A social enterprise London street food project

It’s not often we get the opportunity to make a real difference in this world and here’s a job for someone that’s interested in doing something for the greater good. Liberty Kitchen is a London based street food social enterprise designed to help reduce reoffending out of Pentonville Prison. Amandine are hoping to help find them a chef for an initial 3 to 6 month period to get the project off the ground. For further details please read on. We of course will not be charging for this introduction so if you are interested please contact Janet Boston directly (the Director of Liberty Kitchen) – her details are at the bottom of this post.

Liberty Kitchen is an idea that has caught the imagination of all involved and has received extraordinary support from its board – chaired by Lord Falconer – and volunteers, as well as from various people working ‘in food’. The Governor of Pentonville, and his team are fully committed to Liberty Kitchen and have agreed to provide various in kind support. They have built partnerships with Kerb who run Camden Food Market and Mercato Metropole to sell the produce created by Liberty Kitchen.. Increased publicity and sponsorship is likely thanks to a series of network documentaries currently in discussion.

Liberty Kitchen intends to train and develop the skills of an initial team of up to 20 men per year who will be split between production and sales. The Liberty Kitchen chef will not work in isolation but as part of the team which includes the Pentonville mess chef and the Liberty Kitchen Director amongst others.

Key elements of the role will include:
Working with men inside and outside Pentonville prison with time split between the prison mess and a street market or van most probably located in the Kerb Food market at Camden but also possibly in locations across London.
Ideally the Chef will be interested in developing the product although this may not rule out a candidate who has other compensating strengths or experience. Liberty Kitchen currently intend to launch with a delicious meatball range titled “Ball no Chain” with ‘Roman Road’, ‘Greek Street’ and ‘Green Lane’ meatball offers reflecting Italian, Greek and Veggie tastes created by a top private chef. The idea behind the road names is the link to the different ethnic communities and tastes which reflect London and, it is hoped that the project can encourage men to come up with their own suggestions for meatballs, as well as recipes! The meatballs will be made on site (i.e. in Pentonville) and then flash fried at the market. Each will be accompanied by sources and a staple. Ideally there will be inputs from one high profile chef to create a signature ball to inspire each group! If product development isn’t the Chef’s chief skill selling and seeing what works needs to be! As does working and building the confidence of the men who will need a lot of encouragement both in the kitchen and on the stall.
While the enterprise skills will be covered through a bespoke course, it is hoped that the Chef will help the men to understand and learn about stock management, ordering and the financial side of running a catering business.

The Board hopes that whoever takes on the position, adopts it as their own and focuses on using their strengths so that they play a significant role in making Liberty Kitchen a success.

The ultimate goal of Liberty Kitchen is to create a model where profits are ploughed back into the scheme which has the potential to go to scale and be transferred across the prison estate or with other disenfranchised groups such as young offenders. Crucial is its ambition to reduce reoffending, build self-esteem and provide vital vocational qualifications to help secure jobs after release. The role of Liberty Ktchen Chef will of course be challenging but this will also be a chance to make a real difference to the lives of men who are often released with no prospects, hope or self belief. Liberty Kitchen is therefore interested in talking to people – from whatever background – who might relish this opportunity!

If you are a chef interested in this position then please contact:
Janet Boston,
DIrector, Liberty Kitchen
M: + 44 (0)7795 563309