After the hard fought semi-final round last week, Greencore Prepared Meals Innovation Chef James Burgess has emerged as a finalist in this year’s Grocery Cook of the Year competition.
The semi-finals took place on Friday 29th April over two heats at University College Birmingham. Each competitor had 2 hours to create a main seasonal dish to impress the judges. At the helm was President of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts and first Englishman to earn a Michelin Star in the UK, Brian Turner CBE, who controlled the day and led the competition along with a helping hand from guest judge and UCB’s very own Neil Rippington – Dean College of Food.
“We had a great semi-final at UCB last Friday. The standard was excellent and it has been a difficult task separating the finalists this year” said Brian Turner CBE.
James will now compete against two other chefs in the final in October. This will be held at the L’Institut Paul Bocuse, a French culinary institute based in Lyon and will be judged by the ‘Godfather of cooking’, 3 Michelin Star Chef, Michel Roux OBE.
Mark Richmond of Asda and Glyn Yarnall of Bakkavor will be competing against James in the final.
