Lisa Allen sent her entry for the world famous Roux scholarship which is the UK’s leading competition for young chefs in January and earned a rightful place as one of the finalists at the cook off at London’s Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park.
The six finalists were briefed by judges and asked to cook a classic Ecoffier dish. Under the watchful gaze of the judges the six finalists chopped, sliced and diced. Competition was fierce and tensions ran high as competitors were faced with the difficult challenge of achieving flavoursome, well-cooked and aesthetically pleasing dishes under the two hour constraint… and for a recipe they were given just 45 minutes before the start of the cook off. The judges included four members of the Roux family, Gary Rhodes, Brian Turner, Heston Blumenthal, David Nicholls and Andrew Fairlie.
“The standard was the highest I had seen for many years and competition extremely intense.” commented Michel Roux
On this occasion Lisa did not walk away with the coveted title, but we were so proud of her performance and judges confirmed the high standard she delivered gave Praven Sharma, Courthouse Hotel Kempinski in London a run for his money!