In partnership with Electric Mayonnaise, D&D will be offering two training schemes that will operate on a monthly basis and take place at the group's 100 Wardour Street restaurant in Soho.
The first will be an intensive, five-day course created in collaboration with Electric Mayonnaise's Into Hospitality initiative, which will see successful participants awarded with an Entry 3 Introductory Certificate at the end and secure employment in one of D&D’s restaurants.
A second and more advanced option will be the Chef De Partie course - an eight-week deep dive, designed to cover all the basics that an NVQ level 2 in professional cookery would cover.
The permanent launch of the scheme follows a series of summer schools created by D&D in response to the hospitality sector's ongoing staffing crisis, which led to 50 participants joining the businesses.
While the summer schools offered a broader focus that included front of house and bar roles, the new training programmes both appear more directly aimed at chefs.
Modules included in the Into Hospitality for Kitchens course will cover basic cooking, organisational skills and food hygiene with a focus on additional skills such as teamwork, task and time management and effective communication.
The course will culminate in a MasterChef-style cook-off for a table of judges comprising of industry experts and D&D employers, offering learners the opportunity to show off the skills they have mastered during the course and receive feedback from the judges.
Meanwhile, the Chef De Partie course is geared towards commis chefs with at least six months to a year of professional kitchen experience.
Modules include preparing and cooking fish, meat and poultry, sauces, pastry and food hygiene skills.
Learners will be accredited with a Laser Award in ‘Extended certificate in Cookery’.