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NICE MENU, JUST DON'T ASK FOR PORRIDGE! ; Convicts could be transformed into waiters and chefs if plans for restaurant at HMP Cardiff get the go-ahead [South Wales Echo (UK)]
(South Wales Echo (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) FOODIES will know it can be a nightmare booking a last-minute reservation at some of South Wales' top restaurants.
But diners will need high level security clearance to eat at a new restaurant planned for Cardiff - and undergo a body search on arrival.
They must also be aged over 18, bring photographic ID and hand over their mobile phones - while alcohol is off the menu and cutlery is plastic.
The unusual security measures will be in place if plans for a fine-dining restaurant at HMP Cardiff - where the dishes would be cooked and served by prison inmates - are approved.
The idea is to transform convicts at the Category B prison - who will be paid about pounds 15 for a five-day working week - into fully-trained chefs and waiters.
The restaurant will seat up to 100 diners, with criminals serving gourmet three-course meals using Welsh produce grown at an organic farm at HMP Prescoed in Usk, Monmouthshire.
Around 20 prisoners will work in the restaurant - named The Clink - at any one time, with the tables, chairs and artwork also created by inmates.
According to a planning application submitted to Cardiff council, the prison's former visitor centre, a detached building within the prison boundary on Knox Road, will be converted for the restaurant.
It says the dining room will be to an "exceptionally high standard" and customers will be encouraged to engage with staff and trainees.
Opening hours will be limited to between noon and 2.30pm, while security measures include manned 24 hour CCTV and an alarm relay directly back to the main prison security control room.
Clink is the concept of Alberto Crisci, an award-winning chef who previously worked at Marco Pierre White's Mirabelle Restaurant in Mayfair, London.
The first Clink restaurant opened three years ago within the walls of HMP High Down in Sutton, Surrey, and has since trained 85 prisoners.
Reviews of The Clink at HMP High Down "This is easily the most dramatic entrance I've ever encountered, which makes me sad for all the other restaurants - how they labour, with their fairy lights and bay trees, when what you really need is a high security compound, baled with barbed wire, with an unmarked door." The Daily Telegraph "The steak was cooked medium rare as ordered, with just enough chargrilled flavour to add bite but not overpower the meat. The barnaise sauce was light and frothy. The plastic cutlery rendered sinew a challenge, but luckily the steak had been well tenderised." The Independent "Local Surrey restaurateurs must be grateful that though The Clink is open to the public, getting a table isn't entirely straightforward. The tables are usually full of prison staff and visitors, and groups from local councils, charities and food and community groups." The Financial Times It received rave reviews from critics, with the menu boasting Scottish beef cooked three ways (pounds 9.50), fillet of coley with salmon mousse (pounds 8.95) and venison and chestnut ravioli (pounds 8.95).
The Clink Charity, which runs the scheme, has selected Cardiff as one of the first sites for a nationwide roll-out programme.
Chris Moore, chief executive, said: "Following the success of The Clink restaurant at HMP High Down, The Clink Charity has been in discussion with HMP Cardiff and HMP Prescoed to create a second Clink Restaurant.
"The aim of The Clink Charity is to reduce re-offending rates of ex-offenders by training and placing graduates upon their release into the hospitality industry."
According to its website, the new restaurants will cost about pounds 500,000 to open. Clink is reliant on funding from private individuals and philanthropic businesses, as well as the funds raised from sales within the restaurant.
Explaining his philosophy, Mr Crisci has previously said: "We train prisoners to a high level by signing them up to cooking and food service diplomas.
We also engage with employers who are willing to offer them a job when they are released."
According to the charity's website, the reoffending rate in the first year of release from prison is around 50%.
Clink claims it has reduced the reoffending rate amongst it graduates to 20% and some have gone on to secure full-time hospitality jobs upon release.
Calls to HMP Cardiff's governor, Richard Booty, were not returned yes-terday. The prison, which has capacity for about 780 inmates, is for criminals who do not require maximum security, but "for whom escape needs to be made very difficult".
A Prison Service spokesman said: "Prisons should be places of hard work that address the root causes of offending behaviour and where prisoners pay their debt to society.
"Skills learned through schemes like this increase the likelihood of prisoners getting a job on release and allow deductions from their wages to be used for victims' services."
CLINK MENU (HMP HIGH DOWN) Starter English buffalo mozzarella with basil and roast tomato dressing (pounds 4.25) Fresh Cornish crab oven baked in a mustard sauce and finished with parmesan and breadcrumbs (pounds 4.75) Main course Scottish beef cooked three ways, roast topside, braised cheek and slow cooked skirt with red wine and button onion sauce served with pomme fondant and seasonal vegetables (pounds 9.50) Slow roast lamb shank in red wine with roasted balsamic tomatoes and potato and carrot puree (pounds 8.95) Ballotine of chicken breast with mushroom and spinach mousse in a bacon crumb, tomato croquette potato and braised lettuce served with a cheddar sauce (pounds 8.75) Fillet of coley with salmon mousse, beurre blanc and new potatoes served with home grown vegetables (pounds 8.95) Venison and chestnut ravioli with watercress butter and toasted pine kernels with watercress and orange salad (pounds 8.95) Dessert Home-made ice cream (pounds 4.50) A celebration of English pears (pounds 4.95) Plum tart with custard (pounds 4.75) Cheese board (pounds 4.95)
(c) 2012 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved.
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