If you like the idea of looking after a group of guests in a chalet on a picturesque mountain in glorious sunshine and surrounded by loads of snow, then a chalet host job will be perfect for you.
There are so many reasons why being a chalet host is a great job and being able to work in ski chalets in Courchevel and other top ski resorts is just one of them. However, chalet hosts have to get to grips with catering for groups of people, meeting the expectations of both your guests and your employers. To be a successful chalet host you need to provide exceptional customer service and to offer support to the guests that are staying in the chalet, and this includes cooking.
If you like the idea of becoming a chalet host then one of the essential skills you need is to be a confident cook. Fortunately there are a number of specialist chalet host cookery courses offer from cookery schools across the UK and farther afield and we have compiled a guide of the best ones.
Chalet Cookery Schools
The Avenue Cookery School, London
Established in 2004, the London-based Avenue Cookery School, now a family run school thrives on all things foodie and incorporates love and enthusiasm into carefully structured Chalet Host courses. Teaching students of all levels to understand food, the cookery school’s courses move away from cookbook dependency and gets their students to start treating recipes as sources of inspiration and guidance!The Avenue offer hands-on, fun and upbeat one and two-week courses throughout the year, equipping their pupils to be a chalet or seasonal host. During the chalet courses students are taught cooking, cleaning, budgeting, stock rotation, table laying and all other necessary skills needed to host large numbers with ease and organisation. You will leave with the Avenue cookbook, apron and chalet bible along with the confidence to cook independently.
Fresh Tracks Chalet School, Cornwall
Fresh Tracks Chalet Hosting and Cookery School is located in sunny Cornwall, providing a beautiful setting for students to enjoy the one week residential course as much as they possibly can.With a dynamic, action packed 6 day program of activities, they will help shape you into a great chalet host whilst you can get an authentic experience. The Fresh Tracks course holds a maximum of 12 students per course, allowing you to work as part of a team and independently.
The course syllabus is a mighty fine list and includes menu planning, budgeting, cooking skills, presentation and lots more. Students will leave the course with a personalised reference, a level 2 Food Hygiene Certificate, recipe books and a chalet host survival guide.
Orchards Cookery, Worcestershire
Orchards Cookery is a multi-award-winning cookery school based on a farm near Stratford-upon-Avon that specialises in training and recruiting chalet cooks. The five-day or two-week residential courses offered by the renowned cookery school are intensive but great fun, with dinner parties in the evenings.The school opened in 2003 and has recently expanded, enabling the school to train over 1,000 students every year. The courses are taught by experienced chefs and the team have well over 50 accumulative ski seasons under their belts.
Students are provided with five weeks of menu plans, a colour cookery book, a detailed chalet guide that contains all the information you will need to know about running a chalet, help and advice with CV writing, interview training, ski company presentations and lots more essentials.
The Hive Cookery School, France
The Hive Cookery School is based in the beautiful French Alps and the famed school runs one and two-week cookery courses for aspiring chalet hosts during the summer. Going to the alps in summer can be very cheap with EasyJet and training there can even compete with U.K schools on overall cost.Students get to live and learn in a typical alpine chalet in the village of Plan Peisey, near Les Arcs, and pupils will learn how to run a chalet confidently and successfully from experienced chalet hosts. Plus, the school helps students to secure a job with the likes of Mountain Heaven by giving you advice on your CV writing and interview tips.
Despite the school’s culinary courses being packed with both practical and theoretical workshops, it allows students to enjoy the amazing location too. There is the chance for pupils to explore the area on foot, by bike, on horseback or by white water rafting on the rapids in the valley!
Leave a Reply