How many times should a chef enter Great British Menu before admitting defeat? Dominic Chapman of The Beehive in Berkshire returned for the third time this year, determined to fight for a place in the final and a chance to represent the South West at the Wimbledon banquet. We Brits love an underdog, but flanked by the less experienced – albeit extremely confident – Tom Brown and desperately nervous Andy Clatworthy, veteran Dominic didn’t quite fit the bill. Once Andy had been dismissed from the competition on Thursday following repeated failure to meet the brief and the subsequent sub par scores, the competition looked as close as it’s ever been as Dom and Tom went neck and neck to impress the panel of judges.
Tom kicked things off with Cowl Bysk, a reinvention of a classic fisherman’s stew involving lobster, heritage tomatoes and a tomato tea. As chef at the Michelin-starred fish restaurant Outlaw’s at The Capital, it wasn’t surprising that Tom looked to the sea for his starter, but the judges were uniformly underwhelmed by the quality of produce on the plate. Dom’s courgette flower stuffed with ricotta, goat’s cheese and truffle – It’s a Summer Bonanza – fared little better, impressing only with its pretty appearance. A bonanza it was not. Not the best start to proceedings.