Top Chef heats up UCOL kitchen

Monday 29 October 2012

Top Chef heats up UCOL kitchen

As if running his iconic Greytown restaurant Bar Saluté wasn’t enough, Chef Travis Clive-Griffin has now taken on the added challenge of teaching cookery at UCOL Wairarapa.

“More recently I came to the conclusion that I’d like to teach. It’s a new way to use my culinary knowledge,” says Travis.

Originally from Melbourne, Travis moved to New Zealand after the first part of his career had taken him through the kitchens of some of the most highly regarded chefs in Australia and the UK.

Travis and his wife Eve opened Saluté Restaurant in Greytown in 2001. Since then it has been named as Best Wairarapa Restaurant 2008 and been a three times finalist in the Cuisine Magazine NZ Restaurant of the Year Awards. In February of 2009, Saluté was revamped into a modern tapas bar and ‘Bar Saluté’ was born.

After more than 11 years of coaching his own kitchen staff, Travis finds teaching in a practical manner to be both “natural and enjoyable”.

Travis has accepted a six month contract to cover UCOL Chef Lecturer Carmel Harris’s maternity leave and will teach the Certificate in Professional Cookery and Certificate in Baking and Pastry.

He excelled as an apprentice chef so the theory side of cooking comes easily – “Or so I thought, until I had to plan and prepare classes for the UCOL programme.” He admits it has been difficult taking up the position two thirds of the way through the teaching year, but is relishing the challenge. “I’m learning a lot too.”

Campus Manager Angela Hewitt says, “UCOL Wairarapa is excited to include Travis as part of its team. Our students will benefit greatly from his vast industry knowledge, skills and experience.”

Travis speaks highly of UCOL’s impressive teaching kitchen facilities and support for students. “There are great opportunities to be had here,” he says. “The students have just got to want it.”

As a chef of significant standing who has had to work hard since leaving school as a 14 year old, Travis says with personal experience, “A positive attitude is one of the most important skills you will ever have.”

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