As the hospitality sector picks itself up and bounces back from the pandemic years, Ulster University’s Academy restaurant offers students a rich and real experience of a quality restaurant and busy professional kitchen.
With its stylish front-of-house ambience and high-spec cooking and preparation areas behind the scenes, Academy provides students with all they need to know to prepare them for a career in hospitality.
At the heart of the operation are several skilled hospitality and culinary technicians, alongside Culinary Training Officer Danny Mallon, who works with the technicians to support students in the practical, technical skills and confidence they acquire through active learning.
From his early days as a pot washer in Bleakers on Belfast’s Malone Road to working in the original Roscoff kitchen, Danny completed his NVQ level 2 at Belfast Met and then went on to work as a chef in London, France, the US and the Caribbean. Returning to Northern Ireland, he worked in James St South with owner and head chef Niall McKenna whilst pursuing his degree in Culinary Arts Management at Ulster. With long held aspirations to share his skills and nurture new talent, Danny taught at Belfast Met before joining the Academy team as Culinary Training Officer in October 2021.
Danny says:
“Our students have exposure to catering for significant internal university functions as well as working in restaurants and hotels. To support them in the skills and flair for those opportunities, we offer them the chance to design and create their own menu and to be head chef for the day, with our technicians supporting them in the skills, prep, produce and delivery of the dining experience. This brings together students’ creativity and their confidence with ingredients and flavours as, well as finesse in execution.”
Students will often be attached to different stations with Danny and Academy technicians Darren Hull and Julia Robertson – with Julia leading on pastry, Darren on starters, and Danny on mains.
Food and Beverage Operations Technician Julia joined the Academy team in February 2022 and adds:
“As technicians we help to ensure that students are able to get the best out of the training opportunities introduced by Danny. Students will always find us in the busy kitchen and we are on hand to assist with menu creation and the always popular challenge of the invention tests.
It’s an industry that requires you to be really interested in what you are producing and in creating dishes to be proud of. With the very busy festive season now in full swing, our students will experience all the buzz of a city centre restaurant at this time of year.”
Before joining Ulster University, Julia worked for Orchardville, a social enterprise that supports people with learning difficulties, in one of its cafes. Day to day on campus, Julia will be found taking care of the dessert section, helping students with the production of the desserts and the plating up for service.
Danny adds:
"We are fortunate to have wonderful produce on our doorstep, a vibrant artisan food community and a flourishing restaurant scene across Northern Ireland. And at Ulster University, we welcome our students into this wonderful Academy – both a superbly equipped teaching space and lively professional restaurant. There can be no better environment in which to show our students the pace, pressure, passion and the rewards of creating, cooking and presenting food that our diners truly enjoy.”
In the Academy
