Simon Hulstone, a Michelin-star chef from Torquay in Devon has beaten hundreds of chefs to become British Airways Great Briton in the Food category. The menu will be exclusively unveiled in March next year, when it becomes available to British Airways customers.
The 36-year-old will now develop his Olympic Games inspired menu for British Airways flights, as well as for a high profile pre-London 2012 ball next year. He will receive mentoring from multi Michelin award winning chef Heston Blumenthal.
BA Great Britons judge and mentor, Heston Blumenthal, said: "Simon proved to have the most technical ability, as well as a thoughtful and well-balanced menu that ties into the Olympic Games and its spirit. He really impressed us with considering the feasibility of serving it on board aircrafts too. I'm really looking forward to working with him over the next year."
Simon was short listed as one of 16 finalists invited to create and serve a three-course Olympic Games inspired British menu, as well as demonstrate his expertise and ability to take on such a high profile challenge. The judging panel included, Heston Blumenthal, British Airways food expert Adrian Jaski and sponsorship manager Luisa Fernandez.
Speaking on his success, Simon Hulstone, said: "It's an honour to be recognised and awarded this opportunity to work with British Airways and Heston Blumenthal. My aim is to make a crowd-pleasing menu that will demonstrate the best of Britain and proudly showcase our culinary heritage. As a nod to Heston and his love of old recipes I'm looking at classic British dishes with a modern twist, delivered to the airline's high standards."
Working with British Airways' experienced teams and with support from Heston, Simon will produce an Olympic Games inspired "˜bold British menu' for the airline's World Traveller (economy), World Traveller Plus (premium economy), Club (business) and First Class cabins - available on board from March 2012.
Similar to the Team GB athletes he will cater for, Simon has been honing his talent from a young age. He competed in World Junior titles in his early teens and has acquired a number of awards since then, including the coveted Roux scholarship for young chefs in 2003.
He learnt his trade working for highly regarded Michelin star restaurants throughout Europe and currently holds the position of Head Chef at the Elephant in Torquay.
British Airways sponsorship manager and judge Luisa Ferndandez, said: "We set out to find the best in British talent to produce a bold British menu to serve to tens of thousands of people at 35,000ft. We are delighted to have Simon on board, and to offer him the opportunity to showcase his talent to a global audience."
Taking second place is London chef Andrew Wong, who will receive a pair of tickets to the London 2012 Olympic Games as runner up.
The BA Great Britons Programme was launched in May to discover the best of British talent in Food, Art and Film, to work on career-defining projects in the run up to the London 2012 Games. In the Film category, Prasanna Puwanarajah from London was selected to write a script that will be made into a short film shown on British Airways flights and at the pre-opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, with mentoring from Richard E Grant. In the Art category, Pascal Anson from Brighton was selected for his artwork, which will cover the livery of 12 British Airways aircraft during the London 2012 Games, with support from mentor Tracey Emin.
Millions of customers will be able to enjoy the Food, Art and Film projects on board selected flights next year.
British Airways is the official airline of the London 2012 Games. For further information, please visit
www.ba.com/greatbritons
