Tarff won the competition with a four ways beetroot and goat’s cheese salad starter; cannon lamb with a carrot panna cotta and lamb éclair for main; and a chocolate and orange mousse for dessert.
He said: “It was such a great experience and I loved experimenting with the seasonal ingredient to get my dishes just right. I am still in shock but so pleased to show pastry chefs can cook as well as bake!”
Rob Kirby, chef director at Lexington Catering, added: “The competition has been fierce, with over 60 written entries and over 20 chefs going on to cook in the competition. The eight finalists worked incredibly hard throughout the competition and have shown real commitment and skill. Huge congratulations to Stuart, our LexChef 2016 champion!”
The winning chef competed alongside seven other Lexington finalists in the annual cook-off, all of whom were judged by James Golding, head chef at The Pig; Claire Clarke MBE, international pastry chef; Tomer Amedi, head chef at The Palomar; and Elior’s food development director Peter Joyner.
Clark, who has judged the LexChef competition for the last nine years, said: “The standard of food has gone up year on year and this year was exceptional. For me it is all about the flavours and there were some incredible seasonal produce – pears, figs and spices – which the chefs used to create some amazing flavourful dishes. Stuart’s dessert was just amazing and his presentation really made him stand out as the winner this year.”
The other finalists, Phil Read, Tiago Ferreira, James Garred,Tim Blake, James Willis, Jamie Delande, and Jack Malin, all received a finalist’s trophy, a bottle of champagne and a signed copy of The Palomar Cookbook.
The competition, head at Omnicom, London on 10th November, saw the Lexington team create a winter wonderland themed event, complete with giant snowflakes and salted caramel hot chocolate.