Tom, a 24-year-old sous chef at South Lodge hotel, wowed judges with a “technical, beautiful and delicious” in the final round on BBC One last night.
After celebrating with his parents, who also both work at three AA rosette restaurant Camellia in the hotel, he now plans a three-month takeover from his executive chef father to continue learning from his experiences.
Tom, who lives with his parents in Horsham, said: “I remember the first few rounds as I was getting through, I didn’t really get much of a reaction out of my dad,” Tom said of his executive chef father.
“I felt like he sort of knew that I could go as far as I wanted. They were both really happy but he sort of was quite reserved with it.
“And then the further I started getting he started really being like ‘bloody hell – you’re doing it.’ “People will have seen his reaction when I called him to tell him I won – they had to bleep out his swearing.”
Tom, a classically trained chef who has worked for both Michelin-starred and AA Rosette-winning restaurants for the past seven years, credited his father and girlfriend for pushing him to enter the competition.
Read more from Tom’s interview with The Argus.
After impressing judges Marcus Wareing, Monica Galletti and Gregg Wallace throughout the show he won the competition with a menu including poached lobster, seared beef fillet and poached oyster and an olive oil sponge with set lemon curd and fennel seed ice cream.
Marcus Wareing described his food as “absolutely sublime” and complimented his “exquisite” attention to detail.
He now joins a group of 16 past MasterChef: The Professionals including Steven Edwards, owner of etch in Church Road, Hove.
Tom said he is doing a restaurant takeover for three months from the start of January where he works at the Camellia restaurant to “progress my learning”.
“South Lodge is where I did my apprenticeship around all the sections, and I’ve worked there for the last couple of years so to now do a residency at Camellia feels like I’ve come full circle,” he said.
The chef added he would one day like to have his own restaurant but he does not want to “rush it” off the back of winning the BBC show.
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