Conquer the world of culinary art with Win-Stone

Dining out is an experience that differs from eating a home-cooked meal, and whether it be at a hotel, fine dining venue or a simple fast-food outlet, you expect your food to be well-prepared and presented appealingly. The culinary industry is growing exponentially day-byday as the customers patronage and interest increases, and one component for the success of the industry is its talented chefs, who combine aesthetics with cooking to come out with a scrumptious dish.

However, knowledge of how to Cook is not enough to become a recognized chef and succeed in the industry. You need a thorough knowledge across various fields, and for this purpose, it is necessary for aspiring chefs to attend a hotel school and study the art.

Since its humble beginnings in 2004 as a institute where students were instructed on cookery and food and beverages, Win-Stone School of Culinary Art (Pvt) Ltd has been a mentor for these aspiring chefs to excel in their chosen career.

As Ms Iyanthi Goonewardene- Managing Director of Win-Stone said, it is a “fast growing industry that is not confined only to Sri Lanka. If you are qualified, it is almost like having a passport and the sky is the limit”.

What you eat is something very important to everybody and there is a growing demand across the world for welltrained chefs, a demand that Win-Stone aims to satisfy through well-trained students. According to Ms Goonewardene, the School provides a structured learning programme designed to give everything that the student needs to do a good job later on in his career.

As stated previously, a good chef is an individual whose knowledge and experience go beyond cooking. He must also be competent in managing his working space and be aware of hygiene, a requirement that is especially needed given the risk of foods poisoning. As Ms Goonewardene went on to explain, a good chef must have an all round knowledge, and that is what Win-Stone equips the students with.

With a constantly updated Australian-based syllabus in place, the students receive a good knowledge and skill set, further benefitted by WinStone’s affiliation with the Technical And Further Education South Australia (TAFESA), which allows Sri Lankan students to pursue an education in Sri Lanka at an affordable price that otherwise might cost them exorbitantly to study abroad.

Cooking is a “combination of art and science,” said Ms Goonewardene who explained that in order to present the dish, the chef must have a knowledge of the artistic aspect while in order to cook, he or she must have knowledge of science. Having said this, she stated that for a basic course enrollment, students can apply after their O/L’s, while in order to apply for the diploma, they must have six passes in one sitting. The certificate and diploma programs are geared to produce chefs who can find employment at hotels.

However, Win-Stone is a fantastic beginning should you wish to embark on a path slightly deviating from the traditional post of hotelier. Win-Stone also closely works with four shipping lines including AIDA and Costa, and students can also find employment in passenger cruises after completing the courses designed to groom them towards this sector.

The diploma programme is a one year course while the certificate programs are six month courses. The structured lesson plans allow the students to get both theory and practical knowledge in cookery, baking and food and beverages with foundation or introductory courses in housekeeping and front office.

In closing, Ms Goonewardene emphasized that the industry is growing rapidly and that new opportunities are always available for well-trained chefs in hotels and ships or that they can even begin their own food outlet.

When I was just 19, I started as a volunteer at Pet Vet Clinic. After joining ANC, I worked as a peer tutor of Micro and Macroeconomics, Statistics and Psychology – and was later employed as a Project Manager and Research Assistant on parttime basis by Forté which is an organizational psychology firm in Sri Lanka. Just as I completed university, I was recruited by Forté on a fulltime basis. I also continued to be a part-time psy-

My experience at ANC was one of a kind and it was the best four years of my life. ANC gave me an opportunity to shine. ANC’s faculty encouraged us to challenge existing concepts and how to think critically. We could apply all these international concepts to Sri Lanka and learn