GLEN Wheeler is one of the country’s top chefs – but his journey to running an award-winning restaurant has been anything but straightforward.
At 15, the Lisnaskea man had absolutely no interest in cooking. He wanted to be a professional footballer or a plumber, but a chance encounter with a careers teacher pushed him down a different path.
“I messed up my GCSE results in school because I was working late nights at the Donn Carragh Hotel,” recalled Glen.
“Pat Dolan at St Comhghall’s told me to get out of his office when I said I wanted to be a plumber. He asked if I liked hospitality, I said I did, and he told me about a catering course at the old Fermanagh College.
“I remember going home and asking Mum what catering hospitality was, because I had signed up for something with no idea what it was. Mum said, ‘Glen that’s cooking. You’re going to be a chef’,” he laughed.
At that time, the catering industry was predominantly female. Many locals frowned upon Glen’s choice to pursue a career as a chef, but a young tutor called Neven Maguire took him under his wing.
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