A CELEBRITY chef and local restaurateur returned to his old school to cook with students and share his experiences of the hospitality industry.

Mark Hix, who grew up in West Bay, showed Sir John Colfox Academy students how to make a range of seafood dishes, while also sharing his insights of the best routes into the business.

The chef said: “There are so many opportunities in hospitality, it is a great business to get into young.

“Whatever you go on to do in life, learning to cook is important and a useful life skill, even if you don’t go into the business.”

Mr Hix demonstrated how to prepare scallops and how to pan fry them, before sharing them with the class. He then showed the students how to fillet fresh seabass, which he served Ceviche style marinated in lime, chilli and coriander.

Anna Burridge, teacher of Food and Nutrition at the academy said: “Our students enjoyed speaking to Mark and tasting his amazing food, which was delicious and also looked wonderful.

“They were interested to hear how he’d started at Colfox like them, before rising to the heights of the business and setting up his own restaurants, as well as sharing his story, he also gave them valuable advice about the many different opportunities available in the hospitality industry.”

Mr Hix shared his love of local Dorset produce and brought in some sea spinach picked locally for the students to try.

He said: “When I was at Colfox, many years ago, it was the first-time girls were allowed to do metalwork and boys were allowed to study domestic science, as it was called then, so we did domestic science as we wanted to be in a class of girls, but the thing was they all chose metalwork.”

The award-winning author and food writer has 12 cookbooks to his name and is also a newspaper columnist. He has opened numerous restaurants, including one in Lyme Regis.

Mr Hix offered to donate some of his cookery books to the Colfox library.

Simon Gray from the Fish Heroes Programme, which promotes seafood cookery in schools, has offered to donate all the ingredients used following Mr Hix's visit, so students can have another go at making his dishes.