Artizian team wins ACE Ready Steady Cook challenge
A team from caterer Artizian has won the Association of Catering Excellence (ACE) Ready Steady Cook challenge.
Mark Aust and Richard Skinner beat 14 other pairs of chefs, having prepared a main course of straw smoked Cornish Megrim, crushed yukon potatoes, ginger and lime beurre blanc and charred corn, followed by Bramley apple and blackberry Welsh cake, fig, salted caramel walnuts, and vanilla chantilly.
Along with the trophy they won chefs' jackets and Champagne, along with lunch at the Fat Duck in Bray.
Adam Thomason and Andrew Bunting from Restaurant Associates were named runners-up, while Nikki Low and Paul Matthews from Vacherin took third.
Skinner said of the win: "We've learned not to panic, and to work with the equipment. The key is teamwork, and we communicated well throughout. We found it best to help each other, rather than working on separate dishes."
Sara Jayne Stanes, chief executive of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, added: "The colours, flavours and textures each team put together using the same core ingredients are completely different. It's fantastic to see such innovative dishes, produced in such a short time."