A HEAD chef at a Knowle care home has been crowned Runner Up in the national Care Chef of the Year competition, organised by the National Association of Care Catering (NACC).
The final consisted of 12 chefs from across five regions of the UK.
Nigel Cooke from Eastcote Park was selected, having won the Midlands regional heat this summer.
Each finalist was tasked with creating a menu to showcase the importance of food, nutrition and a positive mealtime experience – and they cooked the same meal in the final, taking on board feedback they had previously received.
Nigel said: “I chose my menu because of the big flavours, high nutritional content and the fact that some of the ingredients were grown by our residents in Eastcote Park’s garden.
“The competition was so tough with incredible chefs from across the country. I was thrilled to be named Runner-Up and to have had the opportunity to represent Cinnamon Care Collection and its Eastcote Park care home.
“I was so well supported at the event and my wife and I celebrated afterwards with Carole Hunt, director of Cinnamon Care Collection, Mark Shockledge, Eastcote Park’s operations manager and Richard Pearhouse, executive chef at Cinnamon Care.
“I have now won the regional finals twice and this is the furthest I’ve come in the competition. I hope to enter it again next year and put my culinary skills to the test again.”
Mark Shockledge, operations manager at added: “We couldn’t be prouder of Nigel. He puts so much thought and creativity into his dishes and creates the most incredible and tasty food for our residents.
“We feel very privileged that he is the chef at Eastcote Park and our residents are extremely proud of him too. He is an amazing ambassador for our care home and really sums up our ethos of always going the extra mile for residents.”
