ANCHOR CHEF OF THE YEAR HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED

A chef from Aylesbury care home has been awarded Anchor's Chef of the Year following a ceremony on 6 July.

Paul Thomas went head-to-head against 120 other care home chefs run by Anchor.

Following a submission of a three-course menu, the best regional entrants were then picked by regional managers and nominees were voted for by other Anchor staff across the country.

Four finalists then went up against each other during a cooking competition that took place at Leeds Community College. Within a set time, all four chefs needed to cook their menus and have them sampled by judges.

On the panel was Rob Martin, Anchor's managing director as well as Steve McFall, managing director of Efoods. Bidfood also was a sponsor at the event.

Thomas was then crowned at the ceremony. His menu included: a butternut squash panna cotta with whipped goats' cheese and chives, a pan seared cod loin with crushed baby potatoes and dark chocolate ganache with clotted cream.

“I still can’t quite believe it!" says Thomas. "To make the final four was incredible but I never thought I’d win. I’m really proud to have won! I wanted to make a menu that was healthy but also tasty and make good use of local and sustainable ingredients.” 

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