Cooking Up a Storm at HMP/YOI Feltham
As ever, our work with prisons, charity partners and prison leavers continue in earnest in the background whilst we create incredible luxury events, cater for immersive dining experiences and feed hundreds of workplaces across London.
In the years running up to, and months since our café behind bars has opened in HMP/YOI Feltham, we’ve been working closely with the team there to ensure we’re providing all the opportunities we can to prisoners and to those soon to be released. Alongside training up several men in our café kitchen, our Kitchen Manager Danny is training and mentoring them through their qualifications, in the hopes that they’ll leave prison with Level 2 and 3 NVQs.
Employer Events
In February, we organised an event to demonstrate the work that goes into a Social Pantry canapé reception, the type of offering we would prepare for a drinks and canapé evening at Somerset House, the National Gallery or The Royal Academy, for example. During the event, Danny demonstrated how we prepare, plate and serve three of our canapés from our Autumn/Winter ’23 menu, serving them to the men and demonstrating the high level of finesse the Social Pantry team – and Danny – is used to working at, every day.
This event was designed to give the team working in our café behind bars a true taste of what is to come upon their release, and to help in getting them excited for a role of work in our Headquarters, preparing thousands of canapés every week. We also invited Novus to come and speak at the event, a social enterprise who are the leaders in NVQ training in prisons and who were able to speak with the men about the opportunities that are available to them whilst they are still behind bars.
L – R Sous Chef Arshia, Workplace Partner Tilly, Driver Phillippe, Kitchen Manager Danny.
Interacting with Canapés
Danny, having worked alongside the young men in the café since June, was keen to show the calibre of food the team typically produce on events, “Showing the lads a totally different type of food was really fun, especially seeing their appreciation for intricate canapés with multiple elements. Many of them were unfamiliar with canapés, so explaining each element and allowing them to interact with the plating process was really rewarding”.
Danny adds; “the Salmon Tartare on Crispy Rice, and Lemon and Rhubarb tarts were a hit and were all gone before I had a chance to get them on the serving platters – that’s always a good sign!”
Our HR & Culture Manager Silvia organised the event in partnership with the team at Feltham, and on the day acted as waiting staff, treating the café team to a taste of hospitality that typically our clients might expect on an event.
She found them very receptive, “When each of the men tried each canapé for the first time, their reaction was just like ‘wow!’. They couldn’t believe they were having the chance to try this ‘posh food’ in prison, they were so impressed with the quality and the taste of each bite. Each of them were so keen to try every canapé, the standout favourite from the day was the sweet canapé, for sure”, Silvia said.
Learning and Development Behind Bars
Alas, they weren’t only there to try delicious food. The event was structured around discussing job opportunities, life at Social Pantry, and work experience sessions. Some of the prisoners in attendance were still unsure on their career paths, some had experience working in kitchens previously, and some were keen to get a job lined up, ready for their release date.
Danny feels like the event has opened the inmates’ eyes to a new perspective on cooking, “It’s inspired them to explore different culinary possibilities” he said. “Since the event, some lads have expressed interest in learning how to make certain dishes – such as sweet pastry for the baked tart which we served on the day, which we’re going to make a seasonal blood orange version of for our new menu – and even in working with Social Pantry. Fingers crossed we see them in the kitchens in our headquarters soon!”.
Visiting Prison as a Social Pantry Employee
Part of our training programme when someone joins Team Social Pantry as an employee is getting a better understanding of the work we do as an industry leader in the employment of prison leavers, as well as getting the chance to visit a prison and meet prisoners first-hand. This usually happens around the first-year anniversary of employment, and on the day of the event at Feltham, it was our Sous Chef Arshia and our Workplace Partner Tilly’s turn.
Arshia’s only idea of prison was what she had previously seen on the television and in films, “I was actually quite apprehensive about my impending visit to Feltham Prison, but when I first saw the building, it didn’t look like what I had imagined at all. Except for the tight security upon entering, the place looked surprisingly pleasant”.
On Arshia’s visit, she got to meet the men who make up our café team alongside Danny, as well as to have a tour around the industry-grade kitchen we installed, designed to prepare the team to walk into a similar environment upon release. Arshia said, “The café looked like any of the other nice cafés in the ‘outside world’, and the kitchen was modern, spotlessly clean, and bright”.
“Most of the men were enthusiastic to learn about Social Pantry, especially more so after tasting Danny’s awesome canapés! It was wonderful to see that these young offenders have something to look forward to, and to start their life afresh with the opportunity given by Social Pantry”.
From all perspectives, the event was a success and we’re already looking forward to planning our next iteration of the event! If you’d like to know more about our café in Feltham and the work Danny is doing with the prisoners, check out our interview with him, or catch up with Harvey who joined us as a Kitchen Assistant upon his release last year.
