A change of scenery

There was a time when chefs were inward-looking, not even prepared to pass on any of their culinary tips, let alone a complete recipe.

However, times are changing. Not only are chefs now eager to share the secrets of their kitchen - just witness the plethora of new cookery books written by chefs every month - but they are also more prepared to open their kitchens to colleagues from other establishments in an attempt to enhance the working environment of everyone concerned.

The movement of chefs between kitchens can work in a number of ways. A direct exchange can be arranged between establishments whereby two chefs - usually working in similar positions - simply swap jobs for one or two weeks. This works well in small restaurants and hotels where it is vital to have a replacement if one chef goes elsewhere for a short period.

Kitchens with large brigades may not find it as necessary to arrange an exchange, because they are able to allow one or two members of their brigades to take up a short-term position at another hotel or restaurant without the need for a reciprocal arrangement.

The benefits of encouraging the movement of chefs between kitchens are only too clear. In a climate where there is an on-going shortage of chefs, it is important for employees to do everything in their power to make jobs in the kitchen as attractive as possible. Offering the opportunity of working in an alternative kitchen for a short period of time will not only be inspirational, but will also show the chef concerned that efforts are being made to expand and enrich his or her career.

A change is as good as a rest - and the kitchen is no exception. A chef working two services a day in stressful, and what can often be extremely cramped, conditions may crave a change of scenery. But instead of becoming so disillusioned that the chef decides to move on to pastures new, an occasional chef exchange may help matters. And it is not only the individual chef who benefits from such an opportunity - the rest of the brigade can also pick up on new-found knowledge gleaned elsewhere.

Two hotels that have successfully operated a chef exchange programme over the past couple of years are Langdale Chase Hotel, Windermere, Cumbria, and Bryn Howel Hotel, Llangollen, Clwyd. Once or twice a year one chef from each of the establishments will swap jobs for either one or two weeks. Accommodation is provided for the chefs in a hotel bedroom of the relevant establishment if available - otherwise staff accommodation is used.

"It is an opportunity that can inject some sparkle into every chef's job," says Wendy Lindars, head chef at the one-AA-rosette Langdale Chase. "An exchange provides useful practical experience in a different working environment. There is a wealth of ideas out there upon which we can build. It is important to keep up the interest of your staff and this is an excellent means of ensuring that they don't become stale by continually working within the same four walls."

Bread-making skills

Lindars' sous chef, Carlos Ortola, benefited enormously by the two weeks he spent last September at Bryn Howel, which has two AA rosettes. He returned to Windermere with bread-making skills. In turn, chefs on work experience at Langdale Chase frequently have an opportunity to pick up on butchery techniques - often for the first time - as Lindars prepares all her own meat.

The 30-bedroom Langdale Chase, the smaller establishment of the two with a kitchen brigade of six, would not be able to allow one of its chefs to go on work experience without a reciprocal agreement. "It is very difficult for us to function properly unless our brigade is at full capacity," says Lindars.

Dai Davies, head chef of the 36-bedroom Bryn Howel Hotel, says the exchanges are a great challenge both professionally and socially. "It's a useful opportunity for chefs to expand on their social skills by meeting new people - as well as improving their technical abilities."

Induction programme

Davies usually provides a visiting chef with a one- to two-day induction programme about his kitchen, with the rest of his of her stay spent on the section where they want to improve their skills - usually sauce or pastry.

"It doesn't matter if chefs use what they have learnt here back at Langdale Chase as the hotels are far enough apart not to be regarded as direct competitors," says Davies. "The only rule that we have between the two establishments is that we promise not to poach one another's staff."

As well as the exchange agreement they have with each other, Bryn Howel also occasionally sends its chefs to the Swansea Marriott, while the Langdale Chase has an arrangement with a very different kind of establishment, Francs, a 130-seat French-style brasserie in Altrincham, Cheshire.

In London, the kitchens of leading five-star hotels receive a lot of demand from chefs from all over the world looking for work experience. The Savoy, in particular, is very willing to accommodate such demands. Executive head chef Anton Edelmann says he welcomes anybody who wants to work in the Savoy kitchens, which currently employs a total of 110 full-time chefs.

"We have chefs coming here from all types of establishments - they might be from a tiny little restaurant in the heart of Italy, or from somewhere in the outback of Australia. We even have housewives coming in here to spend a day," explains Edelmann.

"Not only is it good experience for the visiting chefs, but it is also nice for the people who work here - it gives them an opportunity to show off. It motivates everyone concerned - a good public relations exercise all round."

While direct exchanges are not arranged with the establishments that send chefs to the Savoy, Edelmann does dispatch his own chefs to several establishments in Europe where he has built up contacts over the years. Savoy chefs may spend a summer season at the Grand Hotel du Cap Ferrat in St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat in the South of France, or a fortnight stint at the Villa Lorraine in Brussels - but only if they have earned it.

"I won't send anyone below the level of chef de partie and they have got to have been working here for at least a year and are likely to stay for another year," stresses Edelmann. "It is important to have a good relationship with the establishments where you are sending your staff and to match the right person to a particular place - it's no good sending someone who is likely to seize up."

Nigel Haworth, chef-proprietor of Northcote Manor in Langho, Lancashire, regularly takes stagiaires into his kitchen and places his junior chefs in other kitchens - but he does not tend to organise direct exchanges. Haworth says that while he places staff at London's Aubergine, for example, the restaurant's chef-proprietor Gordon Ramsay is more likely to send his own staff to France for work experience.

Haworth limits chef placements to just his junior staff, because he feels that if he offered them to his whole team it would disrupt the kitchen too much. "This is a seven-day-a-week operation. We don't have many quiet periods so I have to organise the placements in a way that does not disable the kitchen."

With this in mind, he has just arranged to send his junior sous chef, who joined as an apprentice, on a series of stages to one-, two- and three-Michelin-starred operations. Although Northcote Manor is one-Michelin-starred itself, Haworth felt Hambleton Hall in Hambleton, Leicestershire, would offer his sous chef experience in a different type of country house hotel. For the two- and three-starred properties, Haworth's chef will be working at Aubergine and the Waterside Inn, Bray, Berkshire.

"I wanted him to experience each level of operation so that he can decide which direction he wants his career to go on.

"Obviously, I don't want him to leave Northcote Manor, but it would not be fair to hold him back. As an employer I feel responsible for my team and I must allow them to learn as much as possible. But I know I am throwing a dice and could risk losing them.

"Some people see it as an opportunity to steal ideas from other kitchens, but it doesn't really work like that. What it does give people is a breather from their usual working environment - a chance to recharge their batteries."

Haworth's advice for those organising stages is to try and place people for one week, providing they are going to get the opportunity to work. "In France nowadays restaurants are more than happy for visiting chefs to observe the kitchen operation, but they rarely let you work - either because there isn't enough work to go round or because involving you would mess up their systems.

"Most cooks are used to being busy, so if you are in a fly-on-the-wall situation you are going to bored out of your mind by the end of the first week. Three days would be plenty in that type of situation."