Ricky Bergin, 18, will be graduating from Carshalton College and starting a job as a Commis Chef at the prestigious Le Gavroche restaurant in Mayfair, run by famous chef Michel Roux JR.

Ricky joined Carshalton College in April 2011, as part of the scheme developed between the College and the London Apprenticeship Company (LAC). 10 apprentices joined the College, aged between 16 and 18 years, to develop their catering skills in a working environment as Catering Assistants. During the past 12 months, Ricky has worked Monday to Thursday in the kitchen and diner and studied on Fridays.

His role has involved preparing and cooking the dishes, designing menus and working to a tight budget to make a profit. When looking for a placement, Ricky visited the La Gavroche’s website and uploaded his CV before being invited to a trial day and completing the tasks in the typical day of a Commis Chef.

Ricky was successfully selected at the trial day for a full time position starting in October 2012. Michel Roux is among Ricky’s role models along with Rick Stein and Marco Pierre White. He hopes the role will allow him to progress, develop his skills and look at gaining promotions through the opportunities available. Ricky will be part of a team of 20 chefs working on each shift to serve lunch settings and dinner service. The teams are made up of kitchen porters, sous chefs and chef de partie.

Ultimately, Ricky would like to open his own restaurant in a country house setting outside London “My inspiration came from my Granddad who owned his own restaurant in Portugal and got me interested in food after originally wanting to become a professional footballer. My advice to anyone interested in a career in catering is to stay focused, be flexible, learn as much as you can from the experts you work with and be willing to work weekends.”

La Gavroche provides a a La Carte Menu, Business Lunch Menu and Menu Exceptional with or without wine option. Michel Roux grew up in the restaurant which was originally set up by his father and after working in France returned to La Gavroche to take over from his father and add his individual style to take the restaurant into a new era. The current menu is a lighter, modern version of the classic French haute cuisine that the restaurant is famous for with Mediterranean and Asian flavours.

Carshalton College’s inhouse training restaurant, Nightingales, welcomes guests to their coffee mornings, lunches, fine dining and a variety of themed nights during the year. Meals are prepared and served by our enthusiastic students under the supervision of experienced chefs with our Full-Time, Part-Time and Apprenticeship courses. Visit www.carshalton.ac.uk for more details.

Based on information supplied by Maxine Alexander.