Chef Chris Strassheim

Chef Chris Strassheim goes from chasing inspiration to creating it

Hi!  My Name Is Christopher Strassheim or Chris for short. I am very excited to be joining the Hub International team. My chef journey and love of food started around 16 years ago. I would watch cookery shows with my gran and make plenty of mess experimenting with dishes around her kitchen, constantly getting in her way. She was my champion, always trying to push me in the right career direction.

One of my first memories is of my grandparents dropping me off at Glenskirlie House & Castle and shooing me in the kitchen door to ask my former head Chef Daryl Jordan for a job as a chef. So, I went in and said to the chef, “let me work for you for free and after a week, if you like me give me a job” well the rest was history. I got the job under the mentor of Daryl and many other great chefs. I learned the craft, from classic French cooking techniques, sauce making, butchery of whole wild venison, plucking pigeons, filleting fish and cooking with all sorts of wonderful ingredients from Scotland’s larder. He would even order in unusual things like snails just so I could learn to prepare them.

My goal was to experience as much as I could in the best places I could. I loved learning and soaking up as much as I could along the way, filling my head with new ideas. My inspiration came from reading amazing books written by chefs like Rene Redzepi – Noma, Peter Gilmore -Quay, David Kinch – Manresa to name a few. In fact, I remember opening the likes of these books and being wowed by what could be created with food, where it came from in nature and the sheer artistic imagination required to create these types of dishes.

In the following years I spent some time at Gleneagles Hotel and Number One at The Balmoral, I also took on stages where I could and applied for every competition I could to hone my skills. This included the Scottish Culinary Championships Scothot where I was shortlisted for the Young Scottish Chef of the year CIS Excellence Award. Eventually this would lead to starting up a private chef business with my friend Jesse. This new adventure took me to all different parts of Scotland, the borders and the highlands cooking in quaint little houses by lochs and grand estates. I got the opportunity to cook with Scotland’s best ingredients like Tarbert Landed Langoustines, vegetables from the estate gardens and locally sourced venison. Along the way I got to meet some fantastic and truly interesting people. One person the springs to mind was the late Paul Kitching from 21212, his kind words and the way he took great joy from teaching others was Inspirational.

Now in my career, I am ready to step away from my current role as head chef at Friend of Mine and move onto teaching with Hub International. I look forward to sharing these same great experiences I have had in my time in the Hospitality Industry. This industry has brought me so much joy and I believe that every single person should get the same opportunity and the best start possible. It is my hope that others enjoy what this industry has to offer and the life experiences and skills you will earn along the way.

My career has now come full circle, my first head chef Daryl now teaches students and now it is my turn to share my knowledge, love of food and passion. The cookery books I once read at a young age have become life experiences. Now 15years later, I went to dine in Noma in Copenhagen, I saw those beautifully imagined dishes served before me. It was truly a humbling moment. This is what first inspired me to work my way into kitchens. This industry has helped me travel around Scotland cooking in some breath-taking venues that I’ll never forget and has given me treasured memories along the way. I can’t wait to step into my role at Hub International and help the next generation of Hospitality professionals find their passion!

Reunited, Ready & Raring to make a difference to the Hospitality Industry!

Hi! I am Lynn Williams and I am delighted to announce that I am the newest member of the team at Hub International, I cant wait to be reunited with some familiar faces in my new work family!

I absolutely adored working with Steph & the team at Tennent’s Training Academy

Here is my career story My working career started over 35 years ago when I started within The Co-Op Supermarkets as a finance clerk, I left this job to have my children. As soon as I was going back to work I realised I wanted to do something totally different from an office environment and of course to fit in with my children, so I got a part time job in a local off sales and I loved it. Very quickly a ending up full time and managing my own store. During my time with Haddow’s and Victoria Wine I had several stores ,and my team and I won regional store of the year which was a fantastic feeling for us all. I eventually moved to multi-site manager the Cluster co-coordination.

One day I was shopping in a large supermarket called Safeway on Anniesland cross. There was just something about the staff members it was at the time when the director Carlos said that shopping should be enjoyable not a chore, and there was a barista stand ,Pizza dough throwing up in the air and several very funky new ideas in the store and these team knew how to entertain and wow the customers, That day I went home and applied. Two Months later I was a management trainee, 6 months training in all department and it was a whirlwind. I met some amazing people and mentors during my store time and I loved the training side of my role . When Morrison took over Safeway everyone was in shock as the were selling off a lot of stores mine being one. Then something that would change and challenge me happened I received a call from Morrison Training Team saying that they had been given my name as someone who had a passion for people and training, at first I was unsure as the head office is in Bradford however they said I could be based in Glasgow so I went for the interview. I stay there for the rest of my career with Morrison, they put me through all my teaching qualification , too many to name compliance qualification and anything that I though could help me become a better trainer , mentor or coach . Our team won several awards for outstanding training and achievements. I covered the whole of Scotland and the North of England . The job was great, however you do get tired living out of Hotels and room service and I had some medical issues that effected my mobility, after 15 years it was time to make a change!

