So, here’s the thing. A few weeks ago, I sent off a menu to the Suffolk Food and Drink Awards for the Suffolk chef of the Year Category. Fuelled by a few Gin & Tonics, I constructed a menu inspired by dishes from my years as a chef. The initial entry round involved submitting this menu for a three course meal for two using local produce where possible.
I filled in the forms, a brief curriculum vitae and submitted my menu. The competition has a history of winners coming from The Angel Hotel in Bury. Four out of the past 5 years in fact. This doesn’t bother me. I am fully aware that the competition hosts lean on the side of rural Suffolk life over town living. I just want an opportunity to show what I can do. Hopefully gaining a platform to stand up on and inspire young people to enter this industry which has given me so much.
I used to enter competitive cookery competitions as a student. Winning a Silver medal at Salon Culinaire in 1993 which I take great pleasure in telling my kids about (and anyone who’ll listen). This gave my the confidence to go on and be a chef. It secured the desire for me. “Next year I’d do better” The competition never returned.
Once I knew about this competition, I made sure that I entered a category. This is my third attempt. Although I did help my junior chef Georgina Blake get through to the cook off final of the Junior Chef of the year competition last year (2017).
Anyway. To my surprise, I got through! Next week (5th April) I have to head off to West Suffolk College for a cook off against lord knows who! I’ll be totally out of my comfort zone, but after making Georgina go through this last year, I could not back down.
My  plans to launch my cookery classes have had to take the back seat for the moment too understandably. So my apologies to those who have been waiting for details.
My menu for the event? You’ll have to head over to www.instagram.com/knifeofbrian to see my dishes.
It would be nice to win. My plan would be, like I said, to use it as a platform. Maybe I can promote the junior competition for 2019 (No junior competition this year) The industry is crying out for new talent. But this challenging career is not for everyone. At 43 years old, I already struggle with the busy day and long night. A few more years and I’ll be off to cook in retirement homes or school canteens…maybe?
If you want to see how I get on, check back on my website and follow me on www.twitter.com/knifeofbrian
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Where do the Food Stylists fit in? Are they Friends or foe to the chef? For a long while, I would get a little annoyed when swiping through my Instagram feed and seeing beautiful dishes. Dishes, which at first glance look like something you’d eat at a Michelin Star manor! Then as I click on the profile, I’d realise that the creator of the dish is not a kitchen veteran, but a food stylist. A blogger. Someone who I would assume had too much time on their hands.
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 I would be angry and felt cheated. Who were these people to be tweezering false hope on the Grand Assiette of my aspirations? Their plates looked stunning and flawless. Do they not own a restaurant? Surely, they must be worthy of Stars or Rosettes? I carry on reading through the dish info and eventually get to the food stylist or food photography hashtags.

There are plenty of these pages and feeds out there. Some of them are chefs. Some are not. Some are chefs, reproducing their images for a professional photographer to snap on their £10k camera. Putting my greasy Samsung S7 to shame in a single click of their billion mega pixel camera. Then sending an image to their web development team, then launch the image to an avalanche of Likes and Hearts… meanwhile in Ipswich, my wild boar linguine tip toes up to 40 thumbs ups! Woo hoo, yay me! There are a fair amount of chefs who snap some amazing shots on their smartphones too. They ones whose filter game is way strong.
Jealous, Moi? No…well maybe a little. But who am I? I’m just a chef. A 50 hour a week pub chef. Grafting and trying to make those coins, to put my kids through university and keep my wife (and the bank) off my back. Can I compete with the big boys and girls on the social media playground, without buying virtual followers?

That’s where those pesky stylists come in. In my opinion, these people are helping chefs like me raise my game. So where I was angry, I am now inspired. Where I was feeling cheated, I was now motivated. These people are producing beautiful dishes which I may not always be able to be reproduce in my kitchen. But, if I can add a single aspect or element to one of my dishes on the menu, then surely, this is progress. The stylists are here to be the chef’s muse, whispering their Siren song over the drone of the extraction unit. Can I emulate? There was a time I had draw the line at adding nasturtiums to my rib eye steaks salads. The chef flower-power movement went to my head for a while, but I’m over that. But wow, what’s next? Ooooh! That combination of Shellfish and Game looks interesting no?

There is definitely a place for the food stylist. As chefs, we need these people to flood social media with inspiration and imagery which can inspire and motivate us mere mortals. I may not be the most  technically gifted chef, but I make nice food. I don’t do foams, gels or the trendy tuiles. But I love to combine flavours. I love to see new colours in dishes and I really appreciate the artistry of food presentation. I love it when convention is challenged. As chefs, we should not fear the blogger, the stylist or the food photographer. Embrace the filter. Challenge our own beliefs and evolve this profession.

…but I do hate wellness bloggers, they can shove their avocado toast up their……