Rising stars

We speak to Manuela Miccoli, chef manager for Medirest and winner of NHS Chef of the Year Award…

Two Medirest chefs, from the Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust, are celebrating after recently securing the NHS Chef of the Year Award. Manuela Miccoli and Alejandro Bedoya Hernandez competed against seven other finalists during the five-day final.

What is your current role and what does it entail?
I am chef manager at the Wellspring restaurant at the Royal Surrey and part of the Compass Women in Food community. I help oversee all the food offers in the restaurant.

Why did you want to work in catering?
I wanted to work in catering because I really enjoy customer service and the food industry. It’s fulfilling to create great experiences for people through food, and I find satisfaction in helping to make events or meals special for others.

Also, catering offers a level of flexibility that allows me to balance my work with my family life, which is important to me. It gives me the opportunity to manage my time, take care of my children and still be able to pursue a job I’m passionate about.

I’ve been here for four years now and working here has created opportunities. It has been an amazing learning experience.

What do you enjoy about your role?
I love working here and the competition was really motivating! Working in a hospital, we make a difference to the people who are here and this gives us a sense of purpose. Cooking in a hospital can really make someone’s day when they are having a tough time.

How did it feel when you found out you had won the NHS Chef of the Year competition?
Winning the NHS Chef of the Year Award is a dream come true. Alejandro and I worked so hard to achieve this. It was really tough, but we were so glad to be in a team together. We have a joint passion for food, and we are so pleased that we were able to show this together and represent the trust.

Did you enjoy the event?
We both loved it! We spent so much time practicing, getting feedback and then perfecting our dishes. There was also a surprise element to the competition, so we spent a lot of time discussing our approach and ideas for certain scenarios, themes and ingredients.  

Everything we made was from scratch. We had nothing premade, and everything was simple and inexpensive.

How do you see your career developing? What is your biggest ambition?
I have decided to start an apprenticeship and have been promoted at work. I want to keep bringing everything from the competition back to the hospital, to make sure the team and I are serving the patients, staff and visitors in the best way we can.

My biggest ambition is to support Sophie’s Legacy. We are currently one of the pilot sites to implement this campaign. It is in memory of Sophie, who wanted to change things about hospitals and food service for children being treated. Sophie’s mother Charlotte was at the competition, talking to us about her campaign and we were so inspired by her.


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