THE Executive Head Chef at Stirling Management Centre has cooked up a top honour – and impressed one of the country's leading culinary experts.
Raymond Thomson, from the University of Stirling facility, notched up a silver award in the Scottish Chef of the Year competition 2013. His dessert was also named best in the competition.
The contest, organised by the Federation of Chefs Scotland (www.scottishchefs.com ), invited the cream of catering to battle for honours.
The finals were held in the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow, as part of the ScotHot industry event. Judges included Albert Roux, the French-born restaurateur and chef.
Management Centre business manager Gail Miller said staff were delighted at Raymond's success.
"Raymond's been judged to be one of the best chefs in Scotland – and it underlines our commitment to serve up amazing food to our customers,” she said.
"Albert Roux, founder of the famous Le Gavroche restaurant in London, was particularly impressed by Raymond's dessert, saying it was the best he'd tasted. The other judges agreed – making it the best dessert in the finals.”
Raymond was awarded his silver medal, a cheque for £500, plus a certificate and specially decorated plate.
He said: "To present my food to a team of leading industry experts, including Albert Roux, was a real honour.
"Getting great feedback from the judges was amazing. But for my work to score so highly and to win a silver medal overall was out of this world.
"I look forward to my winning desert going on our special dinner menus at the Management Centre.”
It's the latest accolade for the Management Centre – one of only two venues in Scotland to also be awarded the highly coveted Conference Centre of Excellence Award.
The facility offers deluxe accommodation and meeting facilities for a range of organisations and well as an acclaimed restaurant and banqueting service.
Find out more at http://www.smc.stir.ac.uk/