Colyton chef Sam Lomas has reached the national finals of a prestigious competition to find the future stars of British cuisine.

Sam, who is head chef at Glebe House, is among six contenders for the title of Roux Scholar 2023 on Monday, April 3.

He and 17 others battled through the regional finals on Thursday, March 9, which he described as 'a very tough competition'. Each chef had to cook a dish they had created in advance from a set list of ingredients. They also had to come up with a dessert made from a ‘mystery box’ of ingredients presented to them at the event, which included strawberries, chocolate and lager.

He said: “I’m really blown away to have got through. The competition was incredibly fierce and there was some amazing talent in the room. But I’m glad I managed to hold my nerve and get through.

"The mystery box challenge played in my favour, I was nervous about very traditionally classic stuff but choux is something I’m very familiar with and just kept it as simple as possible and did a choux pastry with a craquelin on the outside and some crème diplomat and some strawberries.”

Sam’s ability to create a dish on the spot will be put to the test at the national finals. The six competitors will have to devise and cook a dish using a key ingredient that will be announced on the day.

He said: "There's only so much preparation you can do for that. In a sense that's quite nice because everyone's on a level playing field for the final, so I'm quite looking forward to that, actually."

The overall winner will be able to choose between the opportunity to cook and train with a top chef at a three-star Michelin restaurant anywhere in the world, or the chance to undertake a specialist training programme tailored to their career goals. 

Sam was one of two East Devon chefs who made it through to the regional finals; the other was Jack Cannell, head chef at the Tytherleigh Arms in Axminster.

Michel Roux Jr, one of the judges at the regional heat, said all the competitors had done extremely well: “It’s always very challenging and gut-wrenching for some, but even those who didn’t get through have left with a big smile on their faces and they can be very proud of what they achieved."