A Double Win for Entier at North East Chef of the Year Awards

Two rising stars from Entier Ltd have cooked their way to the top at the Hospitality Training Aberdeen North-East Chef and Restaurant of the Year.

Senior sous chef, Fraser Hobday was named as North-East Chef of the Year, a prestigious title that stays within the Entier Family for another year as Fraser takes it from Entier Head Chef Andrew Clark, who was crowned North-East Chef of the Year 2024. At the same time, Oliver Redgwell-Welch, one of Entier Ltd Fresh Olive apprentices took home the title of North-East of Scotland Seafood Chef of the Year at the awards held at The Marcliffe in Aberdeen.

For North-East of Scotland Chef of the year, Fraser was tasked with producing a 3-course menu, with the starter being comprised from ingredients from a mystery basket that the competitors were given 30 minutes prior to the competition starting.

Fraser impressed the judges with his menu, creating a starter of poached duck egg with Jersey Royal potatoes cooked in chicken stock, kombu and lovage stalk emulsion with a crowdie and lovage velouté and shelled peas from the ingredients in the mystery basket. His main was BBQ pork fillet, glazed faggot, potato rosti, wild garlic emulsion, asparagus, caramelised apple, burnt apple purée and a pork jus split with wild garlic oil. To top off his winning menu, Frasers dessert was a Mille Feuille, citrus crémieux, rhubarb & ginger compote, poached rhubarb and toasted almond & vanilla ice cream topped with crystallised almonds.

Oliver also impressed the judges with his sustainable fish menu consisting of langoustine tartare with a horseradish and butter milk sauce split with dill oil and pickled cucumber balls, served with a side plate of yeast batter langoustine claw and langoustine emulsion. For his main Oliver served barbecued John Dory with jersey royal fricassee, barbecued asparagus spear and an Asian inspired butter sauce.

Peter Bruce, CEO of Entier Ltd and Chairman of Hospitality Training Aberdeen, expressed his pride in the chefs, stating

"These awards mean a great deal, not only to the winners but to the entire hospitality industry in the North East. I've seen first hand the hard work, commitment and passion that goes into achieving these awards. We're incredibly proud of our team at Entier, and what Fraser and Oliver have achieved showcases the exceptional talent we have within the Entier Family. To see our chefs standing alongside industry professionals shows the future of our sector is in very capable hands"

With these awards under their belts, both chefs are looking ahead to even bigger challenges, whilst continuing to inspire the next generation of chefs.