A talented young duo from our Surrey based pub, The Richard Onslow, have won the trophy in the Peach Pub’s inaugural Master Peach & Chef competition. The Master Peach & Chef competition is the first internal competition of its kind that Peach has run, recognising and highlighting the hidden culinary talents of our front of house team, as well as our back of house teams’ skills in delivering an exceptional guest experience.
Chef de Partie, Samarth Ghodke and Master Peach, Eleni Lebesis worked together to create and present a three course seasonal menu, using quality, free-range ingredients, and matching each dish with wine pairings from the wine list.
This talented twosome competed against teams from eight other of our sister pubs over two rounds of intense competition. The Chef’s were challenged to use seasonality, flavour profile and cooking skill to devise a menu, that would be presented by junior managers with perfectly matched wines and expert service.
They were judged and scored on their dishes and the thinking behind their dish choices and wine selection, by our very own Peach Brand Operations Director, Chris Stagg, and Food Operations Manager, Trevor Blake. Three teams made it to the final round, The Richard Onslow, The Rose and Crown in Warwick and The James Figg in Thame.
As well as winning the Peach Master & Chef title and their names engraved on a trophy to display in the pub and be presented annually, Samarth and Eleni’s were awarded a prize of a Michelin Star meal and the opportunity to see their dishes on the menu in all 22 Peach pubs.
Peach launched the competition to recognise emerging talent within its group, identifying the future ‘Ones to Watch’ from its front and back of house teams.
“We know we have some fantastic young chefs and managers-to-be in our business… so we devised a competition to put that to the test and push our young teams to excel. We also wanted to show that it’s the guest facing team, as well as the chef, who make an impression on our guests and mean they come back to our pubs knowing they get great food as well as being looked after really well. We were hugely impressed with the level of skill and the attention to detail, and of course it was sensational to be wined and dined by some of the awesome young talent we have at Peach. In the end, The Richard Onslow pipped the others to the post because of chef’s incredible flavour combinations and perfect execution and the expertly chosen wines and well-judged service, though there were no losers on the day – everyone did an amazing job. Congratulations to all who took part. We look forward to our first Master Peach & Chef competition becoming a real annual event that gets bigger and better each year”
– Trevor Black, Food Operations Manager
Calling all culinary enthusiasts – For more information about the great opportunities to work at our exciting and rewarding front and back of house roles, please go to https://careers.makinglifepeachy.com/.