Learning from the best in the Hospitality Industry at William Angliss Institute, Sri Lanka
The Colombo Academy of Hospitality Management, a partnership between SLIIT and William Angliss Institute, offers world-class qualifications for students of the tourism industry. In ensuring the highest quality education, the academy has a faculty of worldrenowned experts. These industry leaders are more than qualified and experienced figures in the world of hospitality - they are the ones who define standards and whom newcomers to the field aspire to be like.
Deb Combe teaches ‘Introduction to Food and Beverages Knowledge’. Focusing on front of house, the course covers Food and Beverage Service and Responsible Service of Alcohol. While introducing students to food and beverages of different cultures, Combe explores current global trends in F& B, teaching students how to keep their knowledge relevant. This is Combe’sspeciality and she has been teaching this course at the William Angliss Institute since 2005, where she works full-time as an Industry Teacher/Trainer.
Spanning over 30 years, Combe’s experience in the hospitality industry is colourful to say the least. She has worked in almost all branches of the industry - five- star Hotels, fine dining restaurants, casinos , convention centres, catering companies and cafes. Still very much a part of the industry, she takes on short stints she describes as “cameo spots”. Just like her industry experience, Combe’s work in the academic field has been wideranging. Having taught in different parts of Australia in both classroom and flexible delivery training contexts, she has become skillful in adapting to diverse student backgrounds and abilities.
While Combe focuses on the service aspect of food, Chef Ehrenfried Barth tackles the nittygritty’s of cooking. Barth teaches t h ree units: Sandwiches, Appetisers& Entrees, and Vegetables, Eggs & Farinaceous Products. In essence these are some of the fundamentals of cookery and for this very reason Barth believes that chefs must get it right. A full- time Culinary Cooking Teacher at William AnglissInstitue, he both teaches professional cooking and trains students for cookery competitions.
Starting off at the tender age of 16 as an apprentice in commercial cookery at a restaurant in his hometown Heidelberg in Germany, Barth worked in many different parts of the world including Switzerland, Greece, Abu Dhabi, Malaysia and Australia. Each move took him a step upward in his overthirty year career and he is now one of the most respected chefs in the world. An avid fan of culinary competitions he won the prestigious Maurice Raymond Award with Kuching Hilton. He has also judged many cooking competitions including Darrel Cox and Salon Culinaires. Barth is both skilled and qualified, having a range of academic accolades to his name. Among these are the Certificate in Wo rkplace T r a i n i n g and Assessment, and Diploma in Vocational Education and Training. So many of those who studied and apprenticed under him have gone on to become big names in the culinary world - the ultimate proof of what a fantastic trainer he truly is.
Teaching Management Studies in the context of elementary level c o o ke r y i s C h e f A l f re d Gunasekera, a full- time Senior Lecturer and Culinary Instructor of William Angliss Institute, Sri Lanka. This course is delivered primarily through classroom instruction, with several kitchen demonstrations added in to the mix. His philosophy in cooking is simple, ‘Never compromise on the integrity of cooking for the presentation of the dish’ and he is driven by this to focus on competency-based edu- cation.
A chef of vast experience, Gunasekera’s portfolio includes such top notch positions as Executive Sous Chef at Colombo Renaissance and the Sheraton in Amman, Personal Chef to the Mexican Ambassador in Riyadh, and Executive Chef / Acting Food & Beverage Manager at the Best Western Premier Hotel in Accra, Ghana. He has also made two Guest Chef appearances in the 4 star Severa in Chennai and the Bangkok Novotel.
Outspoken and forthright, Gunasekera admits to having been “a hot-head”, always speaking his mind. He admits that it is this openness that has kept pushing him forward. Whatever his methodology, Gunasekera’s achievements make it clear that he is definitely someone very high up in his field. Joining William Angliss Institute, Colombo has meant that Chef Alfred has been able to channel his energies into moulding and developing young students, giving them a passion for learning about the culinary arts.
In fact, there is no doubting that Combe, Barth and Gunasekera are all key figures in the world of hospitality. Their years of experience in a range of contexts brought them to a stage where they all felt the need to share their skill and knowledge and this is how they moved to teaching and training. The students of William Angliss Institute, Colombo are certainly privileged to learn under such knowledgeable and passionate teachers.
William Angliss Institute’s partner campus, Colombo Academy of Hospitality Management @ SLIIT is enrolling students now for its February intake. To get more information, please call 077 007 0109, 077 880 0368, 077 926 4632 or 240 77 80, visit the website www.cahm. lk and follow them on www. facebook.com/williamanglisslk