Guest Speaker Event with Chef John Williams MBE

Le Cordon Bleu London students recently had the opportunity to enjoy a special live-streamed guest speaker event with distinguished chef, John Williams MBE.

John Williams is Executive Chef at the Michelin-starred restaurant of the legendary Ritz Hotel in London. He also created the first ever Ritz cookbook, The Ritz London: The Cookbook full of the restaurant’s signature recipes. With a long career working in some of the finest establishments in the UK, this was a fantastic chance for Le Cordon Bleu students to absorb some of Chef John’s experience and expertise in the industry.

Hosted by Le Cordon Bleu Lecturer, Nitin Radhakrishnan, Chef John started by talking about his career, and specifically how he landed his job at the Ritz over 15 years ago. Chef John’s culinary journey was peppered with important advice for students, such as not sacrificing quality for profit and the importance of building a solid team in the kitchen. To wrap it up, students were invited to propose questions to Chef John, to which he responded with enthusiasm. The event proved an extremely valuable learning experience and Le Cordon Bleu London is grateful to Chef John for taking the time to impart his wisdom.

This event was part of a weekly series of virtual guest speaker events and culinary demonstrations. Students at Le Cordon Bleu have regular access to these events throughout their studies, which are usually held in-person at the London institute. Whilst in-person experiences are temporarily on hold, we are pleased to continue bringing expert insight to students, through webinars and live streamed culinary demonstrations. We have had the pleasure of hosting talented chefs from around the world giving students a diverse range of culinary experiences and the opportunity to network with some of the top players in the business, from Michelin-starred chefs to entrepreneurs and authors.

In addition to this event, this year students have enjoyed a speaker event featuring Le Cordon Bleu alumna and Top Chef Brazil 2020 winner, Luciana Berry, and culinary demonstrations from Rakesh Ravindran Nair, Group Development & Training Chef for the Cinnamon Collection, and most recently with Chotto Matte founder Kurt Zdesar, and Executive Chef Jordan Sclare.

If you’re a student at Le Cordon Bleu, keep an eye on your inbox as we’ll be hosting a live culinary demonstration with Le Cordon Bleu alumni and London Stock founders Assem Abdel Hady and Andres Bernal with Head Chef Nico Fitzgerald.

To find out more about previous and upcoming events, browse our Culinary Conferences & Cooking Demonstrations page, and if you’re interested in studying at Le Cordon Bleu, discover professional cookery courses and other culinary programmes.