Derek Mc Clelland is a Chef Takeover 2020 participant and a final year student on the four year BA (Hons) in Culinary Arts degree at WIT
Originally born in Dublin, Derek has been a culinary arts student at Waterford institute of technology since 2015. Derek has a Higher certificate in culinary arts. McClelland is now in his final year of a BA (Hons) Culinary Arts at the institute.
Derek has recently returned home from a mandatory international year taking part in a work and college placement as part of year three of the program. Derek worked as a pastry chef at the Fairmont Banff Springs hotel in Alberta Canada. He then went on to attend classes at the world-renowned Institute Paul Bocuse in Lyon France. During his time there Derek worked under Davy Tissot who has a MOF (Meilleur Ouvrier de France). The MOF title is really unique. It carries an important historical legacy and recognizes work approaching perfection.
In the past Mc Clelland has worked for some of the top hotels and chefs in Ireland, he has worked at The K Club a 5-star hotel located in Kildare. In 2018 he worked for Keith Boyle formerly of the Bay Tree Bistro Waterford who was ranked top 100 chefs in Ireland 2018
Derek has a passion for pastry, he is currently specializing in it for his final year of college. He is an avid enthusiast of living sustainably, buying local when he can and eating seasonal produce.
In 2018, Derek was crowned champion of the first Dairy chef competition which took place in DIT, the competition was in partnership with the National dairy council and the embassy of France to Ireland. He was one of six culinary arts students chosen in Ireland and paired with 1 French culinary student. The students had to create a three-course meal using the best of Irish and French dairy products which saw Derek come out on top wining a weeklong internship in Paris.
Follow Derek on Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook.
Chef Takeover is an event presented by WIT, Pallas Foods and ABP in partnership with Bellissimo restaurant which saw 12 students create tasting menus with a strong focus on exceptional local produce. The kitchen takeover was originally scheduled for late March 2020 and has been postponed in line with the institute’s closure for student learning as part of Covid-19 measures.
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SETU Waterford, Cork Road, Waterford City, 
