Compass takes bronze at La Parade des Chefs
Compass Group took bronze at La Parade des Chefs at the Hospitality Show today.
Under the gaze of judges and visitors, the team cooked a three-course lunch for 100 covers in a glass-walled competition kitchen at Birmingham' NEC.
Compass was the second of three teams to take part in La Parade this year, following the Combined Services team, which took gold on Monday. University College Birmingham, the final team, will cook on Wednesday.
This year, La Parade, the show's fine dining experience, has been given a new theme and is being run as a junior talent event. Each team comprises five junior chefs mentored by one senior chef. All junior members have to be aged 23 or under on 1 January 2015.
Compass Group's team comprised: Bob Brown (captain); Alice Ross; Craig Bateman; Thomas Sergeant; Amy Duthie; and Eleanor de Maria.
The Compass menu was:
Starter - baked wild turbot, fried fishcake, sauce viege, watercress purée, pickle, beer scraps.
Main course - venison loin with butternut squash fondant, flowering sprouts, a lentil, venison and mushroom ragout, smoked celeriac purée and beets.
Dessert - goats curd panna cotta, rhubarb, blood orange sorbet.
All the teams are required to balance gastronomic finesse with kitchen budget requirements. They have to create a £32-a-head menu using ingredients with a food cost of at least 68% gross profit.
As well as cooking for the restaurant guests, four additional plates of each course are provided on demand for the judges.
Restaurant service for La Parade des Chef, which is sponsored by Coup de Pates/Delice de France, is provided by University College Birmingham students throughout the competition.
