George Kataras, sous chef at London's M Threadneedle Street, has been announced as the 2016 San Pellegrino Young Chef for the United Kingdom and Ireland.
The chef beat nine other finalists over the course of a three-hour live cook off, including Romuald Bukaty, chef de partie at Avenue by Nick Munier in Dublin, and Giugliano Alfonso, sous chef at Cornstore Restaurant in Cork. Kataras won with his dish of 'Whole Turbot' which saw him serve cured turbot, pickled courgettes, yellow courgette puree with a smoked turbot sauce reports TheCaterer.com.
Judges for the event included Claude Bosi, the two Michelin star chef of Hibiscus in London, Ollie Dabbous, Ross Lewis of Chapter One and Michelin star chef JP McMahon of Galway's Aniar.
Discussing his dish, Kataras said “My dish was inspired by the summer and my favourite seasonal ingredients. I like to cook without any food wastage, which happens far too often in this industry! My dish included the bones and head of turbot, which adds lots of flavour to the sauces.”
While Bosi said “The calibre of dishes presented this evening was hugely impressive, but George Kataras’s dish of Whole Turbot stood out with its flavour, the skill involved, beauty of presentation and the true message behind it.”
The Grand Finale will be held in Milan on 13 October and will see 20 chefs compete for the title which is currently held by Irish chef Mark Moriarty.
