The Grand, York, on hosting the Delifresh young chef competition

Can you tell us a little bit about what it was like to host the competition and what sort of preparations the venue had to make? 

Ahmed Abdalla: The conference itself was pretty straightforward. We met with Delifresh a few times, me and my events team, prior to the actual competition. The cookery school already had working stations in place for the competition; it was perfect. It facilitates several people working on a bench of seven, while also maintaining enough space for other people to watch over. When Delifresh saw the space, they immediately agreed that it was perfect. 

After that, it was just a matter of putting the right tables and things in place, such as the drinks reception of champagne, teas and coffees. These are the simple things, almost like when we look to set up events within the hotel, but it was more about trying to cater to what Delifresh wanted from us. We sent them a list of all the equipment in the stations and they were absolutely fine with it. It was just more working with them and seeing what they wanted from us and then we would accommodate it.

What kind of equipment does The Grand’s Cookery School have and why was it chosen to host Delifresh?

Ahmed Abdalla: I’m going to go as far as saying that The Grand’s Cookery School is probably the best kitchen in the north, just because it’s been done recently. I think in the last few years, £2m has been put into the school and every workstation has the complete set of  equipment you would find in a normal working kitchen – KitchenAid mixers, handheld blenders, ice cream machines, Suvi machines, and other fridge space. It’s almost like a MasterChef kitchen or Great British Bake Off kitchen, one of those where every station has the complete set-up and it’s modern and it has that sleek look. I don’t believe that there is a better cookery school in the country and I don’t think there’s one better in the North of England. 

How were the contestants judged?

Ahmed Abdalla: Various things, really. I think they gave everybody a list of things and what the criteria was for each, so the creativeness and technique of the dishes, the seasonality, working attitude and professionalism, cleanliness, and presentation. And then finally, the flavour profile, so the elements of the overall dish: does everything work together? Does everything go? Is everything bound together with something? Those were the main ones everybody got given the spec to do.

Were you set specific things to cook by the competition or were you free to cook whatever you wanted? 

Ahmed Abdalla: Everybody got given a larder list a few weeks prior and just like in any venue you could think of, everything that was produced was within season and they had to come to their respective companies and let them know what set menu they were entering the competition with. On the day, the whole larder list is there and you’re just picking and choosing, and getting yourself organised.

What were the winning dishes and what made them stand out? 

Harry Blades: My winning dish was the roasted duck breast with a duck confit foie gras bonbon, celeriac purée, red cabbage and apple gel, drizzled in a rich, duck jus. That was really a winter-focused dish and very classically French. One of the judges was a classic French chef, so I thought I’d try and go for that sort of style. And then for dessert, I did a chocolate mousse with raspberry sorbet, and chocolate tuile finished with a chocolate and Szechuan crumb, gold leaf and raspberries. 

What is the prize for the winner of the Young Chef of the Year competition? 

Harry Blades: The winner gets a one week start at a Welsh Michelin-starred restaurant, which got named ‘Michelin-starred restaurant of the year’. It’s a fantastic place and quite hard to get into, so it’s a great opportunity to learn. 

Is there a chance The Grand will host the competition again and what would you do differently? 

Ahmed Abdalla: I think that The Grand will definitely host again, because it has such a great location for the competition. All the judges, all the chefs, everyone was there, and they were so amazed at this place and the facilities it had, so I think there’s certainly a chance. 

We’ve had conversations about next year’s competition and how it’s going to be bigger, so I think one of the things was to host this year’s event and really crush it as our first time hosting. As a company based in the North, this is also the first time Delifresh is doing something like this and we’d like to build a relationship here and continue this for years to come. I’d say I’m about 80 – 90% certain it’s going to happen here again next year and further down the line. 

In terms of things getting better, the initial event was a success, but we may look to just get more people involved. The calibre of judges we had I think we couldn’t have got any better than that also, but now everybody’s noticed and everybody is paying attention to the competition, so hopefully everybody is going to want to be involved in the future.