Pan-tastic efforts cook up medal honours

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Winning West Auckland chefs Steve Weston, left, and Shannon Hale… kings of the kitchen

Pan-tastic efforts cook up medal honours for West Auckland chefs

News release from
West Auckland Trusts

Two of West Auckland’s leading chefs have scored medals for their outstanding food innovations at the prestigious New Zealand Culinary Fare held in Auckland this month.

Shannon Hale, executive chef at The Marina Restaurant and Bar in West Harbour won the Fish and Seafood class for an enticing dish featuring crispy skinned salmon with coriander potato gnocchi and skewered scallops on salad with tarragon vinaigrette.

Chef Hale’s sensational effort is all the more astounding, as The Marina hasn’t even opened for business yet. The harbourside hospitality venue is scheduled to begin serving customers later this month. However, dedicated chef Hale from Henderson has spent most of the past six weeks practising his Culinary Fare presentation as builders, electricians and plumbers worked around The Marina’s makeshift kitchen.

“It’s been pretty testing,” admitted chef Hale, “but I was determined to keep on practising under any conditions. In a way, having all that work going on around me while preparing actually simulated the pressure of competing. Wining the medal and taking out the top in the class honour has been a real boost as we get ready for opening the restaurant.”

Chef Hale hopes to offer his dish on The Marina’s menu later this year. It is the fourth year Chef Hale from Henderson has picked up a medal at the Culinary Fare, however this year’s class-winning achievement is his best placing.

Meanwhile Steve Weston, executive chef at Bricklane Restaurant and Bar in New Lynn, cooked up a podium finishing dish when he scored a bronze medal in the corn-fed free range chicken class – serving up chicken supreme baked with mortadella cheese, sundried tomato, with basil on a confit of purple potatoes with glazed baby vegetables and gazpacho sauce.

It is the third consecutive year which chef Weston from Titirangi has cooked up a podium finish at the new Zealand Culinary Fare. He has been cooking at Bricklane Restaurant and Bar for five years.

“Preparing for a competition like the Culinary Fare keeps your mind sharp in the kitchen,” confesses chef Weston, “because I’m always on the lookout for new ideas, cooking techniques and flavours to put together for a winning entry.

“While I didn’t pick up a gold medal as I had hoped, it was still an incredibly rewarding experience competing live in front of a big crowd and I’ll look at putting the dish on Bricklane’s menu later this year.”

The annual New Zealand Culinary Fare at the Auckland Showgrounds is one of the world’s biggest professional cookery competitions – bringing together almost 1000 kitchen and restaurant service competitors in 66 categories from around New Zealand. Held over three days of intense competition, judging the array of different disciplines and categories runs from as early as 6am through to 6pm.

ENDS

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