MasterChef: The Professionals' finalist Liam Rogers has triumphed in a GB competition after missing out on a win in the BBC TV cookery show. Liam, who was a chef at two Michelin starred Restaurant Sat Bains, swept to victory in the prestigious Chaine des Rotisseurs GB Young Professional Awards.
The 25-year-old was crowned Young Chef of the Year. He will go forward to compete in the World Championships in Mexico at the beginning of October.
After finishing each challenge on a high in the culinary television series, screened last year, Liam was mortified when judge Marcus Wareing pulled out a piece of clingfilm from his starter of langoustines and confit chicken wings - a mistake which possibly cost him the title.
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Viewers watching the dramatic finale were gutted on his behalf with many taking to social media to express their dismay. Fans described him as "the people's winner" and one tweeted: "Big hugs for Liam. That clingfilm and your broken heart had us all in tears here. Chin up lad. You are all legends."
But finally he has something to celebrate after being crowned Young Chef of the Year at newly opened Harrods Social by Jason Atherton in London. He said: "I am super happy to finally win a competition. That moment obviously wasn't one I remember fondly but I wouldn't change it. These things make you stronger for sure."
Liam, who left Nottingham to work at Gleneagles in Scotland, and his fellow competitors had to create a three-course meal for four in three hours, from a surprise box of ingredients. His winning menu, centred around lemon sole with brown shrimp butter; poached ballotine of chicken with chorizo and a rhubarb dessert with crème fraiche, tarragon and a sable biscuit.
He said: "A mystery box is always tough, but I think my experience on MasterChef certainly taught me to hold my nerve, and keep cool under pressure. I was definitely focussed.
‘I’ve always wanted to be a chef, right from an early age. There was no doubt about it," added Liam, whose father owned a restaurant in Warrington, where he helped out from the age of 12. "It was the only way I got to see my Dad, apart from Sundays but that got me hooked."
After catering college, Liam spent some time at Restaurant Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, and then moved to Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottingham, where he was encouraged to enter MasterChef: The Professionals. "It was amazing. I was only 24, and the youngest chef in the competition from the quarter finals onwards," he said.
Late last year, Liam returned to Gleneagles, this time as sous chef in the Strathearn restaurant. He had another narrow miss when he came third in the Young Chef Young Waiter 2021 contest in Dubai in October.
When he heard about the Chaine’s competition and the chance to go to Mexico, he signed up immediately. "I am so excited. It’s a place I have always wanted to visit, Now, after three competitions, I have finally come back with a W for Win! My dad was the first person I texted with the news."
More than 60 guests joined finalists - three chefs and three sommeliers - for a lunch to celebrate their achievements. Competition spokesman Phillip Evins said: "‘It just goes to show what superb young talent we have in the industry now, and we are proud to be nurturing these embryonic and promising careers. We will certainly see more of them, I am sure."
