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ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT A CAREER IN FOOD OR WINE?

1 October 2008

The Leiths Two Term Diploma in Food and Wine starting 5 January 2009 offers a comprehensive chefs training and much more in only 6 months. Graduates of the Diploma have gone on to achieve varied and successful food and wine careers, examples include: Henry Harris - Chef Patron, Racine. Lulu Grimes – Deputy Editor of Olive magazine. Denise Tang – Co-owner of ‘Market’ - Evening Standard London Restaurant Award Winner 2008. Daryl Goh – Examiner for WSET Diploma, Wine journalist. Siobhan Boyle – Food stylist for TV commercials, Jamie Oliver.Supported by our cooking agency Leiths List, and our consultancy agency, Leiths Food Solutions, Leiths students have all the tools to be a success. Two Term Diploma

Wine Student of The Year 2007 tells of his prize winning trip.

2 July 2008

Tuesday 29 April 10 months to the day since finishing the Leiths Diploma, and being awarded the “Louis Latour Wine Student of the Year” prize, my wife and I board the Eurostar to Paris and, a few hours and a couple of changes later, arrive in Beaune for our brief, but hugely enjoyable, stay as guests of Louis Latour.It’s my first trip to Burgundy which, on reflection, is odd, as for years the reds of Volnay and Gevrey Chambertin and the whites of Meursault, and my wife’s favourite, Chablis, have counted amongst the wines I love the most. We arrive in Beaune and walk to the hotel at the other end of the old town centre, with a couple of wrong turns along the way. (Something to do with Beaune being smaller than we think, and misreading the scale on the tourist map.)Down in the hotel bar before leaving for dinner, we’re happy to meet Rebecca Fraser, who is Louis Latour’s marketing manager in London, and is the one who has organised everything in advance for us. (Thank you again, Rebecca.) We’re also delighted to meet our fellow guests for the trip. Louis Latour in London have recently engaged a new PR firm, and the owners are over for a ‘getting to know you’ visit. They’re both very jolly.Dinner the first night is very enjoyable. It’s at one of two cellar-based restaurants in Beaune that we visit during our stay and, four courses (including really excellent cheese) and a not irresponsible number of excellent bottles of Louis Latour wines later, the meal’s ensured we all know each other perfectly well for tomorrow. Wednesday 30 AprilWe all meet at 8.30am, and are picked up by Anne, Louis Latour’s marketing manager in Beaune. Our first stop is Louis Latour’s “modern” winery (as opposed to the “traditional” winery we visit in the afternoon). Two highlights from the morning - visiting the cooperage and our first tasting of the day. The cooperage is wonderful. The oak barriques that the grand crus spend their first year or so in are a lot more “solid” than we thought – the oak is a good inch thick. We learn that Louis Latour are one of the very few remaining houses still to make their own oak barrels themselves, and that they also sell a good number to other wineries.The combination of tradition and technology that we see throughout our visit – the cooperage on one hand, the modern bottling line on the other – is great to see. For me, it’s this positive use of technology whilst still applying these crafts and traditions that marks out great wineries and great wines. Getting close to these skills – and the flames used to toast the insides of the barrels! – was a big privilege for us. Then onto the first tasting. Direct from the barrel, the winemaker takes us through a good half-dozen wines, from village, to premier cru, and then grand cru. Another privilege! A couple of the whites – a village Meursalt, a premier cru Puligny-Monrachet, are teeth-clenchingly “green” – the “malo” (as we say in the trade - i.e. the malolactic or second fermentation) is not yet finished and so the “zingier” acids are still evident! Even so, the quality really does shine through – it’s the fruit that’s crystal clear. We also taste a Monrachet Grand Cru. Still greenish, but clearly fantastic quality. Then a premier cru Volnay. Volnay’s a firm favourite of mine. A quintessential “Burgundy” nose, with finesse and bags of fruit. And all showing even at this tender young age! Fantastic. After all that, it’s time for lunch at Louis Latour’s head office on the Rue des Tonneliers in the heart of Beaune. Beautiful offices, and more Grand Crus over our delightful – with some emphasis on “full” – lunch. I’m convinced the French really don’t know how to cook badly. The simplest dishes – and plates of food in France often present as disarmingly simple, like the simple chicken dish that formed the main course – have an elegance and level of execution that just isn’t in our bones here in the UK. All in all, a very pleasant lunch, with a perfectly executed strawberry tart at the end. (Pastry basked, and strawberries glazed, to perfection – students: take note!)Above all this, the absolute highlight for me was the visit to the “traditional” winery up the road in Aloxe-Corton (that’s “Alosssse”-Corton, for the uninitiated). We’re met by Louis Latour’s head winemaker, a man clearly passionate about his job, with huge respect for (and knowledge of) the craft of wine-making, and immensely proud of the Louis Latour name. After a walk-round the wine-making rooms, we progress down into the cellar....This is one of the most extraordinary places to visit. Was life imitating art? The scene we all know from the movie: a spiral staircase, a single dim light bulb hanging by a thread from the stone ceiling, itself covered with cob-webs that also drape down, tickling the heads of those poor souls descending unto the underworld... It all exists! The spiral staircase, the lightbulb, certainly the cob-webs! And I hate spiders! But I’m fairly short so I missed the cobwebs in the hair. And then thousands upon thousands of bottles, dating back to the 1800’s. Many are completely covered in dust, cob-webs, and, unbelievably, huge quantities of penicillin mould! All over the walls, too! Black and slightly spongy. Curious. We walk through a labyrinth and finally reach a more open area, where another light bulb illuminates a presentation table, with a number of pristine wine glasses atop. A small number of barriques containing 8 month old Grand Cru Chambertin and Romanee-Vivant await us. What a privilege! (A word I’ve used a few times now, but for good reason.) Astonishingly, it’s these red wines, that should typically be aged for a good 15 years before drinking at their best, that show better than all the others. Less than a year old, they’re fully drinkable, with marvellous amounts of fruit, real weight in the mouth, and obvious quality. We could quite easily drink a good glass without their youth getting in the way of enjoyment. And then it’s good-bye. A last dinner, at another Beaune cellar restaurant – more great food, with more wonderful Louis Latour wines – and that’s that. Thursday 1 MayMy original plan for Oonagh and I to enjoy an extra night in Paris, spending far too much money at one of the great gastronomic temples, has long been scuppered on realising that Paris shuts down on 1 May. L’Ambroisie. Shut. Le Grand Vefour. Shut. Les Ambassadeurs. Shut. Etc etc. So we enjoy our first class (thanks again!) Eurostar ride back to London. Get a quick nap. And head out later that evening to Le Gavroche for a “traditional slap-up French” nosh.A great trip. And did I say we felt privileged to be there?

Corporate Classes

11 January 2008

The move to the new premises in Wendell Road has given the school an extra kitchen. Not only will this be used for running more one day courses, but we now have greater availability for corporate groups to have bespoke classes both during the day and in the evenings. It can also be hired to both companies and individuals and provides the perfect location for press launches and photo shoots. For details on all our corporate events and hire packages or to arrange a visit please see Corporate events or email Viv Pidgeon.

Leiths has moved

20 December 2007

Leiths School has moved from 21 St Alban's Grove to 16-20 Wendell Road, London W12 9RT. The new premises give us more space, improved accommodation for students and staff, and state of the art kitchen facilities.The first classes at the new school started on 7 January 2008.