New culinary academy: venue needed!

The latest Bristol Bites Back Better blog post is from Pasquale Cinotti about his vision for a new “farm-to-table” culinary academy. Pasquale is looking for a venue for the school and social enterprise and is seeking help identifying a suitable location. Please get in touch with him if you can help. 

Our concept is to create a new culinary academy driven by a “farm-to-table” philosophy, a venue where the community can be involved in different activities such as the cultivation of vegetables, plants, herbs and microherbs, as well as cookery classes, patisserie and chocolate formation classes, gelato-making tutorials, ancient grain discovery (through bread-making sessions), all promoting a rediscovered dining and eating out experience, where local produce is fresh, simple and delicious.

Gemelli’s Social Enterprise will be operating in the morning for tutorials and classes, which involve a theoretical and a practical element that can improve the skills and educational outcomes and employment opportunities for the young people of Bristol and beyond. We will work to deliver traineeships, jobs growth and apprenticeships to enhance the offer of “on the job” training alongside experienced, qualified chefs and front-of-house staff in a fine dining Michelin-style restaurant. This is an exciting concept that will enhance the food and drink scene in the area. Gemelli’s has offered catering and a horticultural experience to a wide group of young people and adults who are classed as vulnerable adults through the years. 

To aid this work, Gemelli’s Social Enterprise will set up a horticultural area within the grounds of the proposed building which will allow us to grow vegetables and herbs to be used in the cookery classes. Gemelli’s Social Enterprise will in fact run several different academy classes:

• Beginners level
• Intermediate level
• Master level
• Cookery classes (chocolate and patisserie) for primary and secondary schools.  

This classes will help the students to grow a love of fresh ingredients, and give them knowledge through fresh pasta-making classes, artisan gelato classes, master chocolatier classes, patisserie tutorials at different levels, sourdough bread classes, wine tutorials and tasting sessions rediscovering local wines.

Production and provenance

This will provide training opportunities and apprenticeships, offering learners “on the job” training alongside experienced, qualified chefs and front-of-house staff. This will support the City Council’s priorities in improving skills, educational outcomes and employment opportunities for young people.

Back in the kitchen

The other unique element in our projects is to help older people (especially men) to learn how to cook. “Back in the kitchen” will be a cookery club for those 65+. As we get older, diet becomes more important, not only from a health point of view, but also because we have more time to enjoy the preparation, presentation and consumption of food. But not everyone is Gordon Ramsay! Some of us need a bit of help with our culinary skills, especially if you’re a man who’s been lucky enough to have had meals put in front of you for most of your adult life. Hence our project is also aimed at helping older people to prepare and cook wholesome food, serving the dual purpose of a skills-based class and a lunch club: they get to eat the food they’ve prepared during the morning!

We hope that you could be of assistance in bringing this vision forward by helping us to identify a suitable building location (concessionary letting) in the Bristol or West of England area. Please get in touch at info@gem42.co.uk if you can help.