David Lucas: "Brilliant staff"

David Lucas trained at the Savoy, which has three floors of kitchens and 70 chefs.

But now he serves dishes such as supreme of pheasant Wellington to 1,340 pupils at Luton's Icknield High School.

Mr Lucas took a pay cut of nearly �30,000 to become the school's head chef after his wife suffered a heart attack and he needed more time to look after the couple's two children.

He said: "School dinners needed dragging into the 21st Century.

"But to do that you need the co-operation of your staff - and I have got a brilliant staff."

The pupils said they enjoyed the variety of meals on offer, which is borne out by their popularity - more than half the children choose to take lunch at school.

One teenager said: "You still get things like chips, but then on another day, it could be oysters and mussels."

At the school, the cordon bleu dinners cost just �1.20, which is a snip compared to the �50 cost of a meal at the Savoy.

Mr Lucas helps cut costs to serve the cordon bleu menus by looking at what ingredients are on offer at local markets.

He said: "If I hear that pheasant is going cheap we will buy them and put them on the plates at 50p a breast.

"It's common sense really and knowing classical cuisine."