This year’s first Wirral Chefs Shine is next week

May 13 2009 by Cath Turton, Birkenhead News

This year’s first Wirral Chefs Shine is next week

THIS year’s first Chefs Shine will take place next Tuesday evening.

Emma Wombwell, last year’s Wirral Chefs Shine winner, will be heating up the kitchen as she prepares her delicious menu for diners.

The 25-year-old is our first finalist in the competition this year and is bidding to become the first chef to win two years in a row.

Emma, head chef at the Wheatsheaf Inn’s Cowshed Restaurant, Raby, is sticking to her philosophy that diners should be encouraged to test their tastebuds with new foods.

Last year diners were treated to beetroot and smoked eel salad – and this time she plans to serve up an offal faggot.

The menu also includes sea trout, Ness lamb cutlets, spring vegetable bubble and squeak and three miniature rhubarb desserts.

Emma, of Neston, said: “I’m a young head chef and winning Chefs Shine has given me a lot of confidence in what I’m doing.

“I haven’t changed anything and I’ve stuck to my guns. It worked last time so it would be stupid for me to change.

“I’m going along the lines of traditional dishes that the older generation might recognise. People will either think ‘ooh what’s that?’ or ‘ugh, faggots’!”

Emma is now working under new owners Phil and Kelly Davies, who recently bought the Wheatsheaf from previous owner Wes Charlesworth.

But her kitchen team remains unchanged from last year’s competition and she is still working closely with her partner Mike Shand-Davies.

To book call 336 3416.

Wirral Chefs Shine 2009 is supported by Wirral Council, the Mersey Partnership, Wirral Met College and Liverpool Community College.