What made you enter MasterChef: The Professionals?
I had been a chef for less than six years and just as I was starting to find my feet in the industry, covid struck and I was furloughed for a year. I was out of work in the weeks running up to Christmas 2021 and was kicking my heels a bit when my friend Dan Lee, who I knew from working at the Peligoni Club in Greece and who won the competition in 2021, suggested I apply to MasterChef. I had lost some confidence in my abilities during furlough and decided to apply to reengage and push myself out of my comfort zone and was called for an interview in March 2022. I attended a total of 10 interviews and had to supply catering references going back five years. At no stage was I asked to cook! In early summer, I was told I had a place on the show but was asked not to tell anyone which was very tough as I was incredibly excited.
Where did your love of cooking stem from?
Food was a large part of my life whilst growing up. My Mum Emma is a great cook and always cooked meals from scratch and would insist we sit down as a family. During the university holidays, I would chef in private villas and at the Peligoni Club in the summer, head out to Verbier during the winter holidays and do ad hoc catering jobs at the weekends. On leaving university, I completed a one-year diploma course at Leith’s School of Food and Wine in London where I learnt about classic flavour combinations and honed my French cooking techniques. My first professional cheffing job was at Petersham Nurseries Café in Richmond for five months, before moving onto Chez Bruce and The Grill at the Dorchester. I now work as a Junior Sous Chef at JP Morgan in London which brings a quite different pressure to working in restaurants.
