Dwayne Joseph

2006 graduate of Fifteen 

Before coming to Fifteen, Dwayne had had a lot of dead end jobs. When he applied to come on the Fifteen apprenticeship he did so not because he wanted to be a chef specifically but because he wanted a career. It could have been anything. When he applied to Fifteen he was waiting for an answer which never came from an engineering firm.

“I didn’t enjoy Fifteen at all at first,” he says. “I didn’t like college. It was on the sourcing trips when I knew this is what I wanted to do. Chef’s Week (when the apprentices take over the running of the kitchen) was when I realised I could actually do it. That really helped my confidence.”

Dwayne is very clear in his mind that having Fifteen on your CV is a double edged sword. He knows that he got his first job – a large hotel kitchen – because he had been at Fifteen. But the chefs there didn’t like Fifteen. “I hate Fifteen and Jamie”, the head chef told him and he experienced resentment from the older members of the brigade. “They didn’t like it that they’d started as pot washers and we come in up here”, Dwayne shrugs. “But where I am now, the head chef likes Jamie and Fifteen and it’s not a problem with the younger chefs.”

Dwayne has some straight advice for Fifteen. “It’s sugar coated at Fifteen. It was a real shock going into the industry. The workload’s terrible and they don’t care about you. If you don’t do it, you’re out. You should teach the apprentices how to deal with anger and disapproval.

“College was good for the fundamentals and instilling discipline but I’ve had two jobs now
and I haven’t had to show a certificate yet. It’s all about ‘can you cook?’, ‘can you run the section?’, ‘can you follow orders?”

What changes would he make at recruitment? “You’ve got to get rid of them who only want to spend time with Jamie. Tell the applicants that they’ll never see Jamie. And if they do, that’s a bonus.”