Who is Masterchef: The Professionals 2020 chef, Aaron Thomas?

The Staff Canteen

Editor

Introducing aaron thomas, one of 32 contestants taking part in the MasterChef: The Professionals 2020 competition airing on BBC One for six weeks from November 10th until the final on Thursday 17th December.

Aaron is a chef and the co-founder of KityCow dining, a modern Indo-Nepalese food concept which stole the hearts of restaurateurs Atul Kochhar and Jamie Barber after Aaron and chef Joe Allen appeared on the BBC's Million Pound Menu TV series in 2018, and culminated in a residency at Hush in Mayfair. He currently works at Atul's recently-launched Hawkyns restaurant in Amersham.

Aaron faced the MasterChef judges Monica Galetti, Marcus Wareing and Gregg Wallace in the last week of the heats and drew praise from restaurant critics Tracy MacLeod and Jay Rayner, making him one of ten semi-finalists to return to our screens on the week of December 8th.

1) Full name

Aaron Thomas

2) Nickname

Azman

3) Age

4) Where are you from / where do you live?

Born and raised in Croydon, I now live in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire

5) What type of a chef are you?

I would say I am a simplistic chef, trying to get the most from the ingredients.

6) Do you have a favourite type of cuisine?

I currently run a pop up with is indian and nepalese so these two are my favourite.

7) How did you become a chef? (e.g. formal training, apprenticeship, self-taught)

I did a three-year professional chef diploma at Westminster Kingsway College.

8) Where have you worked?

I worked at Claridge's, Brooks of Melbourne (Australia), Picture Restaurants, Perilla Dining. I then had the opportunity to do a 4 month pop-up in Mayfair on the back of Million pound menu. I now work at Hawkyns by Atul Kochhar in Amersham.

9) Who are your mentors/role models/people you look up to, in your professional and/or personal life?

The chefs that I look up to would have to be Sat Bains, Ben Marks and Adam Byatt. In my personal life all of my family are my mentors, they are always behind me in everything I do.

10) What is your guilty pleasure dish (not necessarily cheffy, cheesy baked beans on toast is a perfectly respectable reply!)?

My guilty pleasure is Dim Sum, any type, anytime, anywhere.

11) What is the best thing / worst thing about being a chef?

I would say the best thing about being a chef is being creative, getting to work with amazing produce and suppliers and getting to know the amazing chefs and people behind the scenes.

For me personally I don’t thing there is bad thing about being a chef. Yes we work long hours, but in the end it is always rewarding.

12) How did it feel to step onto the set of MasterChef: The Professionals?

Stepping onto the MasterChef set was nerve wracking and amazing at the same time.

13) How did 2020 compare you what you thought it would be this time last year?

I thought that I would be in different place. Me and my business partner were looking for a site to kickstart our business but it just hasn’t worked out. But given the way 2020 has gone, it’s been an good year progression-wise.

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