Interview with Chef Lionel

How did Lunch For Less come about, and what was your role?

Our £2 meals came about as a suggestion from our Vice Chancellor after the challenges of Covid and the rising cost of living. It quickly became a favourite, so much so that our governors decided to keep it going.

As one of the kitchen Chefs, my role was to create a two-week rotating menu. Right now, we’re serving about 200 Lunch For Less meals each and every day.

What are the key values behind the initiative?

Our university is committed to supporting our community. We aim to serve meals that bring a little extra warmth to people’s day. With rising food costs, we believe a hot meal for £2 offers incredible value, making sure no one misses out because of financial stress.

What would you say, are the most popular Lunch For Less dishes?

All our dishes are quite popular, but Macaroni Cheese and Sausages with Yorkshire Pudding & Mash tend to sell out quickly. They’re comforting, familiar foods that people like — and all for just £2!

Customers vote with their feet, and we often have queues lining up from around 11:30am, and many ask about the £2 menu first thing in the morning!

How are the ingredients sourced?

Our £2 Lunch for Less dishes use the same high-quality ingredients as all our other meals. We carefully select local suppliers to keep our carbon footprint low. Each meal is freshly sourced, prepared, and cooked daily, offering a good balance of veggies, protein, and carbs so everyone can enjoy a nutritious meal.

A typical day in the kitchen

Our small team with two Chefs starts work at 6:30am to prepare meals for all our customers. We focus on being as efficient as possible, and over time we’ve become a well-oiled machine! We like to go above and beyond to make all our meals tasty and nutritious.

Cooked breakfast starts at 8am, and we have other outlets to supply with fresh food across our campuses too.

Preparation begins at around 7am for our Lunch For Less menu, as we know we’ll have lots of hungry mouths to feed from 11:30am to 2:30pm. Every day, we prepare, cook, and serve around 700 hot meals — imagine cooking Christmas dinner, but on a much larger scale and every day! It’s busy, but we work hard as a team to make sure every meal delivers the same quality.

From 11am onwards, we’re serving and rotating dishes at each counter, so communication and teamwork are key. And once it reaches 1:30pm, we start prepping for the next day’s menu to make our work a little easier for the morning ahead.

What do you and the team find most rewarding?

The most rewarding part is seeing people come back, knowing they enjoyed their meal. When a recipe is successful, it’s like getting a pat on the back! Our goal is to get it right the first time, which is why we say make it nice so we don’t make it twice.

Regardless of the cost of the menu, we make sure to put the same care and attention into every dish. We’d still peel the onions and cut the carrots exactly the same. We’re proud to prepare food that people enjoy, and if a dish is especially popular, we make sure to have a second option so there is always a great range to choose from.

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