Compass’ Forward with Marcus Wareing cohort celebrate learnings with 7-course dinner

Founded to nurture and cultivate some of the best senior chefs within Compass Group UK & Ireland, the first Forward with Marcus Wareing cohort wowed guests with a mind-blowing 7-course menu at luxurious 5-star hotel, The Grove in Hertfordshire.

To mark the end of the practical workshops, led by revered chef and mentor to the brigade of Compass chefs, Marcus Wareing, the 14-strong team worked hard to create a menu to showcase the cooking techniques perfected over the last year. Inspiration came from foraging, preserving processes, plant-based influences to support Climate Net Zero ambitions and nose to tail cooking to ensure minimal food waste.

Their stunning menus consisted of mouth-watering dishes including fermented rhubarb; beak to tail duck; salted baked and pine glazed beetroot; and sticky plum and walnut pudding.

Marcus Wareing said: “It has been a pleasure to watch these chefs grow over the last year. The Forward with Marcus Wareing programme is not only about becoming a better chef with culinary learnings and experiences, but it’s about becoming a better ‘you’. This menu tells a story about their journey and I couldn’t be prouder to have been part of it.”

Robin Mills, Managing Director at Compass Group UK & Ireland, said: “When we launched the Forward programme, we set out to help bridge a gap in our industry, embracing and improving the senior chefs in our business along the way. Hearing feedback from our Forward apprentices, it is clear to see just how far everyone has come and their commitment, passion, knowledge, expertise, professionalism, and camaraderie has shone through.”

There are fourteen senior Compass chefs on the enhanced culinary programme, masterminded by Marcus Wareing, alongside the Compass Apprenticeships team, its culinary leads and HIT training. ‘Forward with Marcus Wareing’ runs alongside a Level 4 Senior Culinary Chef or Level 5 Operations Departmental Manager apprenticeship standard. The chefs will formally graduate in 2023 with their full qualification, after completing outstanding modules.