Steve Butler is the Head of Catering at HMP Guys Marsh, a prison opened in 1960 as a borstal; Guys Marsh became a Young Offender’s Institution (YOI) in 1984.  After completion of perimeter fencing in 1992 it became a closed establishment and started to accommodate adults. It is now a category C prison. Guys Marsh has constantly changed and grown from a YOI holding 300 and within 18 months it has become a prison holding up to 578. There are currently 8 living units: 6 units holding 498 prisoners, 1 unit holding 40 enhanced prisoners and 1 unit in a less secure setting holding 40 enhanced prisoners.

A fine dining facility is now in place in the catering training regime. This is a process where NVQ students approaching the end of their course are selected to produce one course of a full meal that will be served to invited guests. The idea being that they are placed under some of the demanding and testing conditions that they would have to cope with on a day to day basis in a commercial environment.
I met Steve Butler five years ago after he had taken a gold award winning team to the Scothot show in Edinburgh. That was an experience he wished to repeat because of its ability to put trainees under pressure to produce. However a change in regulations prevented this. He has a long catering career and passionately believes in teaching the inmates work and life skills. I had asked to talk to him on his Fine Dining programme and arrived to do just that. However I was soon delighted to find myself on the receiving end of the scheme at a lunch held for me! I was not alone though, Duncan Burles the Governor, the Regional Custodial Manager of the South West Mr Ferdie Parker, Mr Steve Hodson Dep Governor, Mr Barry Rees Head of learning & skills, Mr Felix Durant Dep Catering Manager were all seated around a dining table in the kitchen class room and were served a delightful meal. During which time the students served and also described the dishes and how they had been prepared. The level of confidence they displayed was very high, especially when you consider who they were feeding and addressing.
Afterwards I spoke with Steve Butler about the Fine Dining concept.

CR    the Custodial Review
SB    Steve Butler

CR    What were the reasons and inspiration behind creating ‘Fine Dining’?
SB    It was done to encompass the different aspects of the NVQ into a commercial experience. The NVQ course teaches a student how to do everything they are likely to encounter in the first few years of their career, however it does not then bring it all together into producing a meal in a commercial environment. Something that encompasses everything from designing a menu, deciding what to serve, laying the table, producing a starter, main course and pudding. So a NVQ student can learn how to do everything that making a meal commercially involves, but they could complete the course having never taking part in producing one from start to finish! This is something that any employer would expect a caterer to have done.  It was that issue that made me decide to start fine dining two years ago. So it takes a recognised course and adds a realistic commercial scenario. So giving a more rounded trainee.

CR    What permissions, support and additional equipment was needed? And who paid for it?
SB    When this new prison kitchen was built three years ago I included the plates, cutlery and other essential items for the fine dining programme in the equipment requirements that I was allowed to specify. We were not talking about very much money for that. So I had cutlery, serving dishes, glassware and china added to the list. The Governor at the time was Mr Greenberry and he allowed us to begin the process, the following Governor was Mrs Killick who supported the programme and allowed us to invite guests and dignitaries into the prison. The present Governor has just sat down to lunch with you and the 4 other guests, which would seem to speak for itself!

CR    Who were your first notable guests, how often do you hold these meals and how do you choose which trainees get to cook for the fine dining guests?
SB    Trevor Brooking was one of the first guests, he was here in his capacity with the Butler Trust.  We choose all the cooking candidates from the 16 students that are undergoing their level 2 NVQ at that time. So everyone gets an opportunity to perform. We have these lunches approximately every two weeks. Today’s students were chosen because they had reached the stage in their training when they were ready and able to benefit from the experience.

CR    What is the reaction of the trainee when you tell them they are next up?
SB    At first its shock and horror! They all know from the outset that this is part of their training but they don’t actually realise the pressure they will be under until its actually upon them. If you  imagine the first time you are told you will be reading at the school assembly it will give you an idea how they feel, its like that but worse! This is because for the first time they are going to be cooking for some very discerning people who are here to discover how well they have learnt their skills. They are under the microscope, not because they have to be, but because they chose to be. It’s something they want to do because cooking for customers is an ambition. So this is an essential stage and they want to do well. We add to the anticipation and anxiety by telling them they are representing the prison and how they perform reflects on this establishment. It’s incumbent on them to prove that an NVQ earned in a prison is as good as one earned anywhere else. This might sound a bit too much, but when they are cooking in a restaurant it’s the same pressure situation, so they have to get used to it.

CR     Today we had stilton soup starter, chicken chasseur for the main and meringue for the sweet. None of these are particularly exotic or expensive ingredients, yet they were beautifully prepared and served. How was today’s menu chosen and prepared for?
SB    We have a budget and discuss the meal and what is required with the staff and the students who are going to be preparing the meal. We look at the elements of the NVQ and ensure that the meal is relevant to the elements of the NVQ training that has been received. It’s pointless having anything that is not part of the NVQ course for obvious reasons. Once the menu has been decided upon then they work with one of our chefs to produce the meal, today it was Helen Ramsey. All of our chefs are NVQ assessors and also PETALS trained and they take turns to work a week with the NVQ students in our training kitchen.

CR    How much notice of being on the fine dining firing line do the students get and what preparation do they do prior to the big day?
SB    They get about 2 weeks notice and once the menu is decided upon they spend that time researching the way the meal is prepared, its ingredients, their food value and implications of any contents, such as nut allergies. All the ingredients and techniques are known to them, it’s a case of putting them together and presenting the meal on time and in the most attractive way. They practised making the sauce and the soups etc during the run up and a full dummy run was completed a couple of days ago. Then they started doing the preparation for today’s meal and put it all together this morning. The dummy run was eaten by the 3 students and their peer group, so they had some idea of pressure from that process. Their own work colleagues can be their most vociferous critics!
We also look at doing something slightly differently, for instance today we served the soup in glasses. This is a modern trend and it takes some research, so the student spent part of their time finding out if and how it can be done. There was some concern about putting hot soup in a glass. So they tried it out, and it worked. This is the type of thinking that is done on the outside, so we have to do it in here too. Its all part of extending the knowledge a student gets from the NVQ course to enable them to get a job.

CR    Before each course was served the student who had prepared it came into the dining room and talk to us about the work they had done to prepare it. All three of them looked as if they would rather have been boiled in oil than stand there and talk to us. What is the purpose of making them do this and what is the sense of relief once the meal is all over?
SB    There is a deliberate reason for them having to talk, it’s so they get used to talking to customers. We do not coach them on what to say, that is up to them so they usually recount the knowledge they have gained. Inmates usually lack confidence so Fine Dining helps to improve their feelings of self worth. This is because they have achieved something they have never done before. Almost always they have a huge sense of relief and achievement from the process. It is noticeable in their demeanour and attitude that they feel better about their skills and self worth. They are fully aware that they could get some negative feedback and that is part of what makes the experience so informative. Its probably better customer feedback than they would get in a commercial kitchen, where any mistakes would be dealt with before the food arrived in front of the person who ordered it!

CR    What about the other dining skills that are taught. The food was beautifully prepared and served, but what about the other front of house skills, such as the menu and laying the table?
SB    They learn to do theses skills, they design and print the menus and lay the table up with decorations, the glasses, napkins and cutlery. All are cleaned and polished and they look up how to set the table for the meal. They also source and arrange the table decorations settings.