http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpoolnews/Blackpool-chef-pays-tribute-to.4798635.jpI'M not scared of Gordon Ramsay!
Student Tony Bee has won the prestigious Gordon Ramsay Scholar Award – and the chance to work in the kitchen of the nation's scariest chef.
The 19-year-old said: "Gordon was nothing like he seems on television.
"He was really supportive, full of advice and very friendly. I'm not scared about working in his kitchen, it's a huge opportunity and I'm really looking forward to it."
Tony, a final year student at Blackpool and The Fylde College, secured himself a place in the grand final of the BBC Good Food Show competition, after winning the rounds as a college scholar.
The talented student chef had two and a half hours to cook and serve a three course meal in front of an audience of 200 and was judged by some of the best in the business, including Mark Askew, the executive chef at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay.
His inventive meal saw him crowned the winner of this year's show with the top prize of spending a week working in Ramsay's restaurant, which has been named one of the best five in the world.
Tony also went home with a set of knives worth more than £300 and books, signed by the foul-mouthed chef himself, for his college library.
He, and 10 of his friends, will be served lunch at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London in the new year and one of the top chefs will give a cookery demonstration to students at Blackpool and The Fylde College.
Tony, who works part-time in the kitchen at Blackpool's De Vere Herons' Reach Hotel, said: "My college entered me in the competition last year but I didn't win so I was more relieved than anything else this time when I won.
"In the grand final we had 35 ingredients and had to choose and make our own course. I wasn't over confident. I knew what I had to do and I just did it, with all the training that I have had.
"I didn't get chance to celebrate after getting through to the grand final, but we had a champagne reception after I won on the day of the final."
The teenager's taste for winning is nothing new, as he scooped up the Tuco Chef of the year award in March, when his dishes beat professionals to the winning spot.
After graduating from college in June next year, Tony plans to gain experience working in kitchens in Switzerland or France – unless he gets a full-time job in Gordon's kitchen!
