Westminster Kingsway College School of Hospitality 2010 Centenary
Westminster Kingsway College’s School of Hospitality in central London was formed 100 years ago when a committee of concerned academics and hospitality representatives, which included Auguste Escoffier, Isidore Salmon and Cesar Ritz, came together to develop a school for professional cookery.
The School of Hospitality was founded in Westminster to specifically educate young men working at the top hotels and restaurants in the capital. Many of London’s finest hotels were opening during this period, including the Ritz (1906), the Waldorf Astoria (1908) and the family-run Goring Hotel (1910), and the demand for quality-trained chefs and front-of-house staff was increasing.
The Westminster Technical Institute in Vincent Square was chosen as the location for the new Catering School. The Institute was first established in 1894 in a two-storey building provided by Baroness Burdett-Coutts, a lady of immense wealth and charity, who had also founded the nearby St Stephen’s Church and the Burdett-Coutts School.
At the time, the majority of head chefs employed in London were from France, led by the Master Chef de Cuisine, Auguste Escoffier at the Savoy Hotel. Escoffier was passionate about helping young chefs and was a member of the original board that founded the School of Hospitality at Westminster Kingsway College.
When the School of Hospitality first opened its doors in 1910, the College originally offered only boys aged 14-16 years old a three-year course in culinary skills and by 1912, a ‘School for Waiters’ and a training restaurant had been added. Over the years this extended to include a wide range of specialist courses in Culinary Arts, Hospitality and Management as well as extending into post-16 education with full-time, part-time and higher education courses for all ages. Although the courses originally offered at the College were for young men, this changed just after the Second World War.
Today, Westminster Kingsway College is one of the largest further education colleges in central London with about 14,000 students. It offers students the opportunity to gain vocational, professional and academic qualifications that are tailored directly to employment opportunities. The School of Hospitality has had many highly successful and noted alumni graduate from the College since the doors opened in 1910 including many renowned names in the industry such as Jamie Oliver, Sophie Wright, Keisha Williams, Ainsley Harriott and recent London Chef of the Year, Ben Ford.
Celebrations for the School of Hospitality’s centenary year kicked off with a visit by the Prince of Wales to the College’s teaching kitchens to meet current staff and students preparing lunch for distinguished guests. Further events include a fundraising dinner for the Culinary Arts competition team, an exhibition of photographs from the College archives and a special Christmas menu in the College’s training restaurant, The Vincent Rooms, featuring dishes from different decades.
The late greats of the last century, Escoffier, Salmon and Ritz, would have been proud that the initiative that they helped to start has succeeded in safeguarding training in professional cookery and hospitality for successive generations.
The School was originally offered only to boys aged 14 to 16 . . . . . . but this changed after World War II. The Vincent Rooms Restaurant. A professional approach. Preparing culinary delights. The Prince of Wales visiting the College’s teaching kitchens.
Westminster Kingsway College’s School of Hospitality in central London was formed 100 years ago when a committee of concerned academics and hospitality representatives, which included Auguste Escoffier, Isidore Salmon and Cesar Ritz, came together to develop a school for professional cookery.
The School of Hospitality was founded in Westminster to specifically educate young men working at the top hotels and restaurants in the capital. Many of London’s finest hotels were opening during this period, including the Ritz (1906), the Waldorf Astoria (1908) and the family-run Goring Hotel (1910), and the demand for quality-trained chefs and front-of-house staff was increasing.
The Westminster Technical Institute in Vincent Square was chosen as the location for the new Catering School. The Institute was first established in 1894 in a two-storey building provided by Baroness Burdett-Coutts, a lady of immense wealth and charity, who had also founded the nearby St Stephen’s Church and the Burdett-Coutts School. 
When the School of Hospitality first opened its doors in 1910, the College originally offered only boys aged 14-16 years old a three-year course in culinary skills and by 1912, a ‘School for Waiters’ and a training restaurant had been added. Over the years this extended to include a wide range of specialist courses in Culinary Arts, Hospitality and Management as well as extending into post-16 education with full-time, part-time and higher education courses for all ages. Although the courses originally offered at the College were for young men, this changed just after the Second World War. 
Today, Westminster Kingsway College is one of the largest further education colleges in central London with about 14,000 students. It offers students the opportunity to gain vocational, professional and academic qualifications that are tailored directly to employment opportunities. The School of Hospitality has had many highly successful and noted alumni graduate from the College since the doors opened in 1910 including many renowned names in the industry such as Jamie Oliver, Sophie Wright, Keisha Williams, Ainsley Harriott and recent London Chef of the Year, Ben Ford. 
Celebrations for the School of Hospitality’s centenary year kicked off with a visit by the Prince of Wales to the College’s teaching kitchens to meet current staff and students preparing lunch for distinguished guests. Further events include a fundraising dinner for the Culinary Arts competition team, an exhibition of photographs from the College archives and a special Christmas menu in the College’s training restaurant, The Vincent Rooms, featuring dishes from different decades.