It’s Hell’s Kitchen
Apr 2006
It’s Hell’s Kitchen as the final four teams from the prestigious Nestlé Toque d’Or college catering competition wait to hear who will take the culinary crown!
The Sheffield College, Lancaster & Morecambe College, Kilmarnock College and South Trafford College all turned up the heat during the Grand Final - preparing and serving 100 visitors at the exclusive Toque d’Or restaurant at The Home Show, in London.
Fresh from judging the finals, James Martin, Chair of the judges’ panel, comments: “The competition was fierce, each college went all out to do their best and I was very impressed with the way they handled the kitchen and front of house. There is a lot of pressure cooking and serving a paying public but the students did themselves proud.”
Dishes served over the demanding four day final ranged from pan roasted quail with black pudding to a more traditional steak and onion pie.
The teams must now wait for the winner to be announced on 16th June at the Awards ceremony held at London’s Dorchester Hotel and hosted by celebrity TV presenter Sarah Greene. Each of the colleges and their mentors will gather with key industry figures to see one team receive this year’s sought after accolade.
Martin Webster, events manager, Nestlé FoodServices comments: “The quality of this year’s finalists has been outstanding, we’ve tested the teams’ creativity, teamwork and their commercial acumen to the full. Now, in the run up to the announcement - we test their nerves!”
The winning team of students will receive a place on the renowned Nestlé Toque d’Or study trip at Johnson & Wales University in North Carolina, USA. Internationally recognised as one of the leading culinary and state-of-the-art universities, the team of winning students will have the opportunity to meet some of USA’s leading catering professionals, as well as enjoying some fine dining! In addition, the winning college and the three runners up will each receive catering equipment from Electrolux Foodservice.
Competition hosts, Nestlé FoodServices is committed to the foodservice industry, supporting the next generation of industry professionals.
Webster concludes: “The uniqueness of Toque d’Or is that it brings together our industry to work in partnership with the education sector. We are extremely grateful to all our partners who have supported this year’s competition, especially the 2006 industry mentors – Aramark, Compass Group UK & Ireland, De Vere Hotels and Quadrant Catering – for the guidance they have given to the students.”
For further press information, please contact Iona Mountain at Splash Communications. Tel: 01225 348 002 email:
imountain@splashcommunicatins.com
Notes to editor:
- In developing the menu, teams were asked to make best creative use of Nestlé FoodServices’ culinary aids from its Maggi, Chef and Nescafé ranges with one Nestlé product in the soup, two Nestlé products for the main course and one Nescafé product as a core dessert ingredient.
- Each team had to present a business plan and concept for creating their own restaurant to the judging panel.
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