VU Hospitality Operations Manager James Ballingal in one of the kitchens at VenU, which recently won best training restaurant in the state. 5386 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
By Charlene Gatt
MOVE over MasterChef.
Victoria University’s training restaurant VenU has been named the best training restaurant in the state at the recent Restaurant and Catering Awards for Excellence.
The $3.4 million restaurant opened at VU’s Nicholson St campus in October last year as a practical way for TAFE hospitality students to build up their experience in the kitchen.
Seating 120 people, the restaurant is open to the general public for lunch and dinner during TAFE semesters and is constantly booked weeks in advance.
Front of house and meal service work on a rotating roster, allowing students to taste all aspects of the culinary world, while cooking demonstrations in the two large training kitchens are projected onto plasma screens, recorded and placed online for later student reference.
VU Hospitality Operations Manager James Ballingal said the award brings VenU a step closer to his aim of making the restaurant a “hatted” dining establishment by 2013.
“Aside from bragging rights, the award means that our industry has recognised we are operating better than any other training restaurant in the state,” he said.
“We shared the stage with the likes of Jacques Reymond and other winners in their categories.”
The Restaurant and Catering Excellence Awards, now in their 13th year, are acknowledged as the most authoritative guide to Australia’s best in the industry with more than 500 trained judges and 2000 entrants.
VenU was assessed by judges posing as regular diners who marked the restaurant on a range of criteria starting with telephone booking conduct, to quality of service and food, staff professionalism, and restaurant ambience.
