Life in Edinburgh and “Forage and chatter”.

It has been a long road getting here. I like many others in my course have been all over the world deciding where to spend their 12 weeks of placement. Factors such as style of restaurant, location, how far away from home do you want to be, what experiences you want all come into the question when making this big decision. I myself at first wanted to lean towards a more health/café type of establishment but last minute decided to go for a more upper class fine dining experience that I knew would give me plenty of experience and turns out I was right I am learning loads and although the hours are very crazy I am still managing to enjoy it.

After all my stressing during the summer on where to go and applying for endless of jobs it turns out there was absolutely no need. By the end of the summer I was receiving endless emails and calls back from employers and laughing at how I had zero reason to be panicked. So just keep an open mind and if you have your eyes set on a city or place stick too it!

Anyways after all that I ended up in Edinburgh where there is plenty of jobs. The city is always crazy busy, it is also a very popular tourist destination with lots to see on days off, great shops, cafes and events throughout the year especially around now for Halloween and Christmas.

I found “Forage and Chatter” on trip advisor as it was one of the most top rated and is now currently number one on TripAdvisor for best lunch spots in Edinburgh.

 I am very much obsessed with the interior of the restaurant. Mushrooms are a big theme that flows through forage and chatter from the logo to the food. The restaurant prides itself in locally sourced food and anything that can be foraged is foraged. The menu changes according to what’s plentiful and in season.

I am the pastry chef in our very small kitchen and I am loving the independence and control over my section which allows me to be creative and has thought me so much in terms of organisation and planning as it is completely my problem if orders are not placed or enough of a component isn’t ready to go.

So far the experience is shaping me both as a person and a chef as I have had to adjust to a new life living independently in a city which is a big change from a farm in Co. Laois as well as learning new things in and out of the kitchen which I can now see will definitely stand to life after college.

By Àine Dempsey