Welcome To Breaking Bread Chef Lewis Walker
Join Chef Lewis Walker at UCB restaurant as we delve into the unique training environment for aspiring chefs at University College Birmingham. Our guest, Chef Lewis Walker is a seasoned chef and head of the culinary arts department
If you’ve ever walked into a room and felt its energy hum with purpose, you know the kind of buzz that exists at University College Birmingham’s culinary school. It’s not just a place where students learn to cook, it’s a crucible where raw talent meets fire, pressure, and inspiration. Chef Lewis Walker is at the helm of this dynamic environment—a man as passionate about nurturing young chefs as he is about the food they create.
In our recent podcast, Lewis opened the doors to his world at UCB, where classrooms smell of caramelizing onions and the steady rhythm of knife-on-chopping-board echo ambition. UCB isn’t just a culinary school; it’s a full-fledged restaurant, open to the public, where diners expect excellence. The stakes are high, but so are the rewards.
What Is UCB?
The concept is as bold as it is brilliant: let students train in a real kitchen environment where paying customers sit just beyond the pass. It’s vocational education stripped of pretension and dressed in the grit of real-life hospitality.
Lewis doesn’t sugarcoat the experience for his students. The kitchen demands presence, precision, and humility. Every service is a lesson, every dish a story waiting to be told.
What sets UCB apart is its commitment to balance. The staff pushes students to industry-level standards while creating a supportive space to fail, learn, and grow. There’s no shouting brigade of chefs here; instead, there’s mentorship. It’s about giving young cooks room to stumble and recover, to discover who they are with a knife in their hand and a station to call their own.
Chef Lewis Walker On Why You Should Go To UCB
Here’s the thing about UCB: it doesn’t just teach you how to cook; it teaches you how to think like a chef. This isn’t a school that churns out graduates armed only with fancy plating techniques and zero understanding of how to run a kitchen. It’s a breeding ground for future industry leaders.
UCB’s public-facing restaurant isn’t just a gimmick; it’s a pressure test. Students learn what it means to deliver quality under scrutiny, how to handle criticism from diners who don’t care if you’re still mastering béarnaise. It’s not just cooking—it’s performing, adapting, thriving.
And the facilities? They’re world-class. Training kitchens equipped with everything a budding chef could need. A faculty of experienced professionals like Lewis, who are as much a part of the city’s food culture as they are educators. And it’s all in Birmingham, a city that’s fast becoming one of the most exciting culinary destinations in the UK.
If you’re dreaming of becoming a chef, Lewis’s advice is simple but profound: show up and absorb it all.
“Be present,” he says. “Engage in your classes, listen to your lecturers, and take every opportunity to learn.”
There’s a romantic image of the chef as a lone genius, but the truth is less glamorous and more rewarding. It’s about teamwork, resilience, and a relentless pursuit of betterment. Lewis is living proof that success in the kitchen isn’t about who shouts the loudest or plates the prettiest—it’s about who listens, learns, and lasts.
The Importance Of UCB In Brum
Lewis isn’t just shaping chefs; he’s part of a city-wide movement that’s redefining what Birmingham tastes like. From Michelin stars to street food gems, this city has become a culinary mosaic, and UCB is helping to paint that picture.
“Birmingham has a great food scene,” Lewis says with a grin, and it’s not hard to see why. The city pulses with creativity, its chefs pushing boundaries while staying rooted in hospitality’s timeless traditions. And many of those chefs have walked through the doors of UCB.
If you’re serious about food, about finding your voice in the kitchen, UCB is where you want to be. It’s not an easy ride—Lewis will be the first to tell you that. But nothing worth doing ever is.
At UCB, you’re not just learning to cook; you’re learning to belong to an industry that will challenge you, humble you, and, if you let it, make you. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll end up like Lewis Walker: equal parts mentor and artist, with Birmingham’s food scene as your canvas.
So, to all the future chefs reading this: get your hands dirty, keep your eyes open, and don’t stop moving forward. The kitchen is waiting.
Watch Our Full Podcast With Chef Lewis Walker
00:00 Welcome to UCB Restaurant
00:15 The Quiet Before the Storm
01:08 Training the Next Generation
01:49 Public Facing Restaurant
02:43 Real-World Learning
04:27 Dealing with Difficult Customers
10:49 The Chef’s Journey
14:49 Birmingham’s Food Scene
21:02 Formal Training vs. Self-Taught
25:08 Student Success Stories
26:45 Front of House Experience
27:35 Celebrating Bakers
28:37 Hospitality Job Market
29:51 Journey into Teaching
34:37 Advice for Aspiring Chefs
36:08 Common Sense in the Kitchen
41:39 Final Thoughts and Reflections
42:24 Rapid Fire Questions
Find Out More About UCB- https://www.ucb.ac.uk/
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Opening Drone Footage From Rob At Alto Drones- https://www.instagram.com/alto.drones/
Music From Tom Ford- https://www.instagram.com/thetennischampion/
If you enjoyed this episode why not take a look back at our episodes with
Simpsons Chef Director Luke Tipping
Breaking Bread Birmingham- The Podcast For Food Lovers In Birmingham
