Our very own chef Chaz, represented 30 Euston Square in the starter round at the ‘Great city chef’s competition’. Her salad nicoise blew the judges away with its simple ingenuity and was selected as the winning dish.

The great city chef’s competition is being held at One Moorgate Place and pits several Searcys chefs against each other, this year celebrating seasonal British ingredients as well as asking the chefs to be creative, try something new and experiment with new culinary techniques.

What made you become a chef and what is your previous experience in kitchens?

I always enjoyed cooking growing up, food and meal times were very important in our house, my mum and dad are both big influences in my cooking. Being a chef was not my first career choice, it was an accidental transition, when I left school I was working as a waitress to pay my way through holistic therapy college, and I was asked to help on larder one weekend.

I fell in love with the kitchen and the feeling I got from seeing people take pleasure from food that I was producing, so 2 weeks later I quit holistic therapies, the restaurant took me on as an apprentice and the rest is history.

How would you describe your cooking?

My favourite kind of cooking is good, simple, honest food that can be enjoyed by everyone. With trends constantly changing, we have to stay in the know and on point with what people want. I enjoy going back to basics and ensuring the focus is the ingredients and the flavours.

What does a mid-week meal look like for you?

Mid-week meals at home are mostly things that will feed us for 2 days, to minimize cooking time after work. Things like Thai curries, lasagnas, stews…I use my slow cooker a lot. It will mostly be vegetarian food to accommodate my fiancé rather than cooking separate meals.

Who would your dream dinner guests be and what would you cook for them?

My nearest and dearest friends and family. There’s no better feeling than sharing good food with the people you love.

What would you like to get out of the Great City Chefs Competition?

I’m excited to see the dishes produced from each site, to get inspiration from the other chefs….and maybe win a decent prize!

 

For more information on the Great city chefs competition, visit https://www.onemoorgateplace.com/great-city-chefs-2018/