Daily news update: our selection of food and chef news from the worlds press

MasterChef 2009 winner Mat Follas to open new Dorset restaurant

MasterChef champion, chef and food writer Mat Follas is to open a new restaurant in Dorchester next month.  Set to open on 7 March, the 24-seat site will be located in the Casterbridge Hotel in the town’s East High Street.  Simply named Mat Follas at The Casterbridge, it will open on Friday and Saturday nights and serve food inspired from Follas’ previous restaurants, with an emphasis on foraged produce plus a few new dishes.

Read more from Caterer & Hotelkeeper

 

Brixton Prison Restaurant Opens To Public

Spending time in a London prison is no longer something reserved for criminals or Monopoly players. Next week sees the public opening of The Clink restaurant in HMP Brixton, and you can now book your time at Her Majesty’s pleasure without worrying about release dates.

Read more from Londonist

 

Horse meat galloping off the shelves in spite of British food contamination scandal

Sales of horse meat have shot up in Britain since last year's food contamination scandal.  Far from putting people off the product more Brits are now consuming the meat like their continental counterparts, which is leaner and costs less than beef.  One online retailer, which had been fielding over 400 queries a month for the past year, started stocking the meat last week and sold out in two hours with almost 1,200 purchases.

Read more from The Mirror

 

Exeter Curry Chef of the Year 2014 winner announced

The winners of the Exeter and Teinbridge Curry Chef of the Year 2014 have been announced.  Bijumon Varghese, of the Curry Leaf, in North Street, Exeter, was crowned Exeter Curry Chef of the Year, while Top Swar, of Gurkha Chef, Newton Abbot, took the honours for Teinbridge.  The two chefs will now face a 'cook-off' at the Exeter Festival of South West Food & Drink South at the end of April to find the overall winner.

Read more from Exeter Express & Echo