Atalian Servest’s education and healthcare catering brand Academy has won School Chef of the Year (SCOTY) awards in the West Midlands and South West England.

Jennifer Brown, School Chef for Sarum Academy in Salisbury, Wiltshire, won the South West region SCOTY with a main dish of chicken and tarragon ravioli with lemon and garlic dressed carrot and courgette topped with parmesan. Her dessert which combined a chocolate brownie and cheesecake and fruits of the forest topping, was selected as the winning desert in the South West region SCOTY competition.

Lee Taylor, Chef Manager for Academy at John Gulson Primary School in Coventry, was the winner of the West Midlands regional SCOTY competition with a vegetarian inspired dish from Bangladesh ‘for a life on the open sea’. He created a vegetarian chickpea and spinach curry in a chapati boat on a sea of red lentil dahl with salad refresher. For dessert, he served a classic Indian Keer with a twist using burnt orange segment and a flavoured custard tea.

During the regional SCOTY competitions chefs had 90 minutes to prepare four portions of a main course and a dessert suitable for 11-year-olds in schools, with a maximum spend allowance of £1.30 per meal.

Daniel Dickson, CEO UK & Ireland at Atalian Servest, said:

“We are thrilled to be winners of two regional School Chef of the Year competitions and securing two places in the final. Jennifer and Lee are incredibly talented individuals and are both a credit to Atalian Servest. This is a wonderful achievement for them and we will be fully supporting them in the final.”

The SCOTY National Final will be held on 5th March 2020 in Warwickshire. Twelve School Chefs will compete for the £1,000 cash prize as well as the 2020 LACA School Chef of the Year trophy. They will also receive an invitation to a calendar of catering industry events and a work experience trip.