'From Punch and Judy to Haute Cuisine'- A Biography on the Life and Times of Arthur Edwin SIMMs 1915-2003

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Arthur Simms was an amazing and exceptional man. Arthur was a pioneer in UK hospitality education post Second World II. As a young boy he assisted his father 'Quisto,' performing 'Punch and Judy' to the royal children at Buckingham Palace by special warrant from Keith Prowse. It was a conducted trip to the palace kitchens to get an ice cream (unobtainable in the mid-1920s), that gave him the firm conviction to become a chef. Training at the only centre 'Westminster Technical Institute' London, he gained a first class diploma, before undertaking experience at the Ciros Club Orange Street Piccadilly, well-known during the dance band era and at the Trocadero. A chance meeting with the niece of the French Ambassador, who on his day off became his dancing partner for the 'swing technique' with the Joe Loss Orchestra Tottenham Court Road, also gained him a visa to work in Paris at the Carlton's Hotel near Montmartre, Moulin Rouge and Sacre Coeur. This opportunity enabled him to meet the 'Chef of Kings and King of Chefs' the famous Auguste Escoffier, at a Paris exhibition. On return to London he worked at the Savoy Café Parisien, the Grand Hotel Leicester and the Gargoyle Club, owned by David Tennant and Lady Viola Tree in 'demimonde' Soho. In 1939 and the outbreak of war saw a move to Aldershot, where he was selected as one of eight chef instructors for the newly formed 'Army Catering Corps'. In 1945, as the Head Chef at the Potsdam Conference he was introduced to Stalin, Truman and Churchill. In 1946 he Arthur became the first Head of Hotel and Catering at Brighton Municipal College and gained membership of the Regional Advisory Council for the first City and Guilds of London Institute qualifications in professional cookery. He was appointed as a judge for the Salon Culinaire Hotelympia International Exhibition, London. Later in 1952, he was chosen as Head of Hotel and Catering in a new purpose-built wing of Portsmouth Municipal College, which he saw grow from local to international repute. In 1964 he was seconded for two years as Principal in Hotel and Catering to the new Pusa Institute, New Delhi India and under his leadership its reputation surpassed that of the first centre in Bombay. Arthur retired in 1977 and died in 2003. He is remembered today by hundreds of former students, colleagues and friends worldwide.

Weniger Details

Michael Flagg is a retired university lecturer who also dabbles in the theatre. He credits his hero Arthur Simms, with giving him his second chance in life, staying in touch with him right up until Arthurs death in 2003. Two years earlier, he made a promise to Arthur, his mentor and inspiration, that he would publish Arthurs story. This fascinating biography and memoir is the result. Geoff Felix, a leading Punch and Judy performer, maker of ventriloquial figures is also the author of two books: My life with Punch by Joe Beeby 1993 ISBN 0952137100 and Conversations with Punch edited by G. Felix 1994 ISBN 0952137119. Geoff undertook his own research on Arthurs father Quisto, a well known Punch and Judy performer to royal children at Buckingham Palace as well as a creator of ventrioquial figures, which had helped Geoff with his own ideas. Geoff has used his specialist expertise and his unique access to Arthurs account of assisting his father as a boy, to contribute to Chapter 1. The remaining thirteen chapters have involved considerable research over seven years by the biographer who was one of the many hundreds of Arthurs students at Portsmouth Highbury College Hampshire England. After gaining the then Membership of the Hotel Catering and Institutional Management Association Examinations and City and Guilds of London 151 certificate in professional cookery, Michael Flagg started as an Assistant Restaurant Manager for J. Lyons, Clifford Street Mayfair. At the Royal Garden Hotel (Oddeninos) Kensington W8 he was firstly a controller, night auditor and then sales executive, which required on-foot promotion of rooms and conference facilities to business houses and travel agents in the west end and city. He then moved to Gardner-Merchant Industrial Caterers as a Training Instructor for new unit managers, which led to seventeen years of full-time lecturing in hotel administration subjects at Westminster Kingsway College. After gaining two part-time degrees in Business Studies and in Human Resources Planning, he then entered higher education at the Polytechnic of North London (later London Metropolitan University), for a further eighteen years, during which time he was also a visiting lecturer at Schiller International, London Waterloo. Throughout his working life Michael has also followed his love of the theatre, starting with a two-year part time acting diploma at Mountview Theatre School Crouch Hill London and thirteen years with the Tavistock Repertory Company (London) at Canonbury Tower Islington. He also performed with other companies at The Cockpit, Webber Douglas, Rudolph Steiner Regents Park and the Kenneth More Theatre Ilford Essex including some directing. Now, living in Broadstairs Kent, he performs for the Dickens Players and the Hilderstone Players and has taken on professional engagements with Gordon Clarkson Productions at Margate. He is also part of the award-winning history of St Peters-in-Thanet Village Tour of costumed characters during the summer season, in the role of John Wesley.