Mayo chef shortlisted for top award
An award winning and well-known local chef is to compete once again for the honour of being crowned Aramark’s Chef of the Year 2019.
Mayo chef Ronan Fox has been shortlisted to compete in the prestigious competition on February 27 in the RDS, Dublin.
Eight chefs will go head to head to compete for the honour of being crowned Aramark’s Chef of the Year.
Ronan will face off against Edouard Adjadj, Michael Byrne, Oran Colhoun, Farid Derradji, David Gilmartin, Ilona Jurek and Dave Magee. Ronan previously competed in the 2017 competition and placed second, securing his place in the European Chefs’ Cup, which took place in Croke Park.
This year the winning chef will go on to represent Ireland at the European Chef’s Cup, which will be held on April 4.
The prestigious competition will take place in London, with skilled chefs from across Europe competing, under the watchful eye of Jamie Oliver.
Aramark’s mission is dedicated to nourishing and enhancing people’s lives and this is reflected in its innovative food concepts, locally sourced nutritious ingredients, impressive quality service and dining experiences made to remember, which is reflected perfectly in this year’s culinary challenge.
The key theme for this year’s national competition is “From Farm to Fork” with finalists required to prepare, cook and present two portions of a main course dish using plant based ingredients as the key ingredient. They also have to cook and present two portions of dessert course with lemon as the key ingredient within 90 minutes.
The competition boasts one of the most distinguished judging panels of any Irish cooking competition including Michelin Star Chef Ross Lewis of Chapter One, Tony Keogh from multi-award winning Cornucopia Vegetarian Restaurant, Paul Bloxham Aramark UK Culinary Director and Derek Reilly Aramark Ireland Culinary Director and Chairman of Judges.
Shane Flynn, managing director, Food Services & Facilities Management, Ireland, said “More and more we see our customers switching to plant-based lifestyles, and even those who haven’t yet made the switch are beginning to appreciate the delicious range of flavours that are available in plant-based cuisine.
"By supporting this plant based cooking challenge, we’re creating an opportunity for our talented chefs to experiment with ingredients they may not have used before, but will need to get more and more familiar with in order to satisfy customer demand."
Derek Reilly, culinary director for Aramark: “The chefs have already been in preparation for this event for a number of months, with hours of practice trying to perfect their dishes.
"They have had continuous support from the Aramark culinary team hosting culinary masterclasses and mentoring sessions to ensure they are fully prepared and focused for the final.”
“At Aramark we have prided ourselves with rewarding and recognising exceptional culinary talent, as always I am so proud to see our chefs showcase their culinary skills on the big stage.
"Despite being in competition with each other, there has been a real sense of team spirit and a strong relationship has formed among the chefs as they showcase their craft skills, passion and determination.