The Sheraton Perth Hotel this week kicks off the first event in its new Apprentice Chefs Table, an initiative its launched to add more depth to the training of its apprentices.

It’s the brainchild of executive sous chef at the Sheraton Perth Hotel, Andrew Thomas, who created the Apprentice Chefs’ Table with the aim of helping to develop the skills of apprentice chefs by exposing them to the issues, decisions and problems that will confront them as they pursue their chosen career.

The Apprentice Chefs’ Table concept involves the hotel’s apprentices working as a team to organise all the aspects of the table for a specific event. Their first task is to nominate one apprentice to be head chef who assumes the responsibility for designating a sous chef and chefs to look after certain courses, nominate chefs de parties, co-ordinate all meetings, organise all ordering, menu tastings etc. and arrange recipe implementation in the kitchen computer, liaise with the food and beverage department regarding the matching of wines for each course, organise the distribution of invitations to guests, and have total control of all decisions made.

Through their apprenticeships with the Sheraton Perth, nine young people have the opportunity to participate in this exciting program and demonstrate their talent, skill and creativity to a selected audience of VIPs involved in either the education and training industry or the hospitality/tourism sector of Perth.

The first Apprentice Chefs Table event is a lunch this Wednesday with guests including Small Business Minister and Minister Assisting the Minister for Education Training, Norm Marlborough as well as directors/managers of training organisations such as Swan TAFE, Australian School of Tourism & Hotel Management.

The hotel says the introduction of the initiative will allow apprentices to better gain an appreciation of the pressures that occur in the kitchen allowing them take responsibility within a controlled environment and giving the apprentices exposure to situations that existing senior kitchen management experience on a daily basis.