Pictured: (centre, l-r) Chef Andy Waters with students Nawal, Nakash, Hassan, Adeel, Zulfiqar, Teacher Dawn Tate, and Sophie

Budding restaurateurs from Small Heath School got a taste of what it's like to run a real kitchen thanks to a visit from a local celebrity chef.

Andy Waters, owner of Edmunds Restaurant in Brindleyplace, Birmingham visited pupils on the Edexcel BTEC level 2 Certificate in Hospitality course who are taking part in The Gastro Card Restaurant challenge.

As part of the challenge, pupils have been split into five groups and will battle it out to come up with ideas for a new restaurant venture in the Engine Room on Newhall Square in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter. The project will involve planning all aspects of the business, from choosing what type of restaurant it will be and setting the menu, to deciding the look and feel of the interior and how to market it to potential customers.

The Gastro Card Restaurant challenge will form 50% of the overall grade for the course, which runs until April 2012, and is a fun way to prepare the year 11 students for their career path after secondary school, whether it's a college course or employment.

Andy Waters spoke about his experience of running a successful restaurant and the importance of having a reputation for good food and high quality service. He also advised the groups on their menu selections and made suggestions of dishes that would work with their chosen themes.

Pupils then had the chance to quiz the restaurateur with Andy responding to questions like 'Where do you source your produce?' and 'How do you decide what price to charge for your dishes?'.

Andy said: "I really enjoyed visiting the pupils and was pleased to see they were excited about creating a restaurant venture from scratch for The Gastro Card Restaurant challenge. They certainly gave me a grilling when it came to question time too!

"Initiatives like this are a fun way to give young people an insight into the challenges of running a business, whatever the industry may be."

Andy is just one of many industry professionals who will be giving advice to the class. Having already been visited by Birmingham-based interior designers Monteith Scott and now a local chef, the teams will now look to representatives from Barques, a design and PR agency based in the Jewellery Quarter, for support with marketing and PR plans for their concepts.

The task will conclude with the teams presenting their finalised ideas and taster menu, which they will cook themselves, to a board of members from The Gastro Card. The team with the best concept and tastiest menu will be crowned the winners.

Teacher Dawn Tate, who runs the catering programme at the Small Heath School, said: "The pupils and I are very grateful to Andy for coming to support the project. He offered some great words of wisdom and I know the teams are very excited with the prospect of implementing his ideas as they prepare their menus."

If your school or restaurant would like to be part of future Gastro Card challenges, please contact Sally Bowen at sallyb@gastrocard.co.uk.