Great British Menu 2019: The finalists

The climax of BBC Two’s Great British Menu saw the final four chefs cook at a banquet at Abbey Road studios in north London, with Lorna McNee crowned the winner for her dessert of ‘Limes and Sunshine – There’s Enough For Everyone’.

Photo: BBC Great British Menu

The series finale of the fourteenth instalment of BBC Two’s Great British Menu 2019 took place on Friday 17 May.

The series saw 24 chefs, representing different parts of the UK, reduced to eight in the final week, before four chefs were selected to each cook a course at the banquet.

Luke Selby, Tom Angelsea, Adam Reid and Lorna McNee were chosen by the judges to cook the starter, fish course, main course and dessert respectively, with Lorna McNee winning best dish at the banquet.

The four chefs had the opportunity to cook for some of the most renowned names in the music industry at London’s iconic Abbey Road Studios at the banquet marking 50 years since The Beatles’ last performance.

Guests included Rag N Bone Man, The Stone Roses’ Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, Rizzle Kicks, and former Joy Division and New Order member Peter Hook.

The Starter – Luke Selby

Twitter @lucas_selby

Luke Selby, head chef at Ollie Dabbous’s Michelin-starred restaurant Hide in London’s Piccadilly, was the first chef to gain a place cooking at the banquet.

Named the ‘British Invasion’ in tribute to The Beatles, Selby’s starter combined set cheese custard, confit truffle yolk, barbecued leaves and sweetcorn with meadowsweet.

The chef has previously met with success in competitions including the Craft Guild’s National Chef of the Year 2018, the Roux Scholarship in 2017 and the Young National Chef of the Year in 2014.

The Fish Course – Tom Anglesea

Tom Angelsea, head chef at Hackney-based natural wine bar and contemporary restaurant The Laughing Heart, was the second chef to secure a place cooking at the banquet.

Inspired by Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here,’ his fish course ‘Lost Souls in a Fish Bowl’ consisted of Orkney scallops cooked two different ways: roasted, and used to make a scallop ravioli filled with scallop mousse.  Topped with English wasabi, discs of kelp and blowtorched baby turnip, the dish was finished with a dashi broth made with dried kombu and shiitake mushroom.

Created as a tribute to a close friend of Anglesea’s who sadly passed, and in honour of late, great musicians of the last 50 years, the delicate dish represented how fragile life is and combined unusual ingredients with impressive technique.

Anglesea received top scores, with judges Matthew Fort, Andi Oliver, Oliver Peyton and guest judge Kanya King CBE, CEO and founder of the Mobo Awards, describing the dish as “absolutely spot on” and “phenomenal”, whilst they were “blown away” by its relevant and emotional connection to the brief.  Judge Andi Oliver recognised it as one of “loss and love, [and it was] actually quite emotional”.

The Main Course – Adam Reid

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Adam Reid, chef-patron of Adam Reid at The French at Manchester-based The Midland hotel, was the third chef to earn a place at the banquet with his main entitled ‘Comfort Food Sounds Good.’

Taking inspiration from the belief that comfort can be found in both music and in food, Reid’s chicken stew of barley, sweetcorn, leeks and turnip impressed the judges, with Wham’s Andrew Ridgeley claiming that he had “never had chicken like that” and that it was “extraordinary”.

Reid’s four competing dishes will be available as a separate set menu at The French until mid-summer.

The Dessert – Lorna McNee

Lorna McNee was the fourth and final chef to be chosen by the judges to cook at the banquet with her dish of ‘Lime and Sunshine – There’s Enough for Everyone.’  The sous chef at Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles in Auchterarder, Perthshire, went on to win the competition with the dish at the banquet.

McNee was awarded Scottish Chef of the Year 2017 and Game Chef of the Year 2016, with the chef coming close to getting her dessert to last year’s Great British Menu banquet which celebrated the NHS.

‘Lime and Sunshine – There’s Enough for Everyone’ consisted of a chocolate-coated dome of coconut mousse, biscuit and lime parfait served with an edible cocktail umbrella of dehydrated pink pineapple and chocolate alongside a tuile cone of piña colada sorbet.

The dessert was served to judges Matthew Fort, Oliver Peyton and Andi Oliver and guest Peter Hook, bassist of Joy Division and New Order to a soundtrack of Wham’s Club Tropicana with Peyton describing the dish as “spectacular” and the “perfect end to the menu”.