Head chef at The French, Adam Reid, is to compete in this year’s Great British Menu on BBC2.
The annual cook-off show will this year see 24 chefs – three from eight regions – competing to cook at a banquet at the Palace of Westminster in honour of the achievements of the Queen’s ‘Great Britons’ – ordinary people who have been recognised on the Queen’s birthday and New Year’s honours’ list over the years for their extraordinary achievements in different walks of life.
In the regional heats, the chefs’ dishes will be judged by eight competition veterans who are now among the most accomplished and successful chefs in the UK. They include Daniel Clifford, Simon Rogan, Phil Howard, Richard Corrigan, Michael O’Hare and Angela Hartnett.
They will score each of the dishes and, after all four courses have been cooked, send home the lowest scoring chef. The two remaining chefs must then cook their dishes again for award-winning restaurant critic Matthew Fort, doyenne of British cookery Prue Leith, acclaimed restaurateur Oliver Peyton, and a special guest judge.
The winners of the regional heats will then compete in the national finals for a chance to cook at the Houses of Parliament banquet.
“The chance to cook at the Palace of Westminster is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity – it would be considered a crowning glory of any career,” said Oliver Peyton. “The competition this year is intense, the chefs sense how well they need to cook. As a result, the quality of the dishes produced is outstanding, world class.”
Adam is the only locally based chef in the North West regional heat. He will be battling it out against Cheshire-born Kim Woodward from the Gordon Ramsay-owned Savoy Grill in Central London, and Liverpool-born Matt Worswick from The Latymer in Surrey.
The North West regional heat will be broadcast on Monday 12th September.