Nicholas Blackmore

Status: Member

Hospitality Teacher

Cookery Programs

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Holmesglen Institute of TAFE

School of Hospitality, Tourism & Recreation

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Phone: (03) 9564 6230

E-mail: Nicholas Blackmore

“Cooking was such an integral part of my childhood, so becoming a chef was really no surprise”, says Nick. “Coming home from school to sample my grandmothers’ freshly baked bread and cakes was always a thrill.”

After enjoying home economics at school and also a stint of work experience at the Australia Hotel, Nick set his sights on an apprenticeship in cookery. Doing the hard yards as a kitchen hand initially, Nick finally got his chance and hasn’t looked back.

After beginning in a small hotel, Nick moved to the renowned Onions restaurant in Prahran. This was a great learning experience, where he further honed his skills.
 

Moving into the final year of his apprenticeship Nick went to work at a boutique hotel and reception centre in the inner suburbs of Melbourne. This saw Nick gain further experience in fine dining, functions and banqueting, and on completion of his apprenticeship Nick was promoted to Sous Chef, this was a great experience and also exposed Nick the management side of the kitchen.

An offer to work in the Northern Queensland sunshine was too much to resist so Nick and his wife (also a chef) headed to Brampton Island. This was a very enjoyable time. Being able to combine the profession you love and also the benefits of island life was just too good to be true. But as they say all good things must come to an end.

Returning to Victoria Nick had a short break from cooking and helped out in the family business. But the pull of the kitchen was too great and Nick found himself back in the kitchen at one of Melbourne’s premier seafood restaurants.

In 2000, Nick joined Crown Casino and was privileged to work with some very talented chefs. Beginning as a chef de partie, Nick was promoted to Sous Chef and then Chef de Cuisine.

As Chef de Cuisine, Nick was involved with the opening of two kitchens, firstly, The Pub at Crown and later Crown Promenade Hotel with 20 plus staff under his direction.

In 2004, Nick left Crown and headed overseas for three months, and on his return he worked at The RACV Club in Melbourne.

Since 2005 Nick has been teaching cookery at Holmesglen TAFE and has obtained both his Certificate IV and Diploma in Training and Assessment. His duties at TAFE are varied but he really enjoys training the apprentice cookery team and also competing himself.

In 2005 Nick competed in the Lifestyle Channel Tasting Australia Regional cooking competition held in Adelaide. The Holmesglen culinary team finished 6th overall from a field of 19 teams and their apprentice won gold for the best apprentice overall.

Nick was quite involved in the 2006 apprentice cookery competitions, as team manager for the Holmesglen Vic TAFE team, with the team winning a Silver medal, and also as a judge for the apprentice competitions held at the Melbourne food and wine show held at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.