‘Great British Menu’ Final Will Feature Two Talented London Chefs

Great British Menu’s 2019 series has two London chefs leading the charge as the BBC television series heads into its final episodes. Tom Anglesea of essential Hackney restaurant The Laughing Heart and Luke Selby of Hide have confirmed their places on the fish course and starter respectively after impressing Andi Oliver, Oliver Peyton, Matthew Fort, and two musical guests reflecting the show’s theme of 50 years of British pop music. Anglesea’s dish is inspired by Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here,’ with Selby referencing The Beatles. Both chefs will compete to be ‘champion of champions’ in the finale.

Anglesea’s fish course, ‘Lost Souls in a Fish Bowl,’ comprises Orkney scallops cooked two different ways: roasted, and used to make a scallop ravioli filled with scallop mousse. English wasabi, kelp, torched baby turnip, and dashi complete the dish. Selby, meanwhile, presented ‘The British Invasion’: set cheese custard, confit truffle yolk, barbecued leaves and sweetcorn with meadowsweet, using a water infused with meadowsweet and hay in combination with dry ice for that touch of drama that so often makes the difference on Great British Menu. The chef will be stepping down from Hide, Ollie Dabbous’ Michelin-starred restaurant in Piccadilly, at the end of this month.

Last year’s Great British Menu saw London chefs James Cochran and Tom Brown reach the final banquet in honour of the NHS, with Cochran of 1251 in Islington named champion of champions, the first chef in the show’s 13 series to earn the title.