Table Talk

When Ben Christopherson was travelling, shortly after going to catering college, he knew he wanted to work in pastry - but nobody would let him have a go. "On the continent they just would not let you in the pastry kitchen if you didn't have experience or a qualification. I didn't have either of those," he tells Elisa Roche in this episode of the Career Conversations podcast series, made in association with the University of West London (UWL). But Ben says that experience is what drove him to get some qualifications in patisserie and go on to have a hugely successful career as a Head Pastry Chef. He ended up working at places like the luxury Goring Hotel, Harrods, and eventually launching his own business. All of that experience feeds into the work he does now as a lecturer in Food Studies and Hospitality at UWL. Ben describes the role as being a mix of teaching, competition training, creating new modules, liaising with industry, and of course, some admin. He says the variety is what he love