Our History

Westminster Kingsway College’s Victoria Centre, home to The Vincent Rooms, has a long history of education in the hospitality and culinary arts industry. Funded in 1910, the School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts was the first culinary school to open in the UK.

At the heart of the college’s School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts is the pledge to ensure the ongoing inspiration of both students and staff in culinary arts, a vision realised through the establishment of the Vincent Room, where students can hone their skills by preparing and serving meals to the public.

The School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts was formed over one hundred years ago when a committee of concerned academics and hospitality representatives, which included Auguste Escoffier, Cesar Ritz, Isadore Salmon, and Baroness Burdett-Coutts, came together to develop a school for professional cookery. At the time, many of London’s finest hotels were being opened, including the Ritz Hotel in 1906, the Waldorf Astoria in 1908, and the family-run Goring Hotel in 1910.

In 1894, the Westminster Technical Institute was established in a two-story building, provided by Baroness Burdett-Coutts, who had founded the nearby St. Stephen’s Church on Rochester Row and the Burdett-Coutts School, initially providing courses on civil and gas engineering, architecture and construction, and cabinet making. In 1910, the Cookery Technical Day School was introduced under the guidance of the first Principal, J. Stuart Ker. By 1912, the range of courses offered by the culinary school filled 4 pages of the prospectus and included a School for Waiters.

The original vision for the Cookery Technical Day School, which continues to this day, is to inspire students and staff in culinary arts and science. Therefore it was decided that a training restaurant was vital to enable students to practice cooking and serving meals to the public.

Today, this restaurant is known as The Vincent Rooms, which continues to provide diners with outstanding food, and students with hands-on experience.

The interwar years

The interwar years saw the continuation of the evening classes in engineering and art and the day courses in catering. In 1932, Mr Ker, Principal since 1907, was replaced by Dr G. N. Long.

Major extensions to the building in Vincent Square, particularly to incorporate the needs of the catering courses, followed. Large-scale catering equipment, cold rooms, a larder, and pastry areas were added, and the list of hospitality and catering courses continued to expand; a two-year Hotel Managers course was introduced. 

Postwar years

In 1951 the Vincent Rooms restaurant was extended, and in 1953, the Escoffier Room opened; a fine dining room named after Auguste Escoffier. During this period, further kitchens were added as well as a wine cellar. The number of courses for chefs and front-of-house students also continued to grow.  

Celebrating the centenary

In 2010, the School of Hospitality and Culinary Arts celebrated its 100th anniversary. As part of the celebrations, the college welcomed HRH The Prince of Wales on a visit to the Victoria Centre, where he toured the teaching kitchens and met staff and students and a group from the Princes Trust who were being trained by the College.

In 2012, new innovative teaching kitchens were installed, with a launch event for stakeholders, sponsors, college governors, staff, and students. The new facilities included the Baroness Burdett-Coutts Kitchen for International Culinary students, a culinary science and kitchen innovation laboratory, and a chocolate laboratory.

The Escoffier Restaurant was redesigned and refurbished in September 2019. It is now a modern contemporary restaurant with high ceilings and original windows, allowing natural light to flood in, and working with sponsors who contributed to the projects: Reidel sponsors glassware; Jeroboams Wine Merchants donated menus, wine list and digestive leather presenters; Matthew Clark Drink Suppliers donated the cocktail menu holders.