A Scottish First: The Celtic Cook Off 2014 Saturday 17 May 2014

In a Scottish first, six of the best chefs from across the Celtic nations will come together for the Celtic Cook Off as part of the Loch Fyne Food Fair.

Taking place on Saturday 17 May at the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar & Restaurant, the Celtic Cook Off will feature six top chefs from Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall, Brittany, Isle of Man and Wales. With a brief to showcase local produce, the chefs will compete in a live cook-off in front of a team of judges and a live audience.  Fast-paced, this event promises to bring the theatre of a restaurant kitchen to a live audience.  This is the first time the event has been held outside Ireland.

This year’s chefs are:

· Tom Lewis of the award-winning Monachyle Mhor  in the Trossachs for Scotland

· Mark Devonshire who lectures at Cornwall College and has run other cookery schools including Rick Stein’s Padstow school

· Breton restaurateur, Eric Theze who runs the Michelin-recognised La Boheme in Waterford

· Frankie Mallon for Ireland from An Port Mor in Westport

· The Isle of Man’s Tony Quirk who runs L’Expérience

· Gareth Johns from the Wynnstay Hotel in Wales, who is a past member of the Welsh National Culinary Team and is a Master Chef of Great Britain

The event will be compered by Roy Brett, who runs AA Scottish Restaurant of the Year, Ondine and is Consultant Chef at the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar & Restaurant.  Judges for the Celtic Cook Off include Scottish food writer Cate Devine and original manager of the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar, Greta Cameron. Also on board for the event is food writer and campaigner, Donald Reid.  Previous participants include, Roy Brett and Tony Singh from Edinburgh and Jack Stein from Cornwall.

On the night each chef will prepare three plates of their chosen dish within a half hour time limit using food from local artisan producers plus one wild card ingredient from their own territory.  Each dish will be tasted by the panel of judges and audience members.

Scotland will be defending the title this year with Tom Lewis looking to follow in the footsteps of Joe Queen from Ayrshire’s Braehead Foods.  Joe’s winning dish in 2013 was an oven baked locally landed hake with chorizo and chickpeas featuring local West Cork products including those from Gubbeen Smokehouse and Rosscarbery Recipes.

The Celtic Cook Off began in 2011 with the aim of promoting good food in the celtic regions of northern Europe. The idea was to create a fun and informative cooking show that would highlight the best of local artisan produce cooked simply but interpreted differently by each chef.  Over the course of the weekend, chefs have the chance to meet local food producers and swap ideas, creating a virtual food network as a legacy of the event.

This year the chefs will also take part in the special Whisky Connections element of the Loch Fyne Food Festival.

Tickets cost £25.00 per person (£20 for under 18s) and include Champagne and a light buffet.

The Loch Fyne Oyster Bar & Restaurant is situated in Argyll at the point where the mountains meet the sea waters of Loch Fyne.  Just over an hour from Glasgow and two hours from Edinburgh, it is a beautiful destination in itself or the perfect place to stop on a journey north or south.

The newly refurbished Loch Fyne Oyster Bar & Restaurant has long been considered a pioneer of the Scottish food and drink story.  The company started farming oysters in Loch Fyne in the 1970s and selling direct to the public in a nearby lay-by.  The business grew over the years in line with its reputation and it is now synonymous with local, sustainable and above all, delicious produce.

Find out more about the Celtic Cook Off and the Loch Fyne Oyster Bar & Restaurant by calling 01499 600482 or on www.lochfyne.com.