The BBC has been celebrating a double success for Loughborough College as two groups of young chefs prepare for the prestigious UK Young Restaurant Chef of the Year grand final.
It is the third year in a row that the College has been in line for the title and Radio Leicester’s Martin Ballard heard from Isabel Morris, Ryan Archer and Kieran Rudolph who, alongside Grace McGreal, Finlay Royle and Tobias Booty, will be representing Loughborough College and its Radmoor Restaurant - the first time ever the competition has selected two teams from the same place to compete for the title in the final.
The trio were joined in the studio by chef lecturer and hospitality and catering lead at Loughborough College Darren Creed, who explained how dishes are now being refined for next month’s national showdown – and they all gave Martin and BBC newsreader Tim Parker the chance to sample a sneak preview of one of the desserts.
Kieran will soon take up a chef scholarship worth £36,000, awarded to him as a top prize at the 2019 Teflon DSA Awards’ Aspiring Chef finals, giving him the chance train in some of the country’s top hotels and restaurants including Claridge’s, The Ritz and The House of Commons. He talked about what inspired him to cook as he grew up and said he now “never wants to stop.”
Ryan explained how the Young Restaurant Team competition led to the students meeting top chef Mark Fletcher, who invited them to cater for the Boodles tennis tournament at The Mere – before offering Ryan and Toby full-time chef positions. “I feel absolutely honoured,” he said and he described joining the course at Loughborough College as “the best thing I have ever done.”
Isabel Morris set out to become an engineer but was then inspired to switch to the Loughborough College course and has not only achieved an overall distinction, not dropping a single mark, but was also part of the gold-winning team at this year’s Country Range Student Chef Challenge. “Not bad for an engineer who fancied doing cooking,” said Martin. “Not too shabby,” laughed Isabel, who will be returning to the College to complete a patisserie course. “It will make me a more well-rounded chef.”
Ryan matched Isabel’s course marks and Kieran dropped only one. “It is fantastic,” said Darren. “Watching how they have all progressed and what they are all achieving, it’s what I do the job for. I am very proud of them.”
Listen to Loughborough College on BBC radio 7:57 and 40:30 into the programme here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p07cj80x
Pictured: Loughborough College chefs Ryan Archer, Isabel Morris and Kieran Rudolph in the BBC studio