CREDIT: COURTESY OF THE CHEF’S TABLE
Over four Fridays, four unique menus were presented at the Chef’s Table by Fanshawe’s culinary students.

Since Nov. 10, the Chef’s Table has been presenting a special winter dinner series by the culinary students. The unique menus feature several courses, with the final dinner being held on Dec. 1.

“Our menu has a Mediterranean theme,” culinary management student Liv Baker explained, whose group served their menu on Nov. 17. “So, we have Barbari bread (a classic type of Persian flatbread topped with sesame and nigella seeds), a white bean soup, a coconut kale sorbet, or a tomahawk pork chop for the entrée.”

Also featured on the menu is Spanakopita (Greek spinach pie), stuffed eggplant as an appetizer and a Baklava cheesecake for dessert.


These dinners are a part of the Signature Dinner Experience, in which four groups of six to eight culinary students at Fanshawe’s Downtown campus create a feast for $65. They craft and plan the menu, cook all the food, and execute it on the night of their dinner.

“There are eight people in our group, so we just thought we’d put one person on each course and two on the entrée side, which is the biggest thing to do. So, we spotted who wanted to do what, went over it as a team, and conquered,” Baker said.

“Some of us had to switch up our menu options a few times,” culinary management student Serenity Shawnoo added. “But we all had to figure out different dishes that would go with every menu.”

The Chef’s Table at Fanshawe College is a restaurant, café, and event centre run by students at the Downtown Campus. It offers hands-on training for aspiring culinary professionals.

“You learn a lot of different types of cooking and techniques. And you even realize that, with everything you’ve learned here, you may have more knowledge than other people who have worked in the industry for five or ten years, and that’s because you’ve received proper training,” Baker said.

Shawnoo agreed with Baker stating, “I think learning basic techniques is super important in this industry. Same with being automat, because you must have a lot of things on the go like a grill, the gas, and the meat should be at the right time before you can serve it up.”

Beyond the special student dinner, the Chef’s Table makes for a great night out in London and offers delicious food year-round.

“The Chef’s Table restaurant and the course our students take have [been around for] 25 years, before we even moved downtown here. So, the Chef’s Table restaurant provides a great learning opportunity for our students, and they get real-life experience working in the Chef’s Table restaurant as part of that,” culinary skills and culinary management program coordinator Patrick Hersey said.