Starters - Chef news
Talented young chefs from Manchester to Merseyside will battle it out to become North West Young Chef of the Year this September.
The North West Fine Foods organised competition aims to boost awareness of local produce among aspiring cooks and has been backed by chefs, including Nigel Haworth and Paul Heathcote. Entrants must submit a three-course menu for two people costing less than £20 by 30 April. Young chefs will compete in regional heats from June. The winner will receive experience at Michelin-starred restaurant the Longridge and at La Palombara in Italy. For more information contact North West Fine Foods on 01695 732734.
A new hotel, restaurant and bar offering spectacular views of the Forth Railway bridge, pictured above, has launched in Scotland. Orocco Pier in South Queensferry opened after a £1m revamp of the town's 17th century Queensferry Arms Hotel. Owners are Grant Mason, Peter Wilson and Eleanor Cooke form Renaissance Ecosse. The group operates a series of sites in Scotland and spent two years creating Orocco Pier. Seven Chefs offer an eclectic selection of fresh dishes in the 96-cover restaurant.
Ken Wood, the three-time AA rosette-winning chef, will mastermind a new pub restaurant in Carlisle. Wood, former chef at the Sharrow Bay Hotel in Ullswater, will lead a £110,000 conversion of a barn into a restaurant at the Drovers Rest in Monkhill. The pub will serve food for the first time from April, with Wood devising a traditional country menu with an à la carte twist. The AA-acclaimed chef has signed a 15-year lease with Jennings Brothers for the venue.
The Rose & Crown in Highgate, north London, has announced Bruno Delamare, the former sous chef at the Ritz Hotel in Mayfair, is its new head chef. Delamare's career spans Michelin-starred restaurants across Europe including apprentice chef at Hotel Le Saint Pierre in France and chef de partie at Restaurant Bruneau in Brussels. He aims to introduce a fresh spring menu offering a variety of dishes with a harmonious variety of flavours and high visual impact at the north London gastro pub.
