Académie

The three highest-scoring finalists in the 1997 Annual Awards of Excellence were put to the test at a lunch at London's May Fair Inter-Continental Hotel last month.

Andrew Foster, Stefano Borella and Denis Novaria were invited to cook and serve the lunch for 14 specially invited guests, as a way of showcasing their hard-earned abilities.

Foster, head chef at Conygree Gate Hotel, Kingham, Oxfordshire, devised the main course;Borella, demi-chef de partie at the Churchill Inter-Continental, London, planned the dessert, which on the day was produced by Amanda Stratford, chef de partie at the Churchill, because Borella was on holiday; Novaria, who has recently returned to his native Italy, having worked in the UK for 17 months at Le Gavroche, London, and the Manor House Hotel, Castle Combe, Wiltshire, served the four-course meal.

May Fair executive chef Michael Coaker co-ordinated the kitchen operation, helping initially to devise and balance the menu, while his colleague, restaurants manager Philippa Perkins, ensured the service ran smoothly front of house in the newly refurbished Opus 70 restaurant.

Prior to the lunch, the two award-winning chefs met Coaker to plan the menu. The starting point was the main course, which had been devised by Foster at the paper-judging stage of the awards from a list of set ingredients. He then went on to cook the pastilla of lamb and black pudding with ratatouille jus in the finals held at Thames Valley University, along with three set dishes: jellied consommé with soft boiled quail's egg, Dover sole Colbert with parsley butter, and poached pear with caramel sauce and dried fruit and nut risotto.

Despite encountering problems with the sole dish, Foster went on to become the top-scoring chef among the four chefs who achieved the award from a total of 12 kitchen finalists.

The centrepiece of Foster's dish was a filo pastry case filled with sautéd lardons of crispy bacon, lambs' kidneys and black pudding, surrounded by slices of pan-fried lamb loin and a clear lamb jus flavoured with thyme and interspersed with finely chopped courgettes and red and yellow peppers.

This is a dish he used to cook at Winteringham Fields, Winteringham, Lincolnshire, where he worked as junior sous chef under Germain Schwab, until his recent move to Conygree Gate.

"At Winteringham Fields, we did it with a saddle of rabbit, filling the filo case with bacon, foie gras and chicken and rabbit livers," says Foster. "The dish for the awards had to be based on lamb, so I adapted it accordingly. It's a simple dish, but tastes very good. You only need a little black pudding, otherwise it overpowers the other flavours."

While Foster was preparing the main course, Stratford, on behalf of Borella, was putting the finishing touches to the dessert: a Champagne and raspberry parfait with marinated cherries. Stratford, with the help of Sue Yates, the May Fair's pastry chef, made the parfait - a layer of raspberry topped with a layer of Champagne - the previous evening. On the morning of the lunch, they encased the parfait in chocolate, using fresh raspberries as decoration. Just before service, the desserts were plated and surrounded by a sauce made from cherries macerated in Champagne and liquidised.

"The dish was very much Stefano's idea. He wanted to create something seasonal," says Stratford, who was an Annual Awards of Excellence pastry winner last year. "He was very disappointed he couldn't be here to produce the dish himself."

Borella, one of three winners from eight pastry finalists, had to make six varieties of petits fours and a complementary centrepiece in the final. He has worked at the Churchill Inter-Continental since 1993 and is a graduate of the Académie's specialised chefs' course. But talent and a love of food does run in the family - his father is Gino Borella, head chef at San Lorenzo, London.

An involvement in the annual awards has inspired Borella to strive constantly for higher standards. "This was the third year I had entered the awards and throughout that time I've been introduced to elements of pastry I have never seen before," he said on his return from holiday. "Constantly, my standard of work greatly improves."

While the kitchen was a hive of activity, all was calm in Opus 70, where Novaria was laying the table for the 14 guests. As he polished glasses and adjusted the flower arrangement, he looked completely relaxed, even though a camera crew was filming every move. Cable channel Carlton Food Network, which sponsored the event, was filming the lunch for a 30-minute documentary, Top of the Class, to be broadcast on Wednesday 16 July.

"I can enjoy this, as the competition is now over," says Novaria, who had flown over from Italy especially to take part in the lunch service.

Although Novaria says he has enjoyed his time working in England, learning about the different styles of services in London and in a country house hotel, he believes his career will benefit more by working in mainland Europe again. "I'm looking at the possibilities of working in Monte Carlo, Switzerland or Italy," he says.

As the clock moved closer toward 12.30pm and the first lunch guests arrived, final touches were added to the food in the kitchen. The first two courses were prepared by chefs from the May Fair brigade and were devised to complement Foster's main course and Borella's dessert.

"We wanted dishes using seasonal ingredients and suitable for the warm weather," says Coaker. "So we chose a salad starter: a crown of asparagus filled with crushed Jersey Royals and surrounded by lobster and crab in virgin olive oil and flat-leaf parsley."

To follow, the pak choi, which was stir-fried with soy sauce, provided a slightly Oriental touch to what was, overall, a very English lunch.

The diners confirmed that the meal was excellent, memorable, and did justice to the talent of the winning finalists. Guests included leading lights of the industry who had all been inspirational to the winners: Brian Turner, chairman of the Académie and chef-proprietor of Turner's, London, Richard Shepherd, president of the Académie and chef-proprietor of Langan's Brasserie, and David Dorricott, chairman of the Annual Awards of Excellence and executive chef at the House of Commons.

Foster was relieved that the event was over and admitted he had been very nervous before hand. "I didn't quite know what to expect, but everything was well organised and it was good to meet people like Brian Turner and Richard Shepherd - they are very encouraging. It was the second year that I had entered the awards and I'm glad I had another go, as I'm sure it will look good on my CV."

Dorricott told his fellow guests that the lunch was the culmination of an important event in the Académie calendar. "In the light of the skills shortage problem facing the industry, it is vital to uphold an initiative like the Annual Awards of Excellence, which is all about building for the future," he says.

"The awards are designed to inspire and encourage talented young people - like the three winners at today's lunch, who have chosen a difficult and exacting career - and to reward them for aspiring to and attaining standards of excellence, and give them due recognition for their efforts."