It has been such fun to follow the adventures of the Budding Chefs over the course of the last few years, with this year’s visit of the students from Dinard providing yet more fabulous food exchange opportunities.

Having heard from Vincent Guerin at our March event, it was really pleasing to see regular saloneers Vivian Maeda and Danielle Ellis assist Vincent, Fred and Vanessa, who once again were the beating heart of the operation.

Vivian co-ordinated visits to schools in Prestonpans and Edinburgh where the chefs worked with the pupils to share their knowledge of French cooking. This was as part of the Scottish Business in the Community Food for Thought programme.

What’s more, the Edinburgh pupils at James Gillespie’s got a visit from Tom Kitchin, who has been a committed supporter of the initiative, over the years.

Fred Berkmiller has spoken before at our event about how raising food awareness with young people is not only one of the key aims of the Budding Chefs programme, but absolutely fundamental to building positive food knowledge and skills.

Danielle gave her considerable baking skills to producing the bread for the brigade’s pop-up event at L’Institut Francais. I ran into Vanessa, Vincent and Fabrice le Bret from the Dinard food school, the day before, and heard how much they’d enjoyed their time in Mull, in particular, so was looking forward to visiting the event.

Sadly, I was struck down with a nasty eye infection so missed it. However, my friend Eleanor stepped into the breach, taking photos of the evening included within this post, so you can read her verdict on things over on Lunchquest.

All that’s left is to reiterate our thanks to Vincent, Fred and Vanessa for their splendid efforts, and extend a huge congratulations to the brigade of wonderful young cooking professionals that comprise the French and Scottish team that is the Budding Chefs.