswich, both studying level two professional cookery courses, will start as commis chefs at the end of June.
Popplewell will work at The Coach, which holds one Michelin star
Stannard joins The Hand and Flowers, a two-Michelin-starred establishment
The pair secured their positions after meeting Sarah Hayward from the Tom Kerridge Group at Pub in the Park, a London food event. They attended through connections made via The Unruly Pig restaurant.
What they're saying: "The Tom Kerridge Group have been incredibly helpful and I'm very excited by this opportunity," said Popplewell. "I walked into this course being so apprehensive, but I'm glad I did it. I've enjoyed it, met so many people, made friends, and now I've been given this amazing opportunity."
Stannard added: "I'm going to be working with Sarah Hayward, who won young Michelin chef of the year in 2023. I'm so excited. It doesn't feel real. To work in a Michelin Star restaurant is a dream come true."
The bigger picture: The students trained at Suffolk New College's in-house restaurant, Chefs' Whites. Daniel Russell-Poole, chef lecturer at the college, said: "It shows you the standard of talent that Chefs' Whites is able to produce. Our aim is to help all of our students get the job of their dreams."
The bottom line: Two Suffolk students have turned their culinary dreams into reality, proving that talent and determination can open doors to the country's most prestigious kitchens.
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