The Fine Dining Academy & The 10 in 8 Group

Rising Stars Apprenticeship

In addition to the day to day running of the cookery school the Academy also coaches new talent to become proficient restaurateurs capable of running a financially viable fine-dining experience. Coaching includes financial management, marketing, sales and business development, strategic thinking and tactical development.

Rising Stars spend time in each of the Group’s restaurants honing their skills and ultimately, if good enough, get given their own restaurant to run and develop with enough freedom to express their own individualism and personality.

For further details about the Rising Stars Apprentice Programme, please click here.

To read the blog written by our Rising Star Apprentices about their experiences with 10 in 8 please click here.

Be taught to cook by some of the finest talent in UK hospitality.

The 10 in 8 Group collection includes the Fine Dining Academy cookery school. At this cookery school with a difference guests are taught the creative and technical skills required to prepare and deliver a fine-dining experience at home.  The Chefs running these fully hands on courses are some of the UK’s top talent including Michelin Starred Chefs Alan Murchison (executive chef ), Phil Fanning (Paris House Woburn), Will Holland (La Bécasse Ludlow), and other guest chefs, each at the pinnacle of their career.

Our chefs offer a variety of courses suited to all levels of experience, whether a beginner, an enthusiast or a professional chef.  All our courses are one day long, hands on and take place in our  fully equiped cookery school kitchen. The experience culminates in a delicious feast of your own making being served in our beautifully styled country dining room.  Service staff and lashings of  laughter and wine will ensure it’s a truly memorable experience.

The cookery school itself is set in the picturesque Berkshire village of Yattendon and is a perfect location for a weekend away of special occasion.  With local Michelin Starred restaurants in our collection and promotional rates with local accommdation, we are also able to offer guests a real gastronomic treat.

The 10 in 8 Group

The 10 in 8 concept was borne in response to Alan Murchison’s ambition to build a financially sustainable collection of fine dining restaurants over an eight year period. Each restaurant would be individual, representing the highest standards the industry could offer and be capable of earning at least one Michelin Star within just 3 years of opening.

More importantly, each restaurant would be run by Chef’s and Front of House experts that were developed from within the Group giving all Team Members the chance to develop their own individual skills and ambitions to work at the highest level in what is a notoriously difficult industry to both survive and prosper.

To achieve the highly ambitious goal of both 10 Michelin Stars in 8 years as well as a minimum of 10 “personality  stars”, the 10 in 8 Group had to be structured so it was financially viable. Crucially, all Team Members had to understand balance sheets and profit and loss accounts. They had to appreciate cash-flow demands and capital appreciation. They had to be mentored and then managed to allow them to reach their individual potential.

The 10 in 8 Group is not about quantity. It is certainly not a chain. It is a breeding ground for raw talent that can be harnessed and focused into running some of the industry’s best and most highly regarded fine dining establishments. It is in effect a youth academy for our future restaurants developing Chef’s, Sommeliers and Front of Houses Team Members into world-class professionals.

Also in the Group is the 10 in 8 Management Agency that cares for existing and rising stars. It manages their public profiles in a sustainable and disciplined manner ensuring that their individual brands are respected and appreciated throughout the industry.

Of course the 10 in 8 Collection also includes a number of restaurants (so far): L’ortolan, based in Reading, Berkshire and already boasting one Michelin Star under Alan Murchison’s name; La Bécasse, based in Ludlow, Shropshire now run by the young but highly talented Chef Will Holland; Paris House in Woburn which the group opened in February 2010 and was awarded one Michelin-star in January 2011 and  the chic Hotel TerraVina in The New Forest.

To complement the restaurants the 10 in 8 Group also operates Les Caveaux, an intimate wine and spirits experience for connoisseurs that desire a higher level of involvement in both the art of pairing wine with food as well as the development of an appreciation for some of the industry’s most rare spirits.