Schoolchildren get early taste of fine dining

Children in Norfolk are being offered free school meals and a taste of working in the hospitality industry by two local restaurateurs.

Richard and Sue Hughes, proprietors of the Lavender House restaurant in Brundall, near Norwich, have set up a unique dining club for local schools, offering free school meals to children across the county.

Once a month a class of schoolchildren is invited to the restaurant to find out more about the hospitality industry, to watch or take part in a cookery demonstration and then stay for lunch.

"With the loss of cooking on the school curriculum and everybody leading such busy lives, for some of the children it's their first experience of freshly cooked food and the excitement of visiting a fine-dining restaurant," said Sue.

Richard added: "It's not about turning these children into chefs. We're just trying to get them interested in good food and the love of cooking."

Children from the City of Norwich school will be next to claim their free meal when they visit the Lavender House on 14 July.

The couple said the cost of the scheme in terms of food and labour was "more than recouped" by the goodwill and knock-on effects of visits from parents, teachers and school governors as bona fide guests.

The Hugheses took over the 40-seat restaurant in 2001.