Nestlé Professional Toque d’Or® 2016 Competition

The regional heats of the 2016 competition took place earlier this month whittling down the 36 teams who have progressed from the paper entry, to the 6 teams graduating to the Grand Finals in March. The heats started in Glasgow at the City of Glasgow College, then on to the University College Birmingham & finally at Westminster Kingsway College, Vincent Square, London in the following week.

Each team comprises of two chefs and one person responsible for the service who had to produce a starter, main and dessert for a table of eight at a lunch. The time pressure was on following a demo of the starter by Andrej Prokes from Nestlé Professional, the main course with Executive Chef David Atkinson from Pennyhill Park and a beautiful dessert with Graham Hornigold Executive Pastry Chef for the Hakkasan Group. From a service perspective each table was marked on presentation and the delivery of each of the dishes during the service.

The colleges who have successfully reached the final are Gloucestershire College, York College, Sheffield College, University College Birmingham, City of Glasgow College and University of Derby. They will compete in the finals over 4 days in March with the prestigious awards dinner taking place in April.

The Toque d’Or competition has the enviable reputation for motivating and inspiring catering students up and down the country offering real life experiences and exposure to key industry figures, as well as exciting challenges to get the very best out of the contestants.

The Wine Tipster is joining the judging team for the first time but has been involved throughout the heats, presenting Food & Wine Pairing Sessions. He has been following The WSET Guide to Food & Wine Pairing and their Systematic Approach to Wine Tasting and is delighted to welcome the Wine & Spirit Education Trust who are partnering with Toque D’Or for the first time this year.

Good luck to all the finalists!