Budding kitchen professionals and curious cooks around Ireland will have an opportunity to work at the coal face of busy bakeries, bars, Michelin-starred restaurants and chocolatiers when Open Kitchen Week begins on November 11th.
The initiative by Chef Network, now in its second year, launched yesterday with an event held in Michelin-starred Glover’s Alley in Dublin’s Fitzwilliam Hotel on St Stephen’s Green.
The inaugural event last year, saw more than 300 members of the public join more than 50 professional kitchens across the island of Ireland, with participants ranging in age from 16 to 72 years old.
This year, Open Kitchen Week runs from November 11th to 17th, with participating kitchens including Bread 41, the Guinness Storehouse, Galway’s Aniar and Lorge Chocolatier in Kenmare. (Registration is still open for host kitchens to participate, with submissions encouraged from all types of kitchen throughout Ireland.)
Open Kitchen Week aims to appeal to anyone considering a career in the culinary arts, whether that be through a student’s Transition Year work placement or for those looking to make a change in their career path.
Speaking at yesterday’s launch event Chef Network spokeswoman and food policy consultant Ruth Hegarty said one of the main goals of the initiative is to dispel negative perceptions around working in food. “So many employers have created great workplaces but we’re still constantly hit with the same portrayals of chefs in media and in discussions. It seems to always be that the story that’s most appealing is chefs shouting and screaming and throwing things at each other.”
By allowing eager members of the public to sample the culinary world during one designated week in the year, the organisers of Open Kitchen Week hope to demonstrate the reality of life as a chef.
Aoife Comerford, a pastry junior sous chef at Glover’s Alley and youth member of Chef Network’s advisory council, said: “It’s not like this secret club where you’re not allowed in, everyone’s allowed in... all you need is a curious mind.”
Apply here for Open Kitchen Week
