Pub Chef awards bulletin

Jonathan Furby, landlord/chef of the Linnet in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, won the Starters and Light Bites category with baked pork and mustard tart on mushy pea compote with mint pesto (£4.95).

Other finalists in the cook-off were Martin Rudley, second chef at the Ring O'Bells in Thornton, Bradford, Andrew Bruce, head chef at the Rose and Crown, Snettisham, Norfolk, Martin Weatherley, sous chef at the Alma, in Chelmsford, Essex, and landlord Andrew Doree, of the Royal Oak, South Brent, Devon.

In the Food from Britain cook-off, chefs were asked to make the most of the produce in their pub's locality. Head chef Andrew Bruce, of the Rose and Crown, Snettisham, won the title of this category with Norfolk duck breast, Jonagold apple tart, cabbage and Norfolk bunched carrots (£12.75). Other finalists were Kim Champion, chef/landlady of the Portland Arms in St Albans, Hertfordshire, Sean Peck, head chef of the Kirkstile Inn, Cockermouth, Cumbria, Andrew Doree, landlord of the Royal Oak, South Brent, Devon, and chef Mark Levy of the Russell, Ellesborough, Bucks.

Winner Tyrone Knight, commis chef of the Helyar Arms in East Coker, Yeovil, Somerset, claimed the Pub Classics title with his sauteed calf's liver with shallots and deep-fried sage (£12). Other finalists and their pub classic dishes included head chef David Edwards of the Three Fishes, Mitton, Lancashire, with three fishes pie, head chef Anthony Williams of the Williams Arms, Braunton, Devon, with Tony Reed's pork sausages in Barum Breakfast bitter with black pudding dumplings and mash, executive head chef Claude Paillet, of the Bricklayers Arms, Flaunden, Herts, with Aylesbury duck shepherd's pie, and chef James Blowes, of the Alma, Chelmsford, Essex, with lamb's liver and bacon with mini shepherd's pie. The cook-offs were at the Meat & Livestock Commission in Milton Keynes. For a full report, see the November issue of PubChef.