Another competition victory for local chef

18 July 2012

A DOWNPATRICK chef has triumphed at a Northern Ireland Chef of the Year competition.

Executive chef Mark Lynott was the joint winner of the recent Sodexo NI Chef of the Year finals, and will now be one of two senior chefs representing Northern Ireland at the Sodexo All-Ireland Chef of the Year Competition in Dublin.

The competition was organised by Sodexo for its network of chefs based in client locations throughout Northern Ireland.

To prepare, Mark and his fellow winner, chef Dennis McCarroll from Newtownards, will be attending a mentor day with Michelin-starred chef Derry Clarke of L’Ecrivain Restaurant in Dublin.

It is the second victory for Mark who was the joint NI winner in 2011 and went on to win the All-Ireland competition. He then represented Ireland in the Grand Final held in the world-famous Hospitality Show in the NEC, Birmingham in January of this year. He didn’t win but relished the experience and is determined to get back there again.

“The Grand Final has eight chefs cooking live in front of judges, cameras and a very large audience so it’s hard to appreciate the intensity until you’ve actually gone through it,” said Mark.

“It was my first time to compete at that level so it will really stand to me if all going well, I find myself back there again. I’m hooked on the buzz now so there’s no going back.”

For the Northern Ireland final, competitors were given an hour to prepare, cook and present a main course using fresh fish and vegetables of their own choice.

Mark Lynott won the

judges over with a pan-seared turbot and coriander-infused tagliatelle, braised veget-

ables with a passion fruit sauce topped with beetroot and apple caviar.

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