Great British Menu 2022 chefs: Tom Phillips, Wales heat

Head chef at two Michelin-starred Restaurant Story Tom Phillips is one of four chefs representing Wales 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. The Welsh heat will take place on Tuesday 15th, Wednesday 16th and Thursday 17th February 2022.

Tom is competing against Nathan Davies, Mark Threadgill and Larkin Cen. This is Tom's second appearance on the show, having taken part for the first time in 2020. Before making it to the judges' chamber, the chefs' food is to be judged by veteran chef Angela Hartnett, who competed in the first series of the programme in 2006, then again in 2008 and 2010. 

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), Mark was eliminated after the fish course. Larkin was the next to go, leaving Tom and Nathan to face judges Tom Kerridge, Nisha Katona and Ed Gamble, as well as guest judge Steffan Rhodri on Thursday, 17th February 2022.

Neck-in-neck until the end, it was Nathan who won over the judges and made it through to represent Wales at the national finals.

Biography

Expectations will be high with Tom, as his professional experience has set him up for great things: he started as an apprentice at one Michelin-starred The Ritz and has since worked at Simon Rogan's Thomas Keller's three Michelin-starred New York restaurant, Per Se, followed two Michelin-starred Cartmel haunt, L'Enclume, and worked his way up the ranks to become the head chef at Tom Sellers' Restaurant Story, helping to earn the Tooley Street restaurant's second Michelin star in the 2021 Guide for Great Britain and Ireland.

Describing his food as "elegant, precise, innovative and unpretentious," for his second run at the competition, proud Welshman Tom has created dishes inspired by Dr Who and hit comedy series featuring Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Laurie, Blackadder.