Derek Quelch
Name: Derek Quelch
Date of birth: 8/5/1966
Job title: Executive head chef
Location: The Goring hotel
First job in hospitality: Wexham Park Hospital - Quelch was offered a one year traineeship with a college course.
Route from there to current position: From the Wexham Hospital, Quelch moved to London aged 17. He joined a restaurant called Flounders which is now closed. Between 1985 and 1986 he worked at the Grosvenor House and from there moved to the Savoy Grill for two years as chef de partie. He then spent two years at the Mayfair Intercontinental.
In 1990 he moved abroad for two years, working at various hotels in France, Switzerland and Germany as chef de partie and then in 1992 he started at the Savoy River restaurant in London as a sous chef for four years.
In 1996, Quelch moved to Claridges where he stayed for nearly three years. In 1997 he won the Priz-Pierre Tattinger Award and moved to the Goring.
Main responsibilities: Cooking, menu design, costing, staff supervision.
What do you enjoy most about your job? Every day is different and every order is different. There's also always something to improve on so it's a character building job.
What do you most dislike about it? The attitude of some senior people within the industry. They think that because they worked long hours for little pay, it's OK to make people do it nowadays. The fact that we have a staff shortage shows that it's not OK. Standards and social attitudes have changed.
What attributes do you need to do your job? Patience above all. You also need good management skills, enthusiasm and dedication. Oh, and good cooking skills.
What's your next move? I'm not quite sure at the moment. I'd like to run a larger kitchen in a five-star hotel. I'm quite content at the moment though - there's still a job to be done at the Goring.
What's your ultimate career goal? To be successful at what I'm doing. I know there is always something I can improve on. I also want to train younger people in order to give them a good understanding of the job so they can carry on and have a good career in the industry.
