Trained Rick Stein chefs helped launch Truro School’s refurbished Sixth Form Café this week.

The new focus will be about providing a variety of dishes using fresh ingredients that are all cooked from scratch on site, in an open kitchen where students can see dishes being prepared.

Alistair Turner, assistant head of Cookery School, said: “There’s a trend to start opening up kitchens, and in a way inviting the customer to see what’s going on and how things are prepared, cooked, and managed. We are adopting this trend in our Sixth Form Café to encourage openness.”

The refreshed café has been completely redecorated with a light and modern nautical design, following extensive hard work over the Summer holidays to be completed.

The café will have a different menu every week, with themes including Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Spanish, to name just a few, that are in response to the increasing demand of vegetarian and vegan options. As the season moves on, dishes will move from salads to stews and vegetarian bakes.

Maria Taylor, head of Cookery School at Truro School, said: “It’s a very different type of offering from your regular lunches or breakfasts. It’s a good opportunity to encourage students to taste a range of different flavours, and most importantly, a range of nutrition. Healthy doesn’t have to mean a beige diet.”

Breakfast options will include sausage or bacon sandwiches, homemade muesli or granola with yoghurt and honey, and fruit is free all day. The range of breakfast options encourages the idea of starting the day with a meal to promote learning.

The recipes are all prepped on site. Alistair and Manuel Espejo have experience as senior chefs at Rick Stein’s Padstow, and are now at Truro School leading a chef team.

Alistair explained: “We prepare breakfasts and lunches from scratch every day. We season it, add juices, citruses, you name it. As well as all these unique dishes we will also be providing the staple favourites. It’s all about giving choice. Toasties, tray bakes, anything you’d expect to find in a good quality café.”

Last year’s Lower Sixth, now Upper Sixth, were asked their opinion on what kind of dishes they would like to see in their new café, and what they would like to try.

Maria and Alistair hope that the menus and open kitchen will help encourage confidence in cooking from scratch at home, instead of buying ready made, and to prove that healthy eating can be adventurous.