Spending time and energy on something that will be destroyed minutes after it is created is the most appealing element of Benjamin Bernardo's chosen career. The trainee chef, now working under the tutelage of Serge Bottelli at Tucker's Point Club, declared in a recent interview that his favourite part of being a chef is when he has plated a dish and knows that it is leaving the kitchen to be set in front of someone to eat.

Interested in the culinary arts since he was 11, and with an uncle in the restaurant business, young Benjamin began his career three years ago, when at the age of 14, he spent the summer and weekends during term time in the kitchen of Tucker's Point Club. He worked in the cold section preparing salads and sandwiches, and occasionally working on the lunchtime menu. For the teenager, who resides in Somerset, making 7.30 a.m. in Tucker's Town was the greatest challenge ¿ no lingering in bed or idle days at the beach for him.

The lazy, hazy days of summer were a vague fantasy as he worked to help the sous chef prepare his mis en place for the a la carte menu and prepare salads and sandwiches for the golf club.

Having graduated from Saltus Grammar School in June of this year, Benjamin was offered further opportunities to learn about the industry with a three-month internship at the Hotel Theodul in Lech am Arlberg, Austria. Though Austria itself is a large country, Lech, Benjamin found, was not so different from Bermuda, as it was a small mountain community dependent on tourism: skiing in winter and hiking in summer. For the first time he was working in the hot section, entrusted with preparing, cooking and plating meats. This was significant, because if Benjamin cooked the meat well instead of medium rare, it was the chef who would bear the responsibility. Much of what he was preparing was traditional Austrian fare, like Weiner Schnitzel. He was also afforded the opportunity to prepare desserts, taking turns with a local female apprentice to move around the kitchen. Although he acquired some German, he was outnumbered by his colleagues in the kitchen who were anxious to practise their English, and he had little opportunity to learn much beyond the basics.

Acknowledging the enormous pressure to prepare ingredients as quickly as possible, and the tension that can develop in the kitchen, he declared, "I like the challenge". He noted: "Chefs are very different from normal people, with their own sense of humour," and the camaraderie is great, as is the satisfaction of working with a close-knit team. If chefs are tough, it's for your own good. If you make a mistake once, you won't make it again. He expressed admiration for Gordon Ramsay, noted for his toughness, because though he may break someone down, he will help a person build his or her character.

The next stage is going abroad to formal cooking school in the fall of 2008. He is currently looking at options in North America and England with the help of Chef Botelli and mentor Teresa Chatfield, director of finance for the MEF Group. Formal training will not be limited to preparing fantastic food, but managing the financial side of the business as well. He then hopes to work in kitchens overseas, meeting chefs from different backgrounds with a wide range of experience, and gathering recipes to add to his growing collection. His particularly interested in French cuisine: it not only tastes good, but looks good.

In the meantime he will be working alongside the seasoned pros at Tucker's Point, turning mere food into a sensory delight.