Teenchef victors given taste of professional kitchen

The winners of the Admiral Newport Food Festival 2015 Teenchef competition were welcomed to top Bath hotel Lucknam Park by executive chef and Newport Food Festival patron Hywel Jones. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The visit by Adam Hussain, Razak Ali, Mohammed Mukhtar and Sully Ali was their prize for winning the annual competition, held in partnership with the Food Festival and sponsored by Western Power. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

In the final, the teenagers – all members of Maindee Youth Club – competed against two other teams from Newport City Council’s Youth Service. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Their dish of grilled sea bass on a bed of herb risotto with roasted cherry tomatoes and pesto was judged as the winning dish. During the competition the four boys worked really well as a team and each took a role to create the best dish. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

At Lucknam Park, the boys were given a tour of the hotel and spa before being working in the kitchen under the guidance of Hywel and his team. The boys thoroughly enjoyed this experience of preparing food for the menu. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Later in the day the boys enjoyed a three course meal from the hotel menu. They sampled a selection of starters, a main dish of Welsh Charolais beef and home-made ice cream to finish. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

At the end of the day the boys were presented with a personalised signed copy of Hywel’s cookbook. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Newport Youth Service would like to say a huge thank you to Hywel for his continued support to Newport Food Festival and the TeenChef competition. The prize enables young people to experience work as a chef in a demanding real life environment. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​