StrEATFood Awards interview
We speak to Tom Frost (centre) about his new role at The Pantry Catering – and, of course, winning Street Food Dish of the Year at our recent event!
You’ve changed companies recently, what is your new role?
I recently moved to The Pantry Catering to head up the food offer within the business as the senior development chef. This role is really varied covering education, business and industry and events across the UK and occasionally in Europe.
The events side of the business has a real mix, from street food pop-ups to traditional fine dining meals for our clients. The bone marrow adobo will be featuring on menus throughout 2022.
The Pantry has been a real breath of fresh air, moving from a big company to a smaller, fast-paced, foodie-centric business.
You won an award last time. What did you win and what was your dish?
Last time I won the Quorn vegan round with a vegan chorizo scotch egg using a shaped avocado as the egg. This was served with tomato jam and smoked mash. The avocado lent itself perfectly to replacing the egg, with the stone pit being just the right size to fill with a vegan saffron aioli to replicate an oozy yolk.
How did it feel to win Street Food Dish of the Year this time?
It was a fantastic feeling to win the big one! After competing a couple of times in the past, it was always my goal to win the main event.
This year in particular, winning after the competition has been postponed, was really special; the entire event had a real buzz of chefs celebrating being back out cooking amazing food. Heading back into work with the trophy in hand the next morning was definitely a highlight!
What as your winning dish? How did you come up with it?
My winning dish was an adobo beef loaded bone marrow with coconut flatbread. I came up with it after cooking, tasting and eating out over the years, and pulling together some of my favourite flavours until the combination was spot-on.
South east Asian street food has been around long enough now that consumers are open to chefs having a play around and serving these dishes in creative ways. Also, this year I focused more than ever on locally sourced ingredients that really do speak for themselves.
Did you expect to win?
At the start of the day, after watching the competition, I definitely didn’t expect to have it in the bag. But after I’d cooked and sent the dishes off to the judges, I did feel quietly confident.
Before the competition, looking at the chefs who were in the final, I genuinely would have said it could have been anyone’s to win. But it all just seemed to go to plan and worked well on the day.
Would you recommend that other chefs enter this competition?
I would definitely recommend the competition to anyone in the sector. What’s the worst that could happen? It’s a genuinely fantastic day, regardless of winning. Getting out, seeing what the other chefs are cooking, networking and having a laugh with likeminded people in the same industry is absolutely invaluable. My first year when I entered, I had only been in contract catering one year and it completely opened my eyes up to the quality and passion that there is in contract catering.
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