A Fine-Dining Restaurant in Prison?

Prisoner: Cell Block H-ospitality

If it weren’t for the plastic cutlery, security guards and the heavy iron bars blocking the doorway, I would never have guessed I was inside Highdown’s medium-security prison enjoying slow-roasted beef with fresh, organic vegetables.

But, surreally, that’s exactly where I found myself, locked securely inside The Clink, Highdown’s fine-dining restaurant, where dishes are cooked, served, and cleared by the prison’s inmates themselves. Heck, even the plush dining chairs and glass tables were made by offenders.



The restaurant itself is stunning – a modern, light and comfortable space that offers a respite from the stark, high, barbed wire-topped walls of the prison outside. But for me the most impressive part of the restaurant wasn’t the handmade furniture or decor, but the inmates themselves, who are as professional and skilled as waiters and chefs in many high street restaurants.

Run as a collaborative effort between Highdown prison and Eco-Actif Services, a community interest company (CIC), the public restaurant presents an opportunity for security-cleared, well-behaved inmates to gain new skills, qualifications and hands-on experience in preparation for post-prison careers.

It seems ironic then that while our industry has a distinct lack of workplace skills, there are plenty of enthusiastic, experienced and trained persons leaving prisons everyday whose criminal records immediately destine them for the reject bin.

Although many an employer may shun the notion of hiring an ex-convict, most likely through fear of a repeat crime being committed, many industry bodies are urging restaurant operators to disregard their apprehension and consider prisons as a worthwhile recruitment source.

Upon news of The Clink’s launch last year, Bob Cotton, chairman of the British Hospitality Association, said restaurateurs should “believe, however shakily, in the redemptive power of prison,” claiming the industry could benefit from more enthusiastic, skilled workers.

The One and All Foundation also urges employers to judge job applicants on their merits, rather than their past, claiming ex-offenders are increasingly being considered as a diversity group.

“It’s easy to tar everybody with the same brush,” says Jennifer Miller, director of One & All. “Not everyone is in for murder. I think our industry should be considering everybody and taking everyone on, as well as engaging and working with our prisoners.”


The employment of ex-offenders would not only benefit the industry and help close the widening skills gap, but offer a means of support to those who are trying to get their lives back on track. People 1st, the training and skills body for the hospitality industry, support a number of employer-led programmes that engage with ex-offenders, who they believe will no doubt benefit from learning new skills and being given the opportunity to start afresh.

One restaurant group giving wrong-doers that chance is the Jamie Oliver-backed Fifteen, whose employment policy seeks to treat all applicants, including ex-offenders, fairly and equally, but unfortunately not all restaurant operators follow the same example.

Many restaurant groups declined to tell me whether they would consider employing an ex-offender, presumably because of a lack of available information on the notion, which is still considered taboo, and a strive for political correctness.

But that view may be set to change. While The Clink’s kitchen is run by head chef Dean Masters, who himself served 10 years inside for importing drugs, the first of the restaurant’s waiters is now due to leave the confines of Highdown prison to start a hospitality career in a nearby restaurant. If successful, the idea of employing an ex-offender may soon be commonplace. After all, doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance?

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Beer Butt Chicken Recipe & Video

For those of you scared of roasting a chicken, wanting to wow your dining guest, or even just looking for an escape from grilling yet another burger; behold, the beer butt chicken!
Beer Butt Chicken Recipe

BBQ Beer Can Chicken recipe

Olive Oil
Whole Chicken
Kosher Salt
Fresh Pepper
Can of beer

How to Make Beer Butt Chicken

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees; make sure that it is heated all the way, don’t throw the bird in to the cold oven. Check the temperature using an oven thermometer.2. Open the can of beer, take a good swig, and enjoy the cold refreshing drink.

2. If you take small drinks take another sip leaving just over half the liquid in the can. Resist the temptation of finishing what is left, you need this for the roasting. The beer will make the chicken exceptionally juicy and moist.

3. Set chicken on can, inserting can into the cavity of the chicken. The chicken should be standing on its legs supported by the beer can inserted in the cavity, hence the name of beer butt chicken. Lightly oil, using enough to make the entire surface of the meat glisten, but not so much that you leave a puddle.


4. Season the chicken well. Kosher salt and freshly ground peppers are all the seasonings you need. Most people go too easy on them, I say don’t be shy. See below for other seasoning variations.

5. Place baking sheet with beer and chicken in the pre-heated oven. Word of advice: two sets of hands here are better than one! The chicken is done when the internal temperature reaches 180 degrees. For a 4~5lbs bird, you are looking at any where from an hour to an hour and half, at the most. But don’t let the time decide the fate of your dinner guests; stick an instant read thermometer to make sure that you don’t undercook, or even worse overcook.

6. Once the chicken is done, let the bird rest for 10~15 minuets so that your guest have time to view and wow over it :) Okay, so this is to allow the juices to settle back into the meat, but there’s nothing wrong with impressing. Remove the chicken from the beer can using oven mitts and spring-loaded tongs. Be very careful, the can is still very hot. Again, two sets of hands are best.

The end result, is roasted chicken without the usual hassle. Brown and crusty all over, juicy and flavorful inside; and some argue, superior to the standard oven roasted bird.
Variation: Beer Can Chicken

Try adding the spice/herb listed below to your classic salt and pepper seasoning.

* 1/4 cup of minced rosemary and crushed and minced garlic
* 1/4 teaspoon each of cayenne pepper, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano
* Ground coriander, cumin, and cayenne pepper equal portions

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