London Stock's Executive Chef, Nico Fitzgerald graduated from Le Cordon Bleu London in 2016 with a Grand Diplôme®. He has since garnered experience in some of the UK's finest restaurants, including Adelina Yard and Heston's The Hind's Head, before joining his fellow alumni at London Stock.
Originally from Gibraltar, Nico started his career as a chef in the British army before moving on to private catering and eventually signing up to study the Grand Diplôme®.
“As a junior chef I always saw a qualification from Le Cordon Bleu, for myself and others, as a mark of great foundations. As a more senior chef now I see it as a fantastic way to judge if a chef has that knowledge, that core experience that is going to make them a great chef in the future.”
Having travelled to the food capitals of Europe, Chef Nico feels that London is second to none in terms of the cultural diversity and variety of the restaurant scene. For this reason, Nico always new that London is where he wanted to build his career, and after brief stints elsewhere, he returned to take on the role as Head Chef at London Stock.
“I knew if I wanted to make it that London was the place to return to. It’s where all the big names are, it’s where all the opportunities are, and London Stock provided that ability to progress professionally.”
The ethos at London Stock is to serve dishes that no one has experienced before, which has given Chef Nico the opportunity to get very creative in his role. As Head Chef, Nico is responsible for designing new dishes and ensuring that everything coming out of the kitchen is of the highest standard.
“Working alongside my friends from Le Cordon Bleu is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We’ve all been through the mill together, we know what it’s like, we know what our experiences were like at Le Cordon Bleu, and we all have this shared mentality as well.”
Along with his fellow Le Cordon Bleu alumni, Nico is determined to make London Stock a great success and if his passion and drive is anything to go by, we are sure they will succeed.
“For somebody who wants to follow in my footsteps, I would say you should never give up. You’re going to have really bad days, I always tell my chefs there will always be a good day to follow a bad day, and you should always just keep pushing, keep working and make the most of the opportunities presented to you. They’re all learning experiences.”
Find out more about the Grand Diplôme®, or visit our programmes page to find out how you could learn the culinary skills to follow in Chef Nico’s footsteps.
