Farewell Slieve Donard

Hello everyone, Eimear here for the last time from the Slieve Donard hotel in Newcastle.

A lot has happened since my last blog post. As the summer approaches, Newcastle is now extremely busy with more and more people staying in the hotel. Since we last spoke, I had the opportunity to work in both the function section and the starter section in the main kitchen and this is something I really enjoyed. In the function section, I prepared, cooked, plated and served the food for the various events in the hotel such as weddings, conferences, communions, confirmations and birthdays. This is something I have never experienced before and I was delighted to get this opportunity. I got to work alongside Paulette and Hazel, the head chef.

In the starter section, I would prepare the food during the day until service started at 6pm. I came across many new ingredients during my time here such as Chinese cabbage and kohlrabi. I also prepared and cooked scallops, pickled vegetables and made Arancini.

Over the final few weeks of my time in Newcastle, I looked back on the experience I had and I am very grateful to have been given this opportunity. Have been opened to learning new things and obtaining new knowledge. This is something that will benefit me in the future. I am now more confident and experienced when preparing, baking, cooking and working in a fast-paced environment. During my time here, I was pushed beyond my comfort zone and this has helped me to grow as an individual.

The Slieve Donard has an amazing team of chefs and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. From day one they welcomed me with open arms and I couldn’t have asked for anything more. My mentor, Hazel, was there every step of the way during my work placement, she made me feel part of team Slieve from the beginning, pushed me to always do and this is something I will cherish and always remember. I could not have asked for a better mentor.

After my six months of work placement in the Slieve Donard, I made many friends who I will always keep in contact with. On my final week, we planned to go out for one last time together, we booked a lovely dinner in one of the restaurants, went dancing afterwards and had a few drinks.

I was very emotional on my last day in the Slieve Donard. It broke my heart to say farewell to all my friends and co-workers who I have been around for the last six months. However, this journey was now over and it was time to move back home. I am so thankful to have experienced this unforgettable opportunity and to say that I worked as part of Team Slieve.

I would highly recommend to any student to complete their work placement in the Slieve Donard. You will meet so many new people, make friends for life and improve your culinary skills. Everyone in Team Slieve is so friendly, kind and they are willing to help you to gain the most out of your work placement in any way they can. You will definitely not regret working with this incredible team of chefs in the Slieve Donard.