Thomas Walker
Head Food Educator at Hackney School of Food- Claim this Profile
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English -
Topline Score
Bio
Credentials
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Food Allergy Training
Food Standards AgencyApr, 2016- Sep, 2024 -
Health and Hygeine Level 2
High Speed Training LtdMar, 2016- Sep, 2024 -
Nutrition and Healthy Eating Level 2
High Speed Training LtdMar, 2016- Sep, 2024 -
Workplace First Aid
High Speed Training LtdMar, 2016- Sep, 2024 -
Diploma in Photography
Institute of PhotographySep, 2013- Sep, 2024 -
TEFL 120 hour course
i-to-i Online TEFLApr, 2010- Sep, 2024 -
Level 3 Supervising Food Safety in Catering
High Speed Training LtdJun, 2016- Sep, 2024
Experience
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Hackney School of Food
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United Kingdom
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Professional Training and Coaching
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1 - 100 Employee
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Head Food Educator
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Feb 2020 - Present
The Hackney School of Food is a vibrant cookery school established by LEAP Federation of Schools (Gayhurst Community School, Mandeville Primary and Kingsmead Primary) in partnership with the charity Chefs in Schools. We offer schools and our community a broad range of cookery courses to teach children and their families to cook nourishing food from scratch. Set amidst beautiful productive gardens where we grow much of our produce from scratch. we offer an immersive experience in growing and cooking real food made from the freshest ingredients. We are at the forefront of children’s food education and research, working with Kings College Department of Nutrition to teach children about the importance of fresh food throughout their lives. Show less
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Chefs in Schools
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United Kingdom
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Wellness and Fitness Services
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1 - 100 Employee
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Head Chef & Food Educator,
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Sep 2019 - Feb 2020
Working in the Gayhurst Community School Kitchen to provide daily freshly produced lunches to 600 pupils & staff, alongside weekly cookery lessons for pupils as part of the DT curriculum to teach preparation and cookery techniques as well as nutrition. Chefs in Schools are leading a new revolution in school food, recruiting and training chefs to take on food and food education in schools. We believe that children have an absolute and vital right to enjoy and learn about fresh, nutritious food. We believe that equipping the next generation with the skills, excitement and knowledge to feed themselves and their families well, should be a central part of the education offered at school. We cook with energy, creativity and passion, and do everything we can to share that passion with the young people in the schools we work with. Visit www.chefsinschools.org.uk to find out more about our work. Show less
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Highgate School
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United Kingdom
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Primary and Secondary Education
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100 - 200 Employee
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Senior Sous Chef
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May 2019 - Sep 2019
Helping to modernise and bring nutrition to the fore front of the catering services' offering. Improving my understanding of large volume catering, and school food. Helping to modernise and bring nutrition to the fore front of the catering services' offering. Improving my understanding of large volume catering, and school food.
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The Jamie Oliver Group
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United Kingdom
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Media Production
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100 - 200 Employee
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Head Teaching Chef, The Jamie Oliver Cookery School
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Jan 2016 - Jun 2019
Leading a team of Teaching Chefs to teach and inspire customers across all skill levels. Encouraging them to share their passion and knowledge for food with our locals, our customers and the rest of our team, reflecting this in our teaching style and how we work with food. Teaching cooking skills in a passionate, professional, but relaxed manner. New Lesson Development, and redesign of current lessons - researching food trends, listening to customer feedback, and testing recipes to work in a real time lesson fitting this into the Jamie Oliver brand,Writing customer recipes cards; presenting them in a concise and readable style.Delivered pop-up teaching events in Westfield Shepherd's Bush 2016 & 2017.Assisting on Jamie Oliver Food Team on special events, has also allowed me the opportunity to work on photo shoots and recipes.Hiring and training of new staff - designing and managing intensive personal training plans for new starters; training on lesson content, teaching styles and day-to-day processes.Administrative duties including Upholding high standards of Food Safety and HAACP, controlling stock systems and driving sales to a desired GP of 88%, whilst maintaining a labour spend of 35% to keep the business on budget. Show less
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Food Champion (Recipease by Jamie Oliver)
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May 2015 - Jan 2016
- Leading groups of customers in a variety of cooking lessons , to develop their cooking skills and culinary knowledge, ranging from technical chef skills across to global cuisines.- Becoming knowledgeable about all aspects of the lessons, ingredients, seasonality, and current trends in the food industry to teach with confidence.- Delivering cooking lessons by studying the subject matter in detail, preparing each teaching station for the class, and running them to plan and on time.- Providing excellent customer service through hosting each lesson, engaging with the customers to ensure they feel relaxed and comfortable in their learning environment.- Ordering of weekly and daily ingredients for lessons- Act as a general supervisor to the kitchen team to monitor and keep high standards of food production, health & hygiene, and team morale. Show less
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GeoVisions Foundation
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United States
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Travel Arrangements
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1 - 100 Employee
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English Teacher
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Feb 2015 - May 2015
- Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Italian Middle School, Intermediate level English to Year 1 - 3. - Planning lessons to teach language points, grammar and functions, with a focus on improving student's comprehension and subsequent ability to be understood. - Ensuring that lesson plans are adhered to in class, by managing the class and following planned timings, but also being flexible to the learning ability of the class. - Creating a positive and engaging atmosphere with the students to encourage group and individual learning. Show less
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Bakkavor
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United Kingdom
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Food and Beverage Manufacturing
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700 & Above Employee
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Development Chef
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Nov 2012 - Nov 2014
- Research, Development & Innovation of new products, and upgrading existing products in Ready Meals, Veg Accompaniments, and Snack categories to be supplied to major supermarket retailer - Research of ingredients, cuisines, provenance and current trends in restaurants and the food world alongside competitor product tasting to establish our benchmarks and keep our products relevant and competitive. - Using research to create new, and upgrade existing, recipes using an online recipe management programme, MS Excel and Word, to provide a viable product for the core competencies of the manufacturing site. - Sourcing of new ingredients by liaising with suppliers in conjunction with the purchasing team in a discussion of what is required. - Costing of recipes based on ingredients, direct and indirect costs, liaising with the commercial team to have accurate commercial information to meet profit margin requirements whilst providing a quality product, relevant to the consumer’s needs. - Testing products by weighing ingredients, and following correct methodology to check recipes, with attention to flavour profiles, and the suitability of the product to the range it sits in. Amending recipes as needed based on tasting feedback, then re-testing and finalising the product for business handover. - Presenting products to internal departments to explain the dish, discussing key points of the recipe and method; introducing new materials and processes and problem solving kitchen to factory procedures, before presentation of final business submission to retailer. - Attend factory trials to help with transition of kitchen method into factory process to explain how food should be cooked, providing feedback on subsequent trials. - Running of the development kitchen - placing food and supply orders, effective stock management, drawing up and adhering to cleaning rotas, daily kitchen admin. - Catering at events - executive board lunches, customer meetings, press launches Show less
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Jamie Oliver Restaurants
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Hospitality
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1 - 100 Employee
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Senior Service Chef
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Feb 2010 - Sep 2012
- Key organiser for the restaurant stall at Eat Reading! Food Festival 2011 & 2012 - Promoted from Commis through to Service Chef in 12 months - Overseeing the operational aspects of the kitchen, and taking ownership of them in the absence of other Senior Chefs. Running the kitchen in a proactive manner, delegating duties when needed, dealing with and resolving problems in a positive way. - Working with fresh, seasonal ingredients from top quality suppliers to create great food. - Checking the consistency of dishes, batches and produce, and providing feedback to team members to ensure high standards were maintained. - Monitoring and enforcing HACCP protocols, accurate record keeping, and administrative duties. - Training new and junior members of the team, running ‘Passion’ learning sessions to improve and test knowledge to engage with a more enthusiastic staff. - Responsible for the weekly stock take of the restaurant. Recording raw ingredients, dry goods, and batches with an accurate wastage and usage statements. Compiling the figures for the Head Chef, to then be used in Gross Profit statement. - Responsible for the weekly ordering of general restaurant supplies, and cleaning products; With experience of produce ordering, using weekly stock takes and sales figures for accuracy. Show less
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Enterprise Rent-A-Car
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United States
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Real Estate
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Management Assistant
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Jan 2008 - Mar 2010
Completed the Graduate Business Management Training Programme - Running the daily operations in branch, organising other members of the team so productivity is maintained, and deadlines were met in a busy and customer facing work environment by prioritising workloads as needed. - Branch Corporate Account Manager to be a direct contact with local corporate accounts to build better relationships; Devising action plans to create growth, implementing marketing strategies to introduce and expand ERAC business. - Handling daily administrative duties including organisation of operations, handling branch accounts, processing daily banking procedures and customer relations. - Devising weekly reports from profit & loss, sales & income statements to project monthly estimates on profit. - Training and developing new trainees in their understanding of the business Show less
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The George Vaults
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United Kingdom
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Food and Beverage Services
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1 - 100 Employee
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Senior Chef de Partie
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Jan 2002 - Jan 2008
- Winners of the Best Restaurant in Kent Award 2004 - Operating the kitchen in the absence of other Senior Chefs in a Modern Franco-British Brasserie, with a Pan-Asian Evening Restaurant. Working with fresh, seasonal ingredients from local suppliers to create quality produce. Involved with discussions of new menu ideas with other chefs, including the sourcing and costing of dishes. - Ordering ingredients from suppliers, organising storage areas for stock control and rotation. Show less
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Education
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2011 - 2012
Westminster Kingsway College
High School, Culinary Arts/Chef Training -
2004 - 2007
University of Reading
Bachelor's Degree Honours, Ancient History and History -
1996 - 2003
SIr Joseph WIlliamson's Mathematical School
High School, History; Classical Civilisation; English Literature
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