Local chef misses final of cooking competition

Saturday 10 March 2018

Bohemia chef Michael Cruickshank's run in the 2018 Roux Scholarship competition has stopped at the semi-finals, competing against 17 other chefs from around the UK.

It was Michael's third run in the competition, but the 26-year-old chef is determined to take part again and win the scholarship which would allow him to spend three months in a three-star Michelin restaurant, anywhere in the wolrld.

He told Express: "You are given a brief with a list of ingredients. You then have to send a paper entry which includes your recipe, photos of your dish and the cost of it. From all the entries received, they then narrow it down to 18 finalists."

Following his successful paper entry, Michael was invited to travel to the University of West London, Ealing, to get cooking. He said: "You know what to expect but you never really know how the day is going to go. Obviously you have to cook the dish you mentioned in your entry but you are also given a paper with a list of six ingredients for a dessert. You are only allowed to take out one item from the list and have to use at least 50% of the rest of the ingredients. 

"You can practice the main dish but you only know about the dessert 30 minutes before. You don't have much time to think. You just have to go with it."

Pictured: Michael currently works in the kitchen of Bohemia with Steve Smith.

While the judging panel, which included two-star Michelin chef Michael Roux Jr, didn't pick Michael as one of the six finalists, the young chef hasn't let the result affect his motivation. He said: "I will try again! You can compete until you are 30, so I still have a good couple of years! It is great experience, it is good for networking and to meet other and get feedback. 

"Everyone is their harshest critic so getting to this stage is the bare minimum for me but I really want to try and win it once."

Before joining Steve Smith’s team at Bohemia, Michael worked in some of the UK’s most renowned restaurants including Michelin Starred restaurants The Montagu Arms, Hampshire and Sienna Restaurant in Dorchester, Dorset. If he wins the scholarship, he hopes to go to the other side of the globe. "You get a three-month scholarship in any Michelin three-star restaurant in the world. What is being done in America on the West Coast at the moment is very interesting, so I think I would probably want to go in one of these restaurants."