Local chef just misses out on place in final of prestigious TV show

Chef - Luke Ahearne - courtesy of Roux Scholarship website - https://www.rouxscholarship.co.uk/meet-our-regional-finalists-2022/

A chef from Clonmel is the reserve national finalist in a competition to find Britain’s best young chef.

The Roux Scholarship has been running for more than 30 years and is judged by Michel Roux Jnr and James Martin among many other Michelin-starred chefs.

Luke Ahearne is Head Chef at the Corrigan Collection in Mayfair, London.

He competed in the regional final in London last week and went very close to reaching the final.

“Six people went through altogether and I got the 7th reserve spot. There’s only one reserve spot so if someone gets ill or someone pulls out then I’m there.

“There’s still a shot. You never know with Covid and everything now and so many people getting sick at the moment its definitely not out of the question.

“I was a bit down Thursday after not getting through but I got back to the restaurant and Richard (Corrigan) put his arm around me, picked me up a bit and told me how well I did.”