The Kids Are Alright

SO off we popped to the Mint Hotel for the Leeds leg of Mint Hotels' Star Chef where three of the kitchen's brightest young talents got to show what they could do.

Three chefs, one course each and about 35 hungry diners. No pressure there then.

What was striking was the level of ambition on the menu, which was very well balanced and showed a real understanding for the food they were cooking.

Let's go through the courses before we reveal the winner...

The Starter

Starter: Andrew Kelly

Lobster bisque with a seafood medley, sea asparagus, saffron butter. Wine pairing: Friendly Grüner Veltliner by Laurenz V, 2010u

A good looking dish that was gentle and light, but perhaps a little let down by an underseasoned sauce that lacked the necessary oomph to add extra depth to the subtle flavours of the main ingredients.

Main course: Rachel Yeadon

The Main CourseSous-vide breast of Harome pheasant with chestnut crumb, game pie, celeriac purée, game jus.
Wine pairing: Catena Malbec, 2008

Fantastic presentation and execution, although eyebrows were raised about a dry-looking game pie. It tasted great though, and was cooked just as should have been. Cooking with flair doesn't have to mean sticking a sparker in things, as this dish demonstrated.

Dessert: David Howe

DessertTrio of local apples - apple tart fine, apple and Yorkshire parkin crumble, apple espuma.
Wine pairing: Cascinetta Vietti Moscato d’Asti, 2010

If you want an easy dessert win, go for chocolate, so fair play to David for using local apples and showing them off in some interesting ways - the pectin-based element of the crumble was very clever but let down by a parkin that was just too hard. The only blip on a very good pud though.

The winnerSo who won? After some hard deliberation by the judges, Rachel Yeadon scooped the prize and now goes through to the grand final against other Mint winners.

It certainly showed there's some great talent in the kitchen though.