Twenty-four-year old Gerald Dill has an excellent reason for wanting to become a chef.

?I like food,? he said, laughing.

And, in the so-called ?business of pleasure?, there really can be no better reason.

Mr. Dill, who has dreamed of becoming a chef for four years, signed up early with the National Training Board?s chef apprenticeship programme last September after missing the sign-up the year before.

The programme pays for the apprentices to attend classes at the Bermuda College, then helps place them in a job for hands-on training.

However, after Hurricane Fabian hit in September forcing the closure of hotels and restaurants ? including the Fairmont Southampton Hotel, where several of this year?s five apprentices were to begin their internship ? the apprentices were left scrambling for jobs.

Mr. Dill quickly found himself in a very different role from the one he likely would have played in the kitchens at the hotel. At the end of September, he began work at the Lemon Tree Cafe on Queen Street. There, under the tutelage of co-owners Lee Uddin and Jean-Claude Garzia, he found himself face-to-face with more than 450 extremely hungry people each day.

Thrown into the deep end quickly by the departure of another chef, Mr. Dill performed every task from making cappuccinos to chopping meat, making sandwiches, helping with preparations for catering orders, and serving guests at happy hour.

Perhaps the easiest task was talking with the customers, he said.

?He?s very good at it,? agreed Mr. Garzia. ?Everybody loves him.?

?I think it?s helped him a lot,? agreed Mr. Uddin. ?Working at the ?back of the house? (i.e. in a kitchen away from the guests) is very different to having to deal with the customers face to face... Young guys come in and they don?t get the opportunity to learn all the different aspects of running a full operation. They might just chop salad for three months... Gerald didn?t have any choice. You have to do everything here.

?When Gerald first started with us he found it difficult to keep up, we put a lot of pressure on him.?

?By gaining speed you gain excellence,? said Mr. Garzia. ?Either you make it or you don?t make it. He took the pressure, he passed the test and we like it. He passed the test very well.?

That kind of praise only makes Mr. Dill ? who has extensive experience in working with salad after his time as a preparation chef at the Reefs before joining the NTB programme ? work harder.

?I like this better,? he said. ?At the Reefs I never really understood the amount of pressure the waiters had on them... now I really understand.?

After nearly five months at Lemon Tree, Mr. Dill is moving ahead with the next step in the three-year NTB programme. He will return to the Bermuda College full-time for classes before beginning work at the Fairmont Southampton when the hotel re-opens in April.

?That?s the only reason he?s leaving,? said Mr. Uddin. ?Otherwise he might as well stay with us... We?re a small operation. But we wish we could have taken more (apprentices).?

With Lemon Tree staff clearly expressing their disappointment at his departure, Mr. Dill said he would miss them also.

?They?re good role models. Even when I do things wrong. I need that discipline, they?re not too soft.?

He understood the importance of an education in tandem with on-the-job training, however, saying that the education aspect was his biggest challenge.

Mr. Uddin and Mr. Garzia both encouraged Mr. Dill to continue his education even after the completion of the NTB programme to culinary institutes abroad.

Travelling to learn alongside the chefs of Europe is also on Mr. Dill?s agenda. In 20 years he hopes to either be running his own operation, or working as an executive chef.

The NTB programme was definitely useful, he added. ?Anybody who wants to be a chef ? sign up.?