Great British Menu 2022: North East and Yorkshire heat preview

by Great British Chefs 28 February 2022

Take a look at the chefs representing the entirety of the North East and Yorkshire for the 2022 series of Great British Menu.

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Great British Chefs is a team of passionate food lovers dedicated to bringing you the latest food stories, news and reviews as well as access to some of Britain’s greatest chefs. Our posts cover everything we are excited about from the latest openings and hottest food trends to brilliant new producers and exclusive chef interviews.

Bobby Geetha, Fleur Café, Leeds

Kerala-born globetrotter Bobby has been based in Leeds for the last two years, developing menus for Fleur Café, Casa Peri Peri and fineindiandining. Prior to settling down in Yorkshire, Bobby has graced many a prestigious kitchen with his cooking, having put shifts in at Noma, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal and Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons. He takes great pleasure
incorporating western techniques into his own cooking, describing his food as ‘innovative Indian dishes with an international approach’.

Bobby is no stranger to competitive success, having won the Hozpitality Excellence award for Best Executive Chef in the Middle East, the LTG Best Indian Restaurant award in Dubai and the Prochef award for Best Indian Speciality Chef in the Middle East during his time working in the UAE.

Bobby’s first outing in the GBM kitchen has him cooking dishes that are homages to food travelogues and coverage of Formula 1 racing.

Elizabeth Cottam, Home, Leeds

Yorkshire lass Elizabeth was born and bred in Leeds. In 2016 she walked away from a successful corporate career to become a full-time chef, doing stints at The Star Inn the City in York and The Box Tree in Ilkley.

In 2017, Elizabeth opened HOME and found herself the recipient of a Michelin Plate shortly after. More recently, she has gone on to open two more establishments; The Owl (also featured in the Michelin Guide) and Cora. She describes her food as ‘progressive with traditional foundations, inspired by nature and using the best of Yorkshire produce’.

Elizabeth’s menu sees her paying tribute to classic British comedies with dishes inspired by The Last of the Summer Wine and Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

Luke French, Jöro, Sheffield

Luke French

Jöro

by Luke French

Cambridge-born Luke moved to Sheffield eleven years ago and hasn’t looked back since. Starting out as a kitchen porter at the age of fourteen, Luke has gone on to cook in the kitchens of Alimentum and The Fat Duck before relocating to Steel City.

In 2016, Luke opened Jöro with his wife, Stacey Sherwood, serving clean, pure flavours with a Nordic/Japanese inflection to rave reviews. A Michelin Plate, 3 AA Rosettes and placing 32nd in the National Restaurant Awards followed. More recently, their empire has expanded to serve up more casual east Asian-inspired offerings in Sheffield and Liverpool at Konjö and Nama. Luke’s menu to champion British broadcasting belies his youthful countenance, paying homage to early eighties classics Brideshead Revisited and Butterflies.

Mark Aisthorpe, The Bulls Head, Derbyshire

First-timer Mark plies his trade at The Bulls Head in Holymoorside, on the outskirts of the Peak District. Mark cut his teeth as part of the University of Sheffield catering team, before
going on to complete spells at Cliveden House and Pétrus under Marcus Wareing.

In 2016, he managed to scrape together enough funding to fulfil his lifelong ambition of opening his very own pub restaurant, using locally sourced produce wherever possible. When cooking, his aim is ‘to give traditional British food the elegance of a contemporary fine dining experience’.

For Mark’s menu honouring 100 years of British broadcasting, he’s keeping his inspiration as local as his ingredients, preparing dishes based on Heartbeat and ChuckleVision.