Ryan Percopo from BaxterStorey
There’s a saying “teamwork makes the dreamwork” and that’s always the case with our popular ACE Ready, Steady, Cook event. With just 30 minutes to turn a mystery basket of ingredients into something delicious for our judges it’s vital both chefs showcase their skills.
One team that’s hoping to impress the judges and take home the title is BaxterStorey and we chatted to head chef, Ryan Percopo to get his thoughts on the competition.
How does it feel to represent your company in ACE Ready, Steady, Cook?
It’s a great privilege to be chosen by BaxterStorey to represent them at this competition. Hopefully its second time lucky for us this year!
What’s the best way to prepare for a chef competition?
You can’t really prepare for a competition, especially one that has a mystery box of ingredients which are only revealed on the night. You just have to stay calm and remember the basics.
Tell us more about your role at BaxterStorey and the work you do.
I’m the head chef at a city-based bank for BaxterStorey. It’s my role to run the kitchens, train and encourage the chefs, create current and exciting menu offers and keep up with the latest trends.
What do you think about the work ACE does to put the next generation into the spotlight?
I think it’s great. As a young chef myself it’s helpful and encouraging to know that there are people out there looking after your interests within the business.
What would winning the competition mean to you?
It would be massive as the calibre of chefs at these competitions is so high. For “Team BaxterStorey” to come out on top would be really great and an achievement we will be celebrating.
Spencer Warren, BaxterStorey
The BaxterStorey team has always done really well at our annual cooking competition, ACE Ready, Steady, Cook but can they do even better this year and take home the title? One person who is hoping so is their young chef competitor, Spencer Warren and ahead of the event we wanted to get some insight from him into this popular competition.
How does it feel to represent your company in ACE Ready, Steady, Cook?
I feel very happy to be representing my company, BaxterStorey. I’ve always felt the hard work and effort would pay off and it’s a chance to show the business and wider hospitality industry what I can do.
What’s the best way to prepare for a chef competition?
I feel you have to focus and prepare yourself for all possible outcomes and think about how you would deal with each one.
Tell us more about your role at BaxterStorey and the work you do.
I am the sous chef at the same site as Ryan and work under him. Day to day I help with the running of the kitchen and coming up with food recipes and concepts.
What do you think about the work ACE does to put the next generation into the spotlight?
I think it’s great as we need to focus on the youngsters coming through into this industry. Young chefs deserve as much praise as the older ones, even though they aren’t as experienced, because it’s a tough industry to work in.
What would winning the competition mean to you?
Winning the competition would be a massive step in my career as I’ve never won a cooking competition. However, it would also mean a ‘round-on-me’ down the pub for my team.