Tennent’s Training Academy I went for a ‘quick chat’ with Steph Wade (which turned into 4 Hrs!) and I was hooked. I had never seen a place like this before that catered for all types of people. I wanted this job, lucky for me Steph wanted me too!  I was looking after Training Compliance as well as delivering a whole host of advanced qualifications, every day was different, the atmosphere was different the team were different, everyone had the same goal making our customer happy and feel comfortable in the training academy, and we were thriving!

The Highlight for the team was when we won the BIIAB Training Award there were a few sore head in the morning after that night, but what an achievement!

I have never been more proud & part of a team so special

I sat some more qualifications in the academy, everyone was encouraged to Learn something new. I even became a qualified Whisky Ambassador! I don’t like Whisky but I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. As well as training, I gained an Assessor Qualification, became a Mental Health Trainer and so much more. I also learnt how to make a Pizza, several cocktails and the best Lamb Curry ever ……..Thanks Chef Lauren!

Unfortunately Covid Struck, the Academy had to close and the team were made redundant, I was lucky as I was offered a role in our Head office as Compliance L&D Business partner. My duties here were looking after all Scotsman venues compliance training bookings and looking after our LMS, making sure we stayed within training budgets, I stayed here until end of March 2023.

I am delighted to be joining Hub International, coming back to my Training and Compliance routes and working together again with some of the most passionate trainers I have met, I cant wait to get started and to meet all our my new clients & learners and help they achieve their goals!

To discuss your training needs or to simply say HI! email me at Adminqueen@hi-people.org 

My hospitality career took me round the world, now it’s time to inspire others to chase their dreams!

Let’s get ready for take-off!

 

Hi! my name is Linda. I have been working in the world of hospitality since the age of 17. I began my hospitality career

working for Sodexo at the magnificent Hampden Park where I worked my way up to Conference & Banqueting Supervisor and Match Day Manager of the Executive Boxes. Working within in the hospitality team for Sodexo Live! gave me so many fantastic opportunities to work in different venues across the UK, from Perth Racecourse to the 2012 London Olympic Games.

 

In 2014 I decided to travel to Australia for a year where I found myself working in bars, restaurants and not forgetting picking strawberries at on a strawberry farm for 3 months! I fell in love with Australia, the amazing weather mostly and made friends for life along the way.

On my return flight to Glasgow in 2015 I had spoken to the crew about their role as cabin crew and I thought it sounded like the perfect role for me. To combine my two passions, traveling and hospitality. I began applying for Cabin Crew Roles. I attended an Emirates Cabin Crew open day, and only went and got the job! I packed my bags and moved to Dubai.

During my 6 years at Emirates I visited some of the most amazing place around the world. I was part of a highly diverse workforce where crew come together from over 160 nations around the world. We learn from each other and contribute to the astonishing performance of the Airline. After my first year at the airline, I was proud to be awarded an Emirates Brand Ambassador award. Working as a Business Class cabin crew I was able to take my fine dining skills to whole ne
w level (40,000ft to be precise). During my time as cabin crew, I attended College to study Business and HR. I was proud to work for a fantastic employer like Emirates as they had strong focus on their employees learning and development. I am continuing my studies in L&D where I am currently working towards gaining my CIPD L4 Qualification. I hope to support other companies to be able to grow and train their teams as well as I was developed in my career so far.

The hospitality industry allows you to develop yourself – professionally and as a person. Not only do you improve on the professional skills you already possess, but with time and commitment you learn others due to the variety of colleagues, clients and situations that will put you to the test.

Finally, the reason why I love hospitality so much is simple: IT’S FUN! I am looking forward to sharing my knowledge and skills I have learned along the way to inspire more people to get into the exciting and rewarding career of hospitality.

I am just getting started in my role and can’t wait to be a part of shaping the hospitality industry to be a better place to work, supporting its people to grow and training the amazing future talent that I have already started to meet.

 

You can contact me on Linda@hi-people.org and say hi!

Linda