Chef Andrew Sheridan of Sosban in Llanelli in South Wales, was one of three Welsh chefs competing on Great British Menu on BBC Two this autumn. Great British Menu branded Andrew as the ‘maverick chef’ for his bold style turning traditional dishes like chicken soup and rice pudding upside down with his own unique spin.
This year Great British Menu is paying tribute to 70 years of the NHS and tasking 24 chefs from around the UK to create exceptional dishes for a banquet as a thank you to NHS heroes from around the country. Andrew went head-to-head against Chris Harrod from The Whitebrook in Monmouthshire and Jason Hughes from Chateau Rhianfa, Anglesey. The chefs were tasked with preparing a starter, fish course, main course and desert judged by a veteran chef Paul Ainsworth. Andrew was in the lead on points when he and Chris Harrod went through to the regional final on Friday to be judged by Andi Oliver, Matthew Fort and Oliver Peyton OBE. The judges loved Andrew’s dishes and two of them scored his Apple Rice Pudding 10 out of 10, but at the final reckoning they picked Chris Harrod to go through to the banquet.
We developed and implemented a media campaign for the national, regional Welsh and trade media with the aim of not only creating a buzz around his appearance, but also building awareness of him as a chef to watch and Sosban as a destination restaurant. We continue to work on securing national coverage for Andrew including other broadcast opportunities.
The brief for Great British Menu was to thank our NHS heroes and Andrew tackled the brief by not only celebrating the Welsh founder of the NHS, Nye Bevan, but also his great grandmother who worked as nurse in Liverpool until the grand old age of 82! Andrew said “Rebecca worked for 62 years in the NHS - a lifetime’s commitment and a true inspiration to me when I was designing my dishes!”
He said of the experience of the competition “it was intense but also incredibly rewarding! I met some amazing people and it has also made me release how far I have come in my career.”
