Rising cook serves up success

A RECENT Federation TAFE graduate has won big at this year’s Golden Plate Awards, being declared the Apprentice of the Year for the second time in a row.

Rising chef Alexis Saville received the gong during the awards night which was held in Geelong in late November and saw more than 100 hospitality representatives in attendance.

Having started that same month completing her Cert III in Commercial Cookery at Federation TAFE, Saville said her consecutive awards showcased her growing creativity in the kitchen.

“Last year we were given a recipe to follow and make tweaks of our own whereas this year it was more a creative development process to make your own dish,” she said.

“What we had to make last year was a poached pear, white chocolate mousse, and honey twill as a base which I added some spices to and ran the mousse through an Espuma gun.

“This year’s main criteria was that the hero had to be a starch, like rice or potatoes. I made a potato mochi with a burnt honey consume and strawberry sorbet because I love Japanese cooking.

“It means I’m good in different areas. I’ve always known myself to be good at following a recipe and getting things done that way but it’s given me a newfound confidence in my creative side.”

Based in Daylesford, Saville grew up cooking with her parents and taking part in her high school’s hospitality course before choosing it as a viable career path during the pandemic.

Starting her apprenticeship with caterers Spade to Blade, and Italian restaurant Beppe Bar and Kitchen, Saville’s love of anime and Japanese culture led her to shift towards fine dining with Japanese restaurant, Kadota, where she’s been since last year.

With the idea of potentially running her own business one day, Saville said she’s been provided a solid foundation between her apprenticeships and TAFE studies.

“At TAFE we learned more about specific skills courses like how to break down a chicken or fish whereas in industry it wasn’t as specific,” she said.

“It provided that industry experience, but at Beppe for example, there wasn’t a lot of those opportunities to break down a fish for example because it’s an Italian place.

“If you’re working in a specific area they might not cover the whole range of skills so TAFE definitely helped with that.”