Rosemary Shrager’s trademark exuberance is on full beam: “This girl is brilliant. I’m like her mum jumping up and down with excitement!” she cries. She’s introducing Danielle Davey, who, after training at Rosemary’s cookery school in Tunbridge Wells in Kent, is now working at the Shrager Patisserie, under the expert eye of pastry chef Marc Mouzon – whose CV includes a spell as head pastry chef at The Savoy.
In the autumn of 2014, the first batch of 10 apprentices were taken onto the programme, which is run with support from East Kent College and is part of a government scheme to keep young people in education/training until the age of 18. The apprentices are paid the minimum wage (or a bit more) by their employer, and they complete their training at restaurants and hotels in Kent and London. All the apprentices return to the school every fortnight to enhance their experience and knowledge as they work towards their NVQ Level 2 in professional cookery.