A former North Kent College student has reflected on a life changing experience after narrowly missing out on making the Final Week of MasterChef: The Professionals.
Chloe McCoy, who studied Professional Cookery at the College, made the last six of the prestigious BBC One show, after entering the competition with 32 other up and coming chefs from across the country.
Along the way she received plenty of praise from the judges with renowned chef Monica Galetti describing Chloe’s cardamom Panna cotta as “fantastic” and Gregg Wallace said of her roast cannon of lamb on a tomato fondue: “Perfect lamb, soft and pink in the middle, coloured on the outside. It is like you’ve got hold of every ingredient and just squeezed every little ounce of flavour out of it”, whilst culinary legend Marcus Wareing was equally impressed, praising Chloe for her “great cookery and great flavour”.
For Chloe herself the experience was a memorable one, saying: “Competing on MasterChef: The Professionals I learnt so much about myself and really started to believe in myself as well. I pushed myself so much and really did myself proud. I met some amazing people who I know will be friends for life and I can’t wait to see what is to come for everyone!”
Chloe studied at North Kent College from 2016 to 2017, before using her parents’ home in West London as a base whilst she worked several ski and summer seasons in the French Alps and on the Channel Island, Alderney, respectively.
Chloe got the inspiration for this during her time at North Kent College: “Something from College that influenced my career was some people coming in and talking to us about doing a ski season and one of the lecturers at the time had done some as well.”
“The way they described it was so appealing to me and made me apply and do two ski seasons which really boosted my career as it helped me develop my own menus and learn how to work super efficiently.”
After graduating Chloe went on to work at restaurants including the Michelin-starred Glasshouse, Duck and Waffle, The Georgian House and more recently Kitchen W8. Chloe currently works at The Tin Shed in Notting Hill.
Whilst studying Chloe got plenty of experience working in the College’s restaurants, which are open to the public, saying: “One of the best things about studying at North Kent College was having a lot of freedom during the days we were working with Gail (a lecturer at the time) in the restaurant, she really let us get on with it and think of solutions when things went wrong and was such a great teacher who I’ll remember forever.”
It was also whilst at the College that Chloe took another major step forward in her culinary career: “It was when I was studying at North Kent College that I was put forward to apply to work for The Horse and Groom (a pub and restaurant in the vicinity of the College’s Dartford campus), which was one of my first jobs working in the industry. It was the stepping stone I really needed to keep moving forward!”
Now that her time in the MasterChef spotlight is over Chloe has big plans for the future: “I’d love to set up my own private cheffing business,” she says. “I want to bring a refined experience to people in their own homes! It will be a big step for me but I am so excited to see how it goes!”
Duncan Weetman, Head of Curriculum for the Culinary Academy at North Kent College, said: "With focus and talent, Chloe turned her passion for cooking into a success. She was a dedicated student during her time with us. Her taste for competition was realised when winning our own bake-off and staying calm under pressure. A well-deserved result in this recent competition and an inspiration to all our students."
North Kent College’s offers a range of hospitality and catering courses at its Tonbridge and Gravesend campuses.
Students benefit from industry standard kitchens and service areas, The Gallery and The View restaurants which are open to the public and highly equipped classrooms.
To find out more about studying hospitality and catering at North Kent College, visit the Hospitality and Catering section of the College website.