"Doing a Birkbeck degree jointly delivered with Le Cordon Bleu has equipped me with the knowledge to run a Thai café in the future"
Siravich Sukanskul graduated from MSc Culinary Innovation Management in 2022. He’s now working as a Chef De Partie in the renowned restaurant Daffodil Mulligan, with dreams of opening a café in Thailand in the near future.
My passion for food came from my family
My Mum and Auntie were great influences on me growing up as they loved to cook and bake. It was funny, when I was 10 years old, I was making Thai curries and my friends couldn’t comprehend how I was doing it. I loved having a talent that my friends didn’t have.
My course is extra special as its jointly delivered with Le Cordon Bleu
I did an undergraduate degree in Culinary Arts Management at another university in London, but felt I needed a Master’s degree to learn the management and accountancy side of running a food business. I discovered Birkbeck and loved how the degree was jointly delivered with Le Cordon Bleu London Culinary Arts Institute, one of the biggest food schools in the world. At Birkbeck, we learnt about business theory and with Le Cordon Bleu it was all about food.
Coming to London was scary but I made friends quickly
When I came to London nine years ago to study my undergraduate degree, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to connect with other people. However, this wasn’t a problem, and I made a lot of friends quickly. At Birkbeck, I had a similar experience and I’ve made friends for life. It was great because everyone on the course came from different backgrounds and we learnt a lot from each other - some of my course friends even had businesses before starting the course.
My ultimate dream is to open a café in Thailand
I’m putting plans in place to open a café in my home country, where I can bake for friends and family. My vision is to bake incredible wedding and birthday cakes and other impressive pastries, where I can weave in Thai and British influences, such as using exotic Thai fruits.
Developing skills for the future
I enjoyed a lot of the degree modules, but my favourite was product development, where we had to create a business plan for our own restaurant or café. I took this opportunity to work on my vision for my future café in Thailand. We also had a module on entrepreneurship which was helpful in learning how to start a business. I can’t wait for what’s in store in the future!