The Head Chef at Birmingham's fine dining Indian Restaurant, Pushkar Cocktail Bar & Dining has been announced as a finalist at the Asian & Oriental Chef Awards.
Pushkar’s Head Chef, Vinod Singh has been announced as a finalist and will be invited to a live final cook-off event, to be held at Pillars Kitchen, at the University of West London, in late February.
The Asian & Oriental Chef Awards are open to the countries professional chefs across all Asian and Oriental cuisines, nominations were invited from members of the public, restaurant critics, food journalists, bloggers and restaurateurs.
Organised by the Asian Catering Federation (ACF), which represents the UK’s 30,000 Asian and Oriental restaurants and takeaways, eight shortlisted chefs will be invited to compete at a cook-off, in Ealing, before a panel of independent judges. Scores will be determined on criteria of innovation, technical skill, nutrition hygiene, creativity and flavours. Winners will be announced on the day and presented at a dinner being held at the Cholmondeley Room & Terrace, overlooking the River Thames, in early March.
This is all following on from Pushkar’s recent success of being crowned Best Indian Restaurant in the West Midlands at the British Curry Awards.
A thrilled Head Chef Vinod said: “I am very excited to participate in this cooking competition and at the same time full in confidence. I have faith in my recipe, which I’m keeping secret until the final - and look forward to wowing the judges with something that is special and beneficial for people's health.”
Commenting on the competition, ACF Chairman Yawar Khan said: “Issues faced by the hospitality industry in recent times have been well documented – not least of which is attracting new young talent into the sector.
“Standards have risen exponentially since we launched our various awards to recognise the most innovative chefs. We want to showcase the very best and show potential recruits the exciting channel for their skills and creativity that the restaurant industry has to offer.”
The Awards’ main sponsor is Just Eat, the market-leading online food ordering and delivery platform. It is also supported by Booker Wholesale.
