HEART AND SOUL
25.06.2009

Our Bath restaurant has been playing host to its very own Junior Master Chef.  Jamie's Italian in conjunction with HeartFM launched "Jamie's Healthy Heart Competition" which was aimed at getting local school kids to get creative in the kitchen.

Jamie always loves a project encouraging youngsters to really get stuck in when it comes to learning about cooking, good food and healthy eating so this was right up his street!

The Challenge - to design a super-healthy Italian style dish using local ingredients where possible.

The Prize - The winning chef sees their own creation going on the specials board in Bath.

Five schools across the region took part with plenty of in-house rivalry between the chefs.  After some nail- biting cook off's each school sent their winning representative to Jamie's Italian so that their dish could be cooked up by our top chefs - Matt Fanthorpe (Bath H.C), Marcos Georgiou (Senior H.C) and Gennaro and tasted by the panel of judges.

The pressure of cooking under the watchful and competitive eye of these young wannabes proved pretty hard going for Matt Fanthorpe, Head Chef.  "I've cooked in plenty of kitchens in my time and worked with some hard-core chefs but these guys were something else; reminding me not to over-cook the asparagus, careful when you plate that ravioli, the chicken needs a bit longer...... I really did find myself with my head down replying ‘Yes Chef!'"

All of the kids were excited to meet Gennaro and the man himself was really impressed by the creativity and depth of talent that we'd manage to tap into.  "These are the Chefs of the future.  The dishes were fantastic, simple and tasty."

Marcos agreed; "These were some seriously good dishes; well thought out and well presented.  These guys should be really proud of themselves.  It's been a great morning"

The winning dish voted for by HeartFM listeners was Matt Cordas from Bradon Forest School in Purton with a stunning ‘Italian flag ravioli'.  His dish is on the menu in Bath now!