Yorkshire chef cooks up storm at Fifteen as winning prize

4th July 2008, 12:17pm

A young chef from Yorkshire cooked up a storm this week in a top London restaurant as part of his prize of winning the Rotary Young Chef 2008 competition, in association with Filippo Berio.

Thomas Souter, aged 16 from Helmsley, spent the day with top chefs at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen Restaurant in London.

The winning chef tried his hand at a range of pasta styles including gnocci, ravioli and mezzalune, before Jamie Oliver gave him his own top tips for succeeding as a chef.

Thomas commented on what he has gained from the experience: "It's great that people can come here to work and learn at the same time. Everyone teaches each other. Not many people I know my age cook but I love it! I love the fact that there's so much to learn, not any one day is the same. It can take you anywhere; you can go all over the world."

The young chef went onto talk about what his thoughts were when entering the Rotary competition: "I thought 'what have I got to lose?', and it turned out I didn't have anything to lose but everything to gain. I've learnt so much from the competition, how to work under pressure, putting together a well balanced three-course meal and working with top chefs."

Andrew Parkinson, executive head chef at Fifteen, continued: "It's really important that we train up youngsters. They are the next generation of chefs and we need to build their passion for what they do. That is what Fifteen Restaurant is all about so it's great that Rotary Chef and Filippo Berio have the same vision with the Rotary Young competition."

Tom is now looking forward to working full time at the Michelin Star rated Star Inn in Harome, Yorkshire, under the guidance of head chef Andrew Bern.

As well as winning the day at Fifteen, Tom won a trip with his mum to visit the olive groves in Tuscany.

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