Big year ahead for award winning young chef from Hastings area

Last year, Marcus, aged 26, from Broad Oak, impressed judges when he won the UK finals of the prestigious S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition, cooking his signature dish of celeriac, apple and mushroom.

Marcus studied at East Sussex College, finishing in 2015. He says, “I studied at Hastings campus starting with Level 2 Catering. I then went on to do Level 3 Kitchen Larder and Level 3 Patisserie. Studying at the College was really good fun, I still remember all the tutors. I see Neil Sadler all of the time around Rye, and Jeff Jordan. They were really good at encouraging me and pushing me to do well."

Speaking to the College about his involvement in the competition, Marcus said: “One day I was just scrolling on Instagram and saw a post from Norttingham chef Sat Bains. He was saying how there’s this competition if you want to get ahead. I wanted to. My girlfriend pushed me to apply.

“We had to cook a signature dish that had to represent your beliefs and you as a cook. I submitted a dish of celeriac apple and mushroom. When I entered I didn’t expect to win, but fortunately I’m very grateful to have won. Having such an esteemed judging panel of two-star and one-star chefs enjoy my food was an amazing feeling. It hasn’t quite sunk in that I’ve got to do it again and go to Milan to cook globally for England, but I look forward to it.”

He added: “After college I wasn’t really sure what to do, I knew for sure I wanted to do a ski season cooking over in France. It wasn’t until I came back that I realised you could really go far in the industry. I took a ‘chef de partie’ job at the Mermaid Inn, Rye, where I worked for a couple of years.

"I then wanted a bit more so I looked around at three Rosette restaurants and ended up moving up to Tunbridge Wells to a restaurant called Thackeray’s. I found myself in the pastry section. From there I just wanted more.

“Now I’m over in Hythe at a restaurant called Hide and Fox, I work under a chef called Allister Barsby, who has a wealth of experience. He spent eight years with Michael Caines, some of those years as a head chef at Gidleigh. So he has a wealth of experience and I’m the junior sous chef.

In the future I would like to run my own restaurant, which would be vegetable focused, showing that a piece of celeriac can be as impressive as a rib of beef or a fillet. If you enjoy cooking it’s not a chore. If you make delicious stuff, it keeps you going. I think there’s always a goal and you're always learning as well.

For information on catering courses contact East Sussex College at www.escg.ac.uk/explore/hastings.

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