How Chefs in Schools Began

While writing the School Food Plan, Henry Dimbleby posted a tweet asking whether any chefs would be interested in taking over the kitchen at his children’s state school. Nicole Pisani – then head chef at the acclaimed Soho restaurant Nopi – decided to take the gamble of a lifetime, applied and was offered the job by the school’s then head, Louise Nichols.

Nicole retrained the school cooks using the restaurant brigade system, teaching them to cook everything from scratch and to bake bread daily. She also encouraged them to cook their favourite recipes. Nicole took charge of the cooking curriculum, teaching the children to butcher whole chickens and cook over fire pits in the playground. This work became the model for Chefs in Schools and we now work to help other schools completely transform the standards of school food and food education.

The charity works hands-on in schools in London, Bournemouth and Sheffield – reaching tens of thousands of pupils each day. We target areas with high levels of socio-economic deprivation, aiming to reduce food poverty, child obesity and malnutrition. We’re always looking for people who share our vision and passion about fuelling the future well. If that’s you, get in touch and help us transform school food.