One Pot Cook Off Champion at 2009 Food & Drink Festival
A domestic master chef took to the Chester stage and delivered his award-winning stew in front of a packed audience at the Food and Drink Festival.
The second annual One Pot Cook Off Champion Dave Purcell, following a cook off held at the Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel Golf & Spa, gave a demonstration of his tender lamb casserole at the Chester Food and Drink Festival. Dave, 52, an educational welfare officer for Halton Borough Council, also gained some culinary tips from TV celebrity chef Simon Rimmer. The annual event highlights the passion Macdonald Hotels has in sourcing the best seasonal and local food available for its customers.
More than 50 entrants were short-listed to three Finalists who were judged at the Whitchurch based hotel by last year’s winner, Bhupinder Virdee-Lace, Jane Casson of Made in Cheshire and Reaseheath College and Mark Astbury, Head-Chef at the The Hill Valley Hotel.
Dave won a professional cookery pot and a complimentary weekend for two at the Hill Valley Hotel. Runners-up were gardener Steve Beech, 48, of No Man’s Heath, Malpas, with his hash lemon gherkin dish, which included local lamb, vegetables and red wine and Darren Chard, 29, a soldier at Chester’s Dale Barracks, who cooked chicken supreme. Steve Beech’s son, Daniel, won the under-16 Junior Chef competition at last year’s Chester Food and Drink Festival.
Kate Halewood, General Manager for The Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel, Golf & Spa, said:
“This was a great opportunity to showcase Dave’s casserole at the Chester Food and Drink Festival and the way that Macdonald Hotels use local produce. We are delighted to be taking part in the Chester Food and Drink Festival for the second time and pleased that this has become such a successful event. The One Pot Cook Off is a fantastic competition and we will commit to a third year. Dave is a very charismatic chef and got some great tips from Simon Rimmer; perhaps we will see Dave on TV soon! The audience were very interested in the casserole, which is an economic meal in these tough financial times. This competition highlights the passion Macdonald Hotels puts into their cuisine. Macdonald Hotels’ philosophy is to use sustainable food stocks.”
The dishes at the Hill Valley Hotel competition could not take any longer than 30 minutes to prepare and 30 minutes to cook, using just one pot and competitors could not work as a chef in a professional capacity.
Ends: 406 words
PHOTOS (300dpi plus), PRESS OFFICE & REGULAR UPDATES at
http://www.marketingprojects.co.uk/clientpo/macdonald-hill-valley-hotel-spa
CAPTION: (left to right) Kate Halewood, General Manager of the Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel, with winner of the One Pot Cook Off 2009, Dave Purcell and TV celebrity chef Simon Rimmer.
Notes to editor:
The Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel, Golf and Spa is set in peaceful private grounds just 20 miles from Chester and Shrewsbury and under an hour from Manchester and Liverpool airports.
Well-known as one of the Top 10 golf venues in the UK, Hill Valley boasts two 18-hole golf courses, a brand new luxury Spa and health club and conference facilities for up to 300. With 81 individual bedroom experiences, every care has been taken to provide modern luxury facilities.
Macdonald Hotels & Resorts Limited operates 48 well-located hotels across the UK and ten resorts throughout the UK and Spain. The company employs over 4,400 staff and operates in excess of 3900 rooms.
First established in 1990 by Donald Macdonald and colleagues, the company was floated in 1996 on the main London Stock Exchange. In 2003, it returned to private ownership and was one of Scotland’s biggest public to private deals at a cost of £620m, which was wholly underwritten by the Bank of Scotland. The Bank now owns 50% of the equity with the remainder held by the management.
The Group’s focus is on developing its strong portfolio of four and five star hotels, with each offering its own character and individuality underpinned with the quality and attention to detail expected of the Macdonald brand. In particular, the company prides itself on the seasonality and provenance of its food within the hotels, from breakfast through to dinner, as well as its wide range of specially selected wines.
The Group has recently embarked on a programme of investment and refurbishment that includes properties such as Macdonald Blossoms in Chester, Macdonald Old England in Windermere and Compleat Angler in Marlow. In addition, the Group recently opened the Macdonald Portal Hotel Spa and Golf in Cheshire in July and the Macdonald Manchester Hotel, situated in the heart of the city centre, adjacent to Piccadilly Station in October 2007.
For more details visit: www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk/hillvalley/
Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel, Golf and Spa Contact: Lynn Hunter, Communications Manager
Mob: 07944 722631
Tel: 01506 815246
MACDONALD HOTELS
Email: lynn.hunter@macdonald-hotels.co.uk
Press Contacts: Phil Brotherhood Mob: 07884 493370
Tel: 01244 330000
MARKETING PROJECTS
Email: info@marketingprojects.co.uk
Return to Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel Golf & Spa listings
> Return to Client Press Office
