Nordic hospitality excellence With alumni that features a whole roster of celebrity chefs, Perho Culinary, Tourism & Business College could easily rest on its laurels. However, quite the opposite is true at the restaurant academy-cum-business school, which has developed a number of initiatives that aim to train a new generation of hospitality trade professionals, with hands-on expertise starting all the way at the field.
ness here. “We work closely with some 400 restaurants, including dozens of locations in Europe, so our students get to benefit from work experience at top venues in Finland and internationally.”
By Jo Iivonen | Photos: Perho Culinary, Tourism & Business College
Field to table
There’s hardly a chef in Helsinki without links to Perho. The restaurant academy has been training chefs and service staff for decades, and its restaurant is a perennial favourite among foodies looking to experience tasty food and friendly service at attractive prices. For the last few years, however, Perho has focused on building a new legacy – one that fuses together hospitality, culinary knowledge and business in an industry-defining way. “Finland has a lot to offer as a travel and culinary destination, but traditionally we 34 | Issue 134 | March 2020
haven’t always been presenting those strengths in the best possible way,” says Marja Hemmi, who’s in charge of hospitality and culinary education at the college. “We’re working in tandem with the trade to create the sort of expertise needed to stand out.” There are some 500 full-time students, who are learning the ropes as chefs and waiters; the chef programme is also offered in English and, over 15 years, students from all over the world have gained their qualifications in the restaurant busi-
A two-hectare farm in northern Helsinki sits at the core of Perho’s transformation into one of the most innovative hospitality sector training facilities in Europe. “Everything comes together at the field,” Hemmi enthuses. “Getting your hands dirty digging up carrots – the ones you’ve grown from seed since the spring – teaches you more about food than you could learn in the classroom over a month.” The idea to start producing crops in the middle of the city came about in 2016. “One of our trainers returned from an exchange at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in