Kingsley Healthcare care homes' hospitality manager reaches semi-final of prestigious cooking contest
Leading Weymouth chef Simon Lewis, who has brought five-star catering to Kingsley Healthcare’s care homes on the South Coast, has reached the semi-final of a prestigious competition.
Mr Lewis, who joined the UK Top 20 Care Homes Group (carehome.co.uk) as Regional Hospitality Manager in 2023, has been announced as one of 12 chefs to compete in the South semi-final of the National Association of Care Catering’s Chef of the Year Competition.
He was selected by judges on the quality of his menu which was inspired by a popular activity at Kingsley’s four Dorset care homes, Weymouth Manor and Queen Charlotte, in Weymouth, Highcliffe Nursing Home, in Highcliffe and Branksome Heights, in Bournemouth.
He said: “In our homes, we use food to transport residents to distant places in our Armchair Travel programme.
“It sparks memories of past holidays and fulfils their curiosity about the world. This meal is designed to be a culinary journey that begins in a vibrant garden and ends in the wonder of the cosmos.”
The two dishes that impressed judges, which he will prepare in the semi-final in Kingston, London on 21 July, are a main course of vegetable Chow Mein and lemon chicken with crispy noodles and a mango and blood orange tapioca dessert.
The 12 leading chefs from the three heats will compete a national final at Loughborough College, in Leicestershire, in October.
Mr Lewis, a local boy, who went to school in Portland and trained at Weymouth College, cooked for Prince William and Prince Harry during his spell as a civilian chef in the Army.
He later worked alongside Matt Follas, winner of BBC’s Masterchef in 2009, and coked in the kitchens of the exclusive Monkey Island Estate hotel in the village of Bray, Berkshire.
When joining Kingsley, he said: “I believe everyone deserves a nutritional, tasty plate of food that looks well presented. The challenge for a chef in a care home is that residents are dining in the restaurant 365 days a year, so they are the hardest clientele to please.”
His aim was to deliver the same experience you would enjoy in a restaurant in every way – from the appearance, taste and smell of the food and the touch and feel of the tables to the presentation and service.
