This year, the Great City Chefs competition went big with our friends from other Searcys venues joining in on the fun. The competition is a real celebration of creativity, traditional seasonal British ingredients and for our competing chefs to experiment with new culinary techniques.
The banquet was hosted in our newly refurbished Great Hall and the room was alive with excited chitter chatter and astonished ooo’s as the dishes were delivered.
The starter was the beautifully designed Salad Niçoise from Chaz at 30 Euston Square – a simple classic that set high expectations for the evening. Each course was paired with a wine that would enhance the flavour of the dish. The slow cooked octopus marinated in dashi, squid and kimchi beignet, shaved lard was brought alive by a Botrosecco Le Mortelle 2015. The main was a thought provoking stuffed and pancetta wrapped rabbit saddle, summer garden pears, pea puree and liquorice liver napage. Our banquet ended with the Lemon mousse, pistachio praline and strawberry sorbet paired with a gentle effervescent and sweet: Moscato d'Asti which was a light and refreshing perker-upper.
We heard from one the finest pastry chefs in the world, Claire Clark MBE. Claire’s glittering career has taken her to her to some of the most prestigious restaurants in London. Claire told our guests that it takes exceptional people to create the meal that they enjoyed that evening. A real foodie at heart, Claire’s advice to the chefs was to learn from every experience – to grow and to better themselves and to learn from failures that will make them stronger.
The final banquet was the culmination of a four month competition, a lot of hard work from not only the chefs and their teams but also the serving staff, One Moorgate Place staff and Marketing team. Great City Chefs 2018 has been a massive success and we hope you enjoyed following the journey along the way.
The final menu and the winning chefs:
Starter Course
Salad Nicoise
Charlene Rauvoco – 30 Euston Square
Fish Course
Slow cooked octopus marinated in dashi, squid and kimchi beignet and shaved lardo
Mario Perez and Andrew Mills – One Moorgate Place
Main Course
Stuffed and pancetta wrapped rabbit saddle, summer garden peas, pea puree and a liquorice liver napage,
Emily Bell and Fredrico Benvenuto – Exclusive Events Team
Dessert Course
Lemon mousse, a pistachio praline and strawberry sorbet
Petra Fercakova – Allan and Overy
Keep your eyes peeled for 2019!
