A FORMER chef at the Cock in Hemingford Grey has been named Young Pub Chef of the Year – and landed himself a job at a top Park Lane hotel.

A FORMER chef at the Cock in Hemingford Grey has been named Young Pub Chef of the Year – and landed himself a job at a top Park Lane hotel.

Chef de partie George Allan scooped the title at the Great British Pub Food Awards 2011 two weeks ago, shortly before starting his new job at The Dorchester hotel in London.

The 20-year-old from St Ives won for his roast rack of lamb with accompaniments in a cook-off against two other national finalists.

He had to prepare and cook a main course within 75 minutes as well as create another dish from a mystery box of ingredients which had to include a bottle of Budweiser, the category sponsors.

George said: “It felt great to win. I was fairly confident before we started, but I didn’t get a chance to taste what the other two guys had done, so I had no idea if I could do it or not.”

George started at The Cock in May 2007, initially working part-time before moving to a full-time role in 2009. He also worked part-time at The Tap Room in St Ives, and has an NVQ in Professional Cookery from Cambridge Regional College.

He told his new employers at The Dorchester he had been shortlisted for the award when he applied for the job.

He added: “It’s another world working here – going from working with five chefs in a country pub to working with more than 100 others chefs in a five-star hotel.”

INFORMATION: www.greatbritishpubfoodawards.co.uk