Zach’s passion for food started in childhood in his family kitchen, where his mum and dad instilled a love of cooking in him. He knew from around the age of ten that he wanted to be a chef.
Culinary Journey
His journey began at East Riding College, where his tutor Dave Leaf first introduced him to the idea of working in fine dining and helped him develop the skills needed to get there. From there he went on to assist at two restaurant openings under executive chef, Chris Emery. Wanting to experience different cultures and styles of kitchen, Zach soon moved on to evolve his skillset at Michelin-starred kitchens in Washington, D.C for a year. Now back in the UK, he is enjoying his current role at The Peat Inn, where he says Geoffery Smeddle, Gregor Vimpany and the entire team have inspired him and helped him to come this far in the competition.
Letting Ingredients Shine
With a love of local foraging and clean, elegant flavour profiles, Zach focuses on letting quality ingredients speak for themselves, while creating harmony across every dish. His final menu will include Scottish ceps, which he feels will pair well with his venison main course. With his custard tart dessert, he plans on only using vanilla to flavour it, so that the St Ewe eggs he’ll be using can take centre stage.
Embracing the Challenge
Zach says the competition process has taught him to step outside his comfort zone more often. He feels that going head-to-head with the best young chefs in the country has really inspired him and driven him to put forward the three best dishes he possibly can. He says that winning would mean so much to him and would show him that success is out there if you go out and take it.
Lessons and Looking to the Future
Zach feels that restaurants are places of happy memories and special occasions for guests, and that getting to be a part of that every day, is one of the most rewarding parts of the industry. He has a dream of running his own restaurant one day, using a mix of homegrown and local produce. He hopes in his future he’ll be able to create a kitchen with a great atmosphere that would appeal equally to guests and to the chefs preparing the food.
Zach believes that some of the best lessons can come from the mistakes you make and would urge other young chefs to enter competitions – saying that once you step outside your comfort zone, you don’t just become a better chef, you become a better person.