THE head chef at the Royal Yacht has been shortlisted as hotel chef of the year in the prestigious Hotel Cateys awards.
Fred Tobin, who heads the kitchens for Sirocco and Café Zephyr, features in the shortlist alongside Simon Young of the Jumeirah Carlton Tower in London and Anthony Marshall of the London Hilton on Park Lane.
Mr Tobin, who began his career in the army catering corps, said it was an ‘honour’ to be shortlisted for the award. ‘It is testament to the hard work of the entire team at the Royal Yacht involved in creating an exceptional dining experience for the hotel’s guests and it is great to know that the industry has recognised our efforts,’ he said.
Mr Tobin is no stranger to accolades, having won the RAF chef of the year award when he joined the RAF catering corps at the start of his career. He later worked at the Prime Minister’s country residence, Chequers, as one of four full-time staff, cooking for the likes of George Bush snr, Jacques Chirac and various cabinet ministers.
He was sous-chef in the banqueting department of the Dorchester before becoming head chef in the production kitchen at Harrods, where he supplied food to the department store’s 23 restaurants.
Later, Mr Tobin was asked by the executive chef at Harrods to become his executive sous-chef at five-star Hertfordshire hotel The Grove. He spent three years there before moving to Jersey to take up the position of executive head chef at the Royal Yacht.
Royal Yacht chief executive Nigel Robson said: ‘We are absolutely delighted that Fred has been shortlisted. It is a clear recognition of the standard of our restaurants at the Royal Yacht and evidence of the fact that we rank among the top culinary destinations in Britain. We are really proud of Fred’s achievement – a culmination of the very hard work of all our kitchen and restaurant staff.’
