WINNER
SATWANT BAINS, 27, formerly head chef at the Ashbourne Gallery restaurant, Derbyshire
RUNNER-UP
ALLAN PICKETT *, 26, senior sous chef, Orrery, London
JASON CALCUTT, 27, senior chef de partie, Swallow hotel, Birmingham
STEVEN DRAKE, 25, senior sous chef, Aubergine, London
ADAM SIMMONDS, 28, sous chef, Paul Heathcote's, Longridge, Lancashire
MARK WOOD, sous chef, Devonshire Arms, Bolton Abbey, North Yorkshire
* As the runner-up, Pickett will be given the opportunity of working with either Michel Roux at the Waterside Inn, Bray, Berkshire, or Albert Roux at London's Le Gavroche for a two-week paid period. He also received £1,000 cash; a commemorative trophy and Wedgwood dinner service; and a bottle of Champagne Gosset Grand Rosé
THE odds were against Satwant Bains. The out-of-work chef from Nottingham was competing in one of the most prized events in the competition calendar - the Roux Diners Club Scholarship - and the line-up looked impressive. He was up against chefs from the Swallow hotel, Birmingham, London's Aubergine and Orrery restaurants, Paul Heathcote's in Longridge, Lancashire, and the Devonshire Arms, Bolton Abbey, North Yorkshire, who all may have had the edge on paper.
But it was Bains, the former head chef of the Ashbourne Gallery restaurant in Derbyshire (which closed in March), who displayed such consistently high skills that he now finds himself with a three-month stage at any three-Michelin-starred restaurant in Europe.
"I was in shock when Michel Roux read out my name," said 27-year-old Bains, shortly after being named 1999 Roux Diners Club Scholar. "I really didn't think that I'd done well."
Despite the surprise outcome, Bains had already decided where he would like to spend his stage - with recently promoted three-Michelin-starred chef Michel Bras, at his restaurant in Laguiole, France.
"I'd thought if I ever won this competition I would want to work with Michel Bras. I asked my wife what she thought would be the reaction if I were to ask to work at a two-starred restaurant and then this year he was promoted to three stars. It's fate," added Bains excitedly.
The competition, staged at London's Four Seasons hotel last month, was devised by Michel Roux with consultation from Victor Ceserani, whose input Roux regards as invaluable. "I consider Victor as one of the pillars of the industry - a man who has done much for the training and development of British chefs," said Roux.
The cook-off
Forty-five minutes before the six finalists were shown to their stations in the kitchens of the Four Seasons, Roux briefed them on the dish they would have to cook and serve in two hours - carré d'agneau mireille, sauce choron (best end of lamb cooked on pommes Anna, served with a tomato-flavoured béarnaise sauce) - some classic Escoffier recipes.
They were each presented with a pair of best ends of lamb, which they had to butcher into two single best ends, shorten and trim. They also had to prepare the potatoes and layered them clockwise and anti-clockwise in a sauté pan until they were five or six layers deep (including one layer of sliced raw artichoke bottoms). The pommes Anna were then to be baked in the oven for 30 minutes until they were three-parts cooked. In a separate pan the best ends were to be sealed before being placed on top of the pommes Anna to complete the cooking process.
Many judges considered the pommes Anna to be the most challenging part of the competition. "The skill is in getting the first layer to caramelise without letting it stick to the bottom of the pan," said Rick Stein, who was judging the final for the first time. "Then there's the danger of it falling apart when you turn it over."
Gary Rhodes, a veteran judge, agreed. "This dish shows the real art of cooking. The texture of the Anna should be crisp, but when you slice through it should be creamy, well-seasoned and have the flavour of the lamb."
But in the opinion of competition creator Michel Roux, the dish was "child-proof". He added: "At the end of the competition you will know whether you've got a chef or a child in front of you."
A test of skill
For service, one of the best ends had to be carved while the other remained intact, and the sauce choron had to be served in a sauce bowl. The finalists were also asked to make a vegetable dish of their own choice, served in a separate dish, using four small aubergines, basil, garlic, two large tomatoes and olive oil.
Many of the competitors would not have cooked their recipes since college and so it was their training that was thrown under the spotlight. As the competition went on, it became clear that the finalists' workplaces were irrelevant - what mattered was their skill.
Almost immediately, one of the finalists made a fundamental mistake - he took the lamb off the bone and cooked it separately to the pommes Anna. "The lamb should be roasted on top of the pommes Anna so that the potatoes absorb the fat," warned Rhodes.
Interestingly, although the finalists were given a free rein on their choice of vegetable dish, four out of six produced "aubergine caviare" (although the judges felt that none of the offerings truly resembled the dish). Bains and Allan Pickett of London's Orrery restaurant served roasted and stuffed aubergines, respectively.
While Bains's finished dish was deemed superior to Pickett's, both were showered with praise. Bains's pommes Anna, for example, was described as "wafer thin" by Roux, while Rhodes said its texture was "perfect".
However, Rhodes believed Pickett's sauce to be better than Bains's. Roux was particularly impressed with Pickett's butchery of the lamb, and Simon Hopkinson commended the appearance of the dish - "it's beautiful," he said.
In summing up, Stein concluded that while Pickett had cooked "efficiently", Bains's dish showed "true cooking". He added: "I saw this guy at the regional finals and can assure you he can cook."
The 1997 competition was believed to have produced the closest contest in the history of the scholarship, but the 1999 final clearly matched it.
Having studied his 706/1 and 2 at Derby Tertiary College, Wilmorton, Bains's first head chef's position was at Jesse's restaurant in Goosegate, Nottingham, where he was responsible for an 80-seat restaurant. Two years later, he moved south to Oxford and spent six months working in a number of positions at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons and Le Petit Blanc. "I gained valuable insights into the workings of two prestigious kitchens," said Bains.
In October 1996 he took up the position of senior chef de partie at L'Escargot in London, working under David Hawksworth, and then in January the following year moved to his second head chef's position, at the Martins Arms in Colston Bassett, Nottinghamshire. "We were the only establishment in Nottinghamshire to be listed in the new pub category of the Michelin guide [1998]," explained Bains.
He spent 15 months at the Martins Arms before moving to the Ashbourne Gallery restaurant, where he worked for a year before its closure in spring.
Although Bains's stage will take him away from his wife Amanda, who also works in the industry, he is philosophical about it, having spent much of his career working in a different county from her. "Amanda's been behind me 100% throughout my career - she knows that the further I progress or push myself, the better the chances of one day opening our own restaurant." n