A Masterclass in Introduction to VET Hospitality

We have a very enthusiastic group of students who have enrolled for the Introduction to Hospitality VET course this year under the guidance of Applied Studies Teacher, Mr Cameron Golding.

Recently they had the wonderful opportunity of a masterclass with a Queensland based Chef, Lauren Kinne from Elska Restaurant in Brisbane. Lauren completed her initial qualifications achieving a Certificate I and II in Hospitality (Kitchen Operations) at GYC. After Year 12 she worked as an apprentice at Maldini and then the Glasshouse completing a Certificate III in Hospitality (Commercial Cookery). In 2016 Lauren was awarded the Tasmanian Hospitality Apprentice Chef of the Year Award having been nominated by her teachers at TasTafe (Drysdale). In 2017, as a fully qualified Chef Lauren then embarked on a move to Brisbane in search of further experience in fine dining. She worked at Bucci, one of the ten best Italian restaurants in Brisbane. She was promoted to Sous Chef. Lauren then took up a position at Stokehouse Q at South Bank where she was managing sections and preparing Modern Australian cuisine. She has for the last year worked at Elska which offers diners a fourteen course degustation over two hours. Lauren designs and creates many of the dishes using beautiful Australian produce and highlighting Nordic culinary techniques.

It is very early in the course for our Introduction to VET Students so Lauren took them through important basic knife skills essential for food preparation in the kitchen. She showed them how to safely use knives and the different techniques to present food beautifully. Lauren also shared about her experiences of working in the Hospitality Industry for the last seven years.

Lauren is a passionate cook and Mr Golding was thrilled to have her share her experience and expertise with the class. Students had lots of questions about the Hospitality industry and were keen to hear her tips on how best to navigate a career as a Chef. We are grateful to Lauren for giving her time so generously to the students at Dominic College as they embark on an exciting year of learning in Hospitality.

Mrs Selina Kinne - Coordinator of Applied Studies 7-10