Top Chef’s Drink And Drugs Warning To Catering’s Next Generation
30 April 2008
University of Derby Buxton staff (left) Otto Thissen, Chef Lecturer, and (right) Elisabeth Perry – Curriculum Manager for Hospitality, Catering and Tourism – with (centre) celebrity chef Michael Quinn at his talk.
The reaction from these talks is amazing
”Michael Quinn.
A celebrity chef who almost died of alcohol abuse delivered a sobering talk on the perils of drink and drugs within the hospitality trade, to students at the University of Derby.
Around 80 students on higher and further education catering and hospitality courses, based at the University’s Devonshire Campus in Buxton, heard Michael Quinn speak in the Dome on Tuesday 29 April.
Michael was the first ever British head chef at the London Ritz Hotel, cooked for the Queen, received an MBE, and was regularly seen on TV shows in the 1980s.
But alcoholism saw him lose everything; ending up homeless, penniless and alone just five years after leaving the Ritz’s service.
A liver failure scare, which landed him in a hospital bed receiving the Last Rites, made him re-assess his life.
Michael came up with the idea behind The Ark Foundation, an anti-drink and drugs charity launched in 2001 for people in the hospitality industry established through Hospitality Action, the industry’s charitable arm. It is backed by current celebrity chefs, such as Jamie Oliver and Heston Blumenthal.
He now gives talks, especially to young people coming into the industry, about the dangers of sliding into alcohol and substance abuse, due to the stresses of their work and the availability of drink.
Michael said: “Alcohol and drug abuse occurs in every industry. I look at it specifically in the hospitality industry because it’s where I come from.
“The reaction from these talks is amazing. The audience often doesn’t know what to expect but they come out shell shocked, because we give them real human case studies.”
Elisabeth Perry – Curriculum Manager for Hospitality, Catering and Tourism at the University of Derby Buxton – said: “It’s quite something for young people just entering the hospitality industry to have the chance to hear direct from someone of Michael’s stature about the potential dangers of drink and drug abuse.
“Working in this industry, with its stress and irregular hours, can have its pressures. Michael has first-hand experience of how that can lead to behaviour which ruins careers and lives, if not addressed.”
The University of Derby Buxton offers Joint Honours, BA (Hons) and MA courses in Hospitality Management, as well as further education qualifications.
-ends-
For further media information please contact Press and PR Officer Simon Butt on 01332 591891 or 07748 920023, or email: s.butt@derby.ac.uk.
Press release by Press and PR Officer Sean Kirby on 01332 593004 or 07876 476103, or email:s.kirby@derby.ac.uk.
