Lewis Beddington has been named Nottinghamshire Young Chef of the Year.

The 21-year-old from Tom Browns Brasserie in Gunthorpe picked up the award after winning a cook-off against three other finalists.

His victorious meal consisted of pan-fried John Dory with wild asparagus, fennel and wild garlic leaves for starters and for mains, roasted pigeon on a medley of seasonal vegetables with Morrell jus.

“It was a tough bag of ingredients,” said Beddington.

The judging panel consisted of two Michelin-starred chefs – Nottingham’s own Sat Bains of Restaurant Sat Bains and Claude Bosi of the Hibiscus in Ludlow, plus Adrian Pratt, head of school for food and hospitality at New College Nottingham.  

Each finalist was set a task of cooking two two-course meals, either a starter and a main or a main and a dessert in two and a half hours.  

Beddington’s prize is to spend a week at both the Michelin-star chefs’ establishments.

By Ross Bentley

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