Springboard Programme: Springboard FutureChef

Region: Northern Ireland

Year: 2023

Kristen Nugent was 15 years old when she triumphed, whilst representing her native Northern Ireland, as the 2023 FutureChef winner!

The St Ciaran’s student wowed judges at each stage of the competition and was deservedly chosen by the panel of renowned and celebrated chefs at the FutureChef National Final in March of this year.

As part of her winning prize, Kristen was given the opportunity to attend Royal Ascot, and work alongside their professional chefs in the kitchen, with thanks to Sodexo.

Here’s what Kristen had to say about her experience…

“On the 21st of June 2023, I went to London as part of my prize for winning UK Springboard FutureChef competition. I stayed in the stylish Moxy Hotel in Slough, and it was amazing, I got my own hotel room, and I was absolutely spoilt.

Once I arrived and checked in, I got a taxi to Eaton College. I got the chance to have a tour of the college and see all the amazing kitchens. One of the kitchens had the most spectacular roof originated from when the college was built.  The facilities were incredible, and it was so lovely to see behind the scenes of how to cater for 1347 students and staff. One of our tour guides Yvette gifted me an Eaton College Teddy Bear and a notebook which was very thoughtful of her.

Richard Hall kindly took us to Eton Dorney Olympic rowing lakes and Hayden gave us a tour of the facilities which were absolutely breath-taking. We then got a boat ride to the opposite side of the 2 1/2 km lakes where there was a viewing room overlooking the lakes.  I was greeted by two chefs Steve Wylie and Adam Smith, who had prepared the most amazing afternoon tea for us.

We then returned to the hotel and got ready to go to dinner. We met David Mulcahy from Sodexo who I remembered from the FutureChef competition who took us to The Lock & The Tyne in Old Windsor. We were greeted at the door by Josh who shook my hand and said ‘You must be the chef’ which was lovely. With a very warm welcome we were shown to our table and there was a card from Adam Handling congratulating me on my FutureChef win. We were joined by a number of people we had met throughout the day and chef Lousia Tinkler, and we got to eat the most incredible eight course tasting menu. During the meal I got a lovely surprise when David handed me his phone and Chef Adam Handling was on Facetime from his restaurant in Cornwall.  He was the head judge at the FutureChef competition, and he was full of words of encouragement which was a real highlight for me. The restaurant was extremely busy for a Wednesday evening with lots of people arriving after Royal Ascot, but the atmosphere and the food were both great. After the meal I got to see behind the scenes in the kitchen with Johnny and the team.

The next day was an early start. Dressed in my winning chef whites David brought me to the Royal enclosure at Royal Ascot which was such a beautiful venue and wonderful to see. I got the opportunity to work with high profile guest chef Sally Abe at her Royal Ascot restaurant. I met Sally and some of her team and began to work around 9:30am doing prep work and plating starters.  It was a great experience.

At around 3pm I got into my dress and joined my parents at the Gallery Restaurant in the Queen Anne enclosure. They had been enjoying fine dining whilst watching the Royal Ascot races with Chris Gamm from Springboard, David Mulcahy and a number of people from the Sodexo team.

It was such a beautiful occasion, and the sun was shining all day, with it being Ladies Day it was lovely to see everyone dressed so well and some hats definitely did stand out. Before watching the remainder of the Royal Ascot Races, David introduced me to Chef James Tanner who is a regular chef on ITVs Lorraine & Saturday Kitchen. James kindly provided me with a plate tasty bao buns, burger sliders and fries. When we returned to the hotel, we managed to get some late-night pizza and talk about the amazing time we had over the last few days.

The trip was truly an unforgettable experience and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I got to eat the most wonderful food. I got to talk to a number of chefs and people working in the hospitality industry and got a great sense that this is a very exciting industry. It was an absolute pleasure to get to meet some wonderful people. I am so thankful to Springboard and Sodexo for all that they have done and to experience such an incredible few days with my parents.”