Life as a Dukie

Catering & Dukies’ Coffee Shop

Thomas Franks joined forces with The Duke of York’s Royal Military School in September 2023 and are committed to matching the School’s excellence in every aspect, especially with food. Their goal is to create a dining experience that feels like a home-away-from-home, in terms of both the dining experience and menu options.

Our professional and experienced chefs prepare well-balanced and nutritious meals are prepared using fresh ingredients, sourced where possible from local suppliers. The school are completely nut free.

Meal times offer an opportunity for students and staff to dine together and enjoy each other’s company. In addition, all Houses have kitchen facilities.

There are calendared ‘themed events’ and workshops from local suppliers at regular intervals. These events are very popular with both the pupils and staff, as they provide an interesting insight into the culinary cuisine of other countries and are a perfect opportunity for our chefs to showcase their skills.

The Dining Hall

The Dining Hall is centrally located within the parkland estate, and is where students and staff eat together at breakfast, lunch and dinner.

For breakfast, students can enjoy a variety of hot items, including free-range eggs and locally sourced ingredients. At lunch and dinner, there are multiple options at the hot counter to accommodate all dietary needs, along with a diverse artisan salad bar featuring fresh, seasonal ingredients, soup station and desert options.

The Dukies’ Coffee Shop

The Dukies’ Coffee Shop is one of the students most popular places to spend their free time. The menu includes sourdough pizzas, hot drinks and milkshakes as well as healthy fruit options.

If your children are after the Hogwarts experience, their prayers will be answered within the school’s regal dining room with its dark panelled walls where we enjoyed lunch on the High Table which is a tradition they uphold on special occasions. Students are invited to join, and we had the luxury of table service with a starter, main course, pudding and cheese course plus one of the students said Grace before the meal. This is not just for visitors we’re told – High Table takes place regularly as a reward for students and as a way of relaxed interaction with senior staff to gain insights into school life from a student perspective for visitors, so you get a real sense of the traditional aspect of the school
Muddy Stilettos, Best Schools Guide