Liverpool Community College

Its a bit off piste, but the way I was treated here last night, they deserve a bit of publicity. Trouble is SWMBO just wanted this best kept secret to stay that way.

Like many catering and beauty treatment colleges, Liverpool Community likes to try out on joe public from time to time. So last night I found myself  along with about 30 other people sitting in a small dining room in the college campus not far from Chinatown and Liverpool 1.

There is a bar selling bottled beer, spirits and wine, and the house red Rioja was very passable. Last night the theme was the four nations, so the starters were Cumberland sausage and black pudding, Irish shrimp salad or leek and potato soup. This was followed by scotch salmon and the mains were steak and ale pie, Welsh lamb, Irish pork or fish and chips, with mushy peas. A composite of deserts finished off the evening. They were bramley apple pie, strawberries with victoria sponge and egg custard tart.  All for £18 per head plus drinks, it was excellent quality and a bargain.

I enquired of the maitre de, who is a lecturer at the college, how it all works as I was surprised the waiting on team were all fairly mature students. They have a wide range of age groups working the restaurant at different times,he said,  and there are five kitchens in the college, all backing a commercial enterprise, be it a bakery or a lunchtime snack bar. People are retraining after losing their jobs, or choosing a different career move.

The chef, also salaried, then took me into the kitchens to show me how he worked with the students. One of them was off to specialise in corporate hospitality, others choose, to be chef's or menu planners. The one poor chap serving us the lamb was on his first night of silver service and struggled a bit with the delivery, but at least he was giving it a bash.

Claire Lara, the professional masterchef winner,  is an alumna of the college and cooked in the restaurant as a thankyou a few weeks ago. She is about to open her own restaurant , La Mouette, in the Royal Hilbre Hotel in Hoylake, shortly. I am sure it will feature here in due course. She is looking to give Fraiche a  bit of Michellin competition in the area. SWMBO attended the Chinese night last month and by all accounts it was fab.

Wirral Community College also has a student run restaurant at its Conway Park campus in Birkenhead, called The Birches, so that's another to be looking at next term.