Curriculum Vitae

Chris Ward
3 Rue des Grottes
84000 Avignon
+33(0)6 24 11 35 17
chris@mostxlnt.co.uk
Born: 23 October 1960 in Atherstone, Warwickshire
Nationality: British
No children, engaged to be married
Full UK and French driving licences
I have a full Carte de Séjour/residency and work permit for France
I am bilingual in English and French and have lived in France for 10 years

Cuisine
Trained to cook in the classical French style, I was taught ‘modern Provençal’ cooking when working at the Les Agassins restaurant in Avignon. Since becoming a private chef my style has developed to encompass traditional and modern British cooking as well as world cuisines such as Thai, Pacific Rim and Chinese. Now I am comfortable cooking all types of cuisines for up to 20 people at a time, preferably from fresh, local and above all seasonal ingredients. I can provide sample menus on request. I also have extensive experience working in private households, fitting in with different needs and situations. I am happy doing all cooking-related tasks including ordering, shopping, choosing and liaising with suppliers, preparation, cleaning and service at table. I am also willing to help with any other tasks necessary in the running of the household.

Education
2006: Certificat d’Aptitude Cuisinier (comparable to the UK’s NVQ2 in cookery) from the Ecole d’Hotelliere et Restauration in Avignon, Vaucluse, Provence, France. I graduated top of my year (out of a total of 57 students) with top marks in the practical cookery examination (17.5/20 – 87.5%, the school’s highest for 10 years). I continued working full-time to support myself through this course, selling my car to pay my school and exam fees. I worked 5 days (or more) per week and then went to school one day (8am to 6pm) every Monday.
1980 – 1985: Degree in Geography from University College, University of London
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1972 – 1979: Haberdashers’ School, Monmouth. 10 ‘O’-, 4 ‘A’-Levels including French and Spanish.

Professional experience

January 2008: Shooting weekend for 10-16 adults, Canterbury (same family as in December 2007). Traditional British/modern French cuisine.
January 2008: Shooting weekend for 16 adults, Scotland (same family as over Christmas). Traditional British/modern French cuisine.
New Year 2007/2008: Chef de Cuisine for an English family in their Swiss (Klosters) apartment. Three to eight adults. Modern French cuisine.
Christmas 2007: Chef de Cuisine for a family in Scotland. Eight adults. Traditional British/modern French cuisine.
December 2007: Chef de Cuisine, shooting weekend, Canterbury, England. 16 adults, eight children. Traditional British/modern French cuisine.
September – November 2007: Chef de Cuisine for an English family in London, England. Two adults (up to 10 for dinner parties), four children. Traditional British/modern French cuisine.
August 2007: Chef for an English family in their summer home near Grasse, Provence, for four to five adults and two or three children. I cooked a wide variety of dishes from traditional French cuisine to Indian, Thai and Chinese.
June – July 2007: Chef de cuisine for a French family in St Tropez cooking for up to 16 guests plus 8 children. Mostly simple grills and salads but also more ‘gastronomic’ dishes when entertaining.
May 2007: Chef de Cuisine for a French family in their holiday villa, St Tropez, France. Modern French cuisine.
December 2006 – April 2007: Chef de Cuisine, Chalet Berthiaud, Morzine, France. Traditional British/modern French cuisine, traditional English breakfasts, cakes every day.
November 2006: I spent a week working for Lady Olivia Clark of Redenham Park, Hampshire, with her chef Stephen Longman, for the wedding of her son. I worked with Steve preparing family meals, dinner parties and cocktail canapés together with an Indian-themed banquet for 150.
April 2006 – October 2006: Chef de Partie des Entrées, ‘La Table des Agassins’, 4* Hotel/ Gastronomic Restaurant, Le Pontet, Avignon. I was responsible for preparing all amuse bouches and first courses for both lunch and dinner services for up to 100 covers per day.
December 2005 – April 2006: Commis Chef, ‘La Table des Agassins’. I worked alone throughout this period with the Chef preparing all meals and doing all the cleaning between the two of us for up to 40 covers per service, working extensively on starters and in the patisserie.
December 2004 – December 2005: Kitchen Porter (Aide de Cuisine/Plongeur), La Table des Agassins. I was responsible for all the manual and machine washing up of both the kitchen equipment and crockery and cutlery; for the cleaning and maintenance of the kitchen and associated areas, including the cold rooms and pantry and all the refrigerators and freezers and learned all the basic principles of kitchen hygiene; I cleaned and prepared all vegetables (e.g. regular and Jerusalem artichokes, ‘violette’ potatoes, asparagus) and fish (including John Dory, bream, sea bass, cod, salmon), shellfish (langoustes, prawns, lobster, mussels) and prepared various patisseries (choux pastry, puff pastry, petits fours); I prepared the amuses bouches and plated meals. I learned both how to work in a team and how to work alone.
September – November 2004: Commis de Cuisine at ‘Aux Délices de Saint Antoine’ restaurant-traiteur in Nimes in the Gard. I was responsible for the mise en place and preparation of all food for a 30-40 cover self-service restaurant (starters, mains, cheese and desserts) Monday – Friday along with similar preparations for three external cafeterias comprising a further 140 covers. I learned vacuum-pack (‘sous vide’) cookery, cooking for large groups (up to 200) and worked at many external catered buffets.
April – September 2004: Commis de Cuisine (part-time) at the semi-gastronomic restaurant ‘La Grange de Labahou’ (40-60 covers) in Anduze in the Gard. I cleaned the kitchen, did manual and machine washing up, prepared vegetables and fish (e.g. prawns and sole), meat (knuckle end of lamb, tenderloin of beef) and desserts (tiramisu, îles flottantes) and cooked and plated all items on the menu. I was solely responsible for sending out all desserts.
1985 – 2004: I worked as a journalist for many UK national newspapers, most recently for The Times as a Technology Specialist. I also worked for the Mail on Sunday, Sunday and Daily Express and others. I’ve also written six books on computing, both for children and adults.

Other information

My other interests include reading, going to the cinema and eating in restaurants. I have a large experience in computing, in particular Microsoft Windows and Office, and running websites.

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