The Escoffier Room hosts war veterans’ lunch

The Escoffier Rooms restaurant at Westminster Kingsway College hosted its annual lunch for over 20 members of the Army Catering Corps Association (ACC) yesterday, Thursday 8 November.

In what is an annual tradition, the ACC meet on the Thursday before every Remembrance Sunday. They first attend the opening of the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey and then move on to Westminster Kingsway College for the lunch. Some of the members of the Association are Westminster Kingsway College “Old Boys” and the ACC have always maintained close links to the college.

One of the “Old Boys” Geoffrey Acott MBE GCGC trained at Westminster Kingsway’s culinary school from 1962-64 and completed the Hotel Chefs Course. After earning his diploma he worked in various establishments in the West End of London including the Ritz Hotel, Piccadilly and The Institute of Directors, Belgravia.

After his time at the then Westminster Technical college, he joined the British Army in 1968 as a Private soldier and served in the catering function of the British Army for 25 years, reaching the rank of Captain. He then joined the Ministry of Defence as a Senior Instructional Officer for a further 17 years.

During his time at Salons Culinaire, the UK’s largest and most prestigious chef competition programme, he won numerous medals and awards.  In both 1978 and 1979 he was a senior member and trainer of the US Army Grand Prix winning team at the National Restaurant Show in Chicago.

Mr Acott said “Despite all my achievements, coming here (Westminster Kingsway College) was the best thing I ever did; it set me up for everything I did.”

In 2013 he was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to the Hotel and Catering Industry.

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