Compass chefs cook up a storm to be named Chef of the Year

The much anticipated annual Compass Chef of the Year final took place at the Restaurant Show on Wednesday 12 October, at London's Earl's Court 2.

News
Compass Group news team
Monday 17 October 2011

From 230 entries, eight young chefs competed in the Junior competition while eight experienced professionals set their sights on the coveted Senior Chef of the Year title. Following a tightly-fought contest, Compass' specialist provider for education, Chartwells, had triple success with three of six medal positions.

In the 2011 Senior competition, Chartwells' Leszek Karpinski took the gold - a fantastic achievement having won silver in 2010 - closely followed by Steve Groves from Restaurant Associates with silver and Malcolm Woods from Chartwells who won bronze.

In the Junior competition, Lee Warren from Chartwells had his efforts rewarded with the gold, Alice Ross from Restaurant Associates took silver and taking bronze was Rob Hanlon from Compass' In Store business.

Simon Hulstone, 2011 Bocuse d'Or representative, 2003 Roux Scholarship winner and chef proprietor of one-Michelin starred The Elephant restaurant in Newquay, Devon, said: "I've been impressed at the standard of dishes throughout the day - they would rival those served in industry-wide competitions. Well done."

Junior competitors had just 90 minutes to create three courses, consisting a fish starter, duck main course and pear dessert containing Macadamia nuts. Senior chefs had two hours to create a similar line up of dishes, as well as an amuse bouche and use the Macadamia nuts in the duck course. The judging panel included: Compass consultant chefs Michel Roux Jr and Jason Atherton; Omero Gallucci; MBE Hotelympia salon director, Peter Griffiths; 2011 Bocuse d'Or competitor Simon Hulstone and the 2010 senior competition winner, Robert Dant.

Nick Vadis, Compass UK executive chef, concluded: "Competitions are as much about perseverance as they are about winning. Leszek won silver last year, took away some learnings and came back with a stunning set of courses. It's about constant improvement. The junior chefs are our future head chefs, so the standard seen at this competition is really encouraging for Compass; well done."

The Compass Chef of the Year competition is currently in its 11th year. It annually demonstrates the skill, passion and expertise that Compass teams have in abundance. First prize for both winners of the Junior and Senior competitions is a research trip to South Africa courtesy of competition sponsors, the Southern African Macadamia Growers' Association (SAMAC).

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For more information on Compass Group UK & Ireland, contact:
Sangeeta Suthar, Compass Group UK & Ireland
Tel:   01895 554364
Email:  Sangeeta.Suthar@compass-group.co.uk