In front of an audience comprising hospitality employers, educators and culinary experts, students worked alongside chefs from Xcelerate with Edgbaston, Restaurant Associates and Levy UK+I. Together they created an a four-course seasonal fine dining menu that ‘wowed’ guests.

Adam Thomason, culinary director at Restaurant Associates, said: "It was brilliant to have the students from South and City College Birmingham with us at Xcelerate. Our chefs have already been working with the college through The Chefs’ Forum Academy, so inviting the students into our training facility to cook a four-course lunch for 100 industry guests felt like the perfect next step.

“It’s a great way to showcase what a career in food at Restaurant Associates and the wider Compass business can look like – and we’re proud to support the next generation coming through."

The menu included:

• Canapés: Aussie beef tartar and English wasabi and slow cooked Aussie lamb neck, English pea, aged fetta
• Starter (Adam Thomason, culinary director, Restaurant Associates): Asparagus, chard, grapefruit, rye
• Fish Course (Christopher Alexander, regional executive chef, Restaurant Associates): Raw and cooked hand-dived scallops, crème fraîche, herring roe
• Main Course (Mathew Ludlow, chef manager, Xcelerate): Guinea fowl supreme, miso, celeriac, shiitake mushrooms, soy
• Dessert (Asher Robinson and Elliot Clifton, Levy): Rhubarb & custard cheesecake

Sheri Cadwallader, chef lecturer at South & City College Birmingham added: “The event presents an excellent opportunity to showcase the hospitality industry and Compass to our learners.

“Chris Alexander from Restaurant Associates has visited the college on numerous occasions to support our enrichment days with The Chefs’ Forum, and it is wonderful that students can now see him in his kitchen and have the chance to work with so many outstanding chefs from the group.”