Chef Farid Derradji wins Chef of the Year Ireland

Farid Derradji has been named Aramark’s Chef of the Year Ireland following a tense battle for the title at Catex 2017 – a food, drink and hospitality event held at the RDS in Dublin.

Farid currently works for cyber security company Symantec. He joined the Aramark corporation in 2005 and has previous experience in O2Telefonica, PwC, and Oracle as well as being part of the Seasons team at the Guinness Storehouse.

Frank Gleeson, MD of Aramark Northern Europe, said: “Congratulations to Farid on his well-deserved win. The level of commitment, skill, practice and nerve necessary to perform well at these competitions is incredible. The standard this year was truly state-of-the-art and every competitor should feel extremely proud of themselves. It really shows that we have so much talent in our business!”

He will now represent Ireland in Aramark’s European Chefs’ Cup, which will take place in Croke Park, Dublin on 2 March.

He will be up against other winners from across Aramark’s European network. Competitors will be tasked with creating a three-course menu from a list of specified ingredients.

Aramark culinary director Derek Reilly said,: “Competitions like this give our chefs an opportunity to demonstrate their passion for food. We are delighted with the extremely high standard of all the dishes and Farid is the most deserving winner. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with at the Aramark European Chefs’ Cup this week in Croke Park and we all wish him the best of luck!”