Dan Kirkpatrick, executive development chef for our B&I catering division, Angel Hill Food Co., has been awarded the top prize at this year’s illustrious StrEATfood Awards.

The B&I StrEATfood Awards searches for the UK’s most creative street food chef in the workplace and event catering sectors. Caterers, chefs, food/menu development chefs, unit managers from contract caterers and self-managed staff restaurants are invited to enter the competition and present their street food innovations in a bid to take home the prize.

As many as 1,600 people entered back in February and 16 finalists competed in a series of rounds at the live cook-off on Thursday 21st March. The high-pressured day saw Dan test himself to the maximum. He was up against the clock to serve his signature street food creation as well as a vegan dish and technical dish.

Recipe for Success

The chefs were given free rein to create their signature dish. Dan entered the competition with his ‘tandoori fried chicken and charcoal burrito with charcoal mayonnaise, kebab shop dressing, Ramsbottom wild garlic and wild garlic flowers’ recipe. His technical dish was ‘Vietnamese smoked caramel and soy chicken, pickled daikon, cucumber ferment and lemongrass rice’ and his vegan option was ‘Korean gochujang (fermented chili paste) and black sesame burger, kimchi ferment, yuzu pearls and pink sushi ginger’.
Each dish was reviewed by a judging panel featuring key industry figures and representatives from the award sponsors. Judges were looking for taste, texture, appearance and creativity. Dan’s array of dishes showed his dedication to his craft and the skill we’re lucky enough to have on a daily basis as part of our B&I catering offering.

Proud Winner

Upon winning, Dan said “I knew I had performed well on the day but all you can do is hope and pray that you’ve done enough. To be stood in a room with 16 of the most talented people in our industry is quite an achievement in itself, so to be named ‘StrEATfood’ Awards’ B&I Street Food Chef of the Year is mind-blowing. ”

Henry Watts, MD of catering, said: “This is a brilliant way to showcase what our catering teams are capable of. The fact that one of our development chefs was crowned this year’s winner is a testament to the high level of skill we have here at Atalian Servest. Dan really did us proud and we’ll be back again next year!”