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Executive Chef Chris Ince triumphs with bronze at Hotelympia

March 09, 2012 by Sarah

With the Olympics Games literally just around the corner, last week we found ourselves a mere two miles from the awesome venue that is the 2012 Olympic Stadium. This July 17,000 athletes from 205 countries around the world will converge to go head-to-head for a coveted medal place.

All very exciting, but we had medal ambitions of our own. A team of us from the office headed to nearby Excel for Hotelympia’s Salon Culinaire, where our very own Executive Chef, Chris Ince was due to put in his own Olympic performance against 10 industry chefs, in the battle to become champion of champions in the Churchill Pasta Dish Challenge. 

Being the consummate professional, Chris had already prepped his location the day before, arriving bright and early with his ingredients and charming assistant (Jemma his wife) ready for the challenge to commence. Chris was preparing squid ink fettuccine served with diver scallops and poached fennel in a vermouth cream sauce.

Chris said: “I arrived around 8.00am and the competition was already underway. My heat was not due to start until 8.50am which gave me plenty of time to get a feel for the competition and judging process. At this point I was a mixed bag of emotions – excited and nervous, but overall confident in myself and my dish. I can’t stress how good it felt to have Jemma and the 7 Day Catering team at my side.”

At the designated time, all 10 competitors entered their allotted kitchen areas, with Chris at station two. Before getting underway a briefing was held with the judges. The MC introduced each chef along with the business they were representing, which included hotels, restaurants and as expected, healthy competition from our world of contract catering.

Big screens showed all the action from the kitchens for the delight of the viewing public. The competition took just 30 minutes but it felt like five – it was over so quickly! The competition was fierce with some strong contenders. Chris presented two exquisite plates of food for judging. We gathered like a brood of proud parents and following the judges final deliberations, had a quick taste too and the quality was fabulous. The scallops were beautifully caramelised on the outside, delicately soft within, with the ribbons of squid ink pasta al dente to the bite, with the whole dish brought together by the creamy poached fennel and silky Vermouth sauce.

And now the wait for the results! Chefs are used to long days but this was coupled with the intensity of competition, mixed with a double dose of anxiety and excitement. Pretty soon, Chris received his first bit of good news – a medal and certificate for exceptional food hygiene and safety. Result!

And then we waited…and waited…and waited, until finally at 5pm, with our nails bitten down to the quick, the results were posted. In his first ever chefs competition, Chris was awarded a bronze medal. He stood beaming from ear-to-ear absolutely delighted. There was nothing else for it, we headed off to celebrate over a cappuccino – bubbly later of course!

This is what Chris had he to say: “What a fantastic day and experience. This being my first ever chefs competition, I’m absolutely delighted to have walked away with the bronze medal and to have my high standards of food hygiene and safety recognised.  The competition was really tough - I was up against some great dishes. I will return, but next time in force with the chefs from the 7 Day Catering Academy as it will be great experience for them.”

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