Great British Menu 2022 chefs: Liam Dillon, Central heat

Chef and owner of The Boat Inn Liam Dillon is one of four chefs representing the Central region on Great British Menu 2022

Series 17 of the competition starts on February 1st 2022 on BBC Two at 8pm and will air at the same time every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday for eight weeks.

Liam is competing against Harvey Perttola, Sally Abé and Benjamin Orpwood. This will be Liam's second appearance on the show, having first taken part in 2021.

Before making it to the judge's chamber, the chefs' food is to be judged by veteran chef Aktar Islam, who appeared on the programme in 2014.

As per the programme's new format which starts each heat with four chefs (as opposed to three, which was the case until series 15), Harvey was eliminated after the fish course. Liam was the next to go, leaving Ben and Sally to face judges Tom Kerridge, Nisha Katona and Ed Gamble on Thursday, 2nd February 2022.

Biography

Lichfield-born Liam Dillon's love for cooking stemmed from happy memories of cooking with his grandmother, to which he has made a mission of turning his passion into a brilliant career.

Through his travels to Australia, the US and the UK capital, Liam has worked in some of the world's best kitchens, including Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley, Eleven Madison Park, Five Fields and Tom Sellers' Story.

In 2017, he returned to his hometown in Staffordshire and bought The Boat Inn, converting the roadside pub into a Michelin-recommended, 3-AA Rosette restaurant.