LIKE a good soufflé a young chef who works at a top Tavistock hotel is simmering nicely and is on course to rise to the top of his profession. At the tender age of 17, Ramone Burton, who works at Brown's Hotel in West Street, has already been nominated for the Young South West Chef of the Year. The competition, organised by Taste of the West, reaches its climax later this month at Exeter University. Since the 'young chef' category extends from the age of 16 to 22 Ramone's acheivement has not gone unnoticed by his boss, head chef David Jenkins. David, 28, who himself was a national Young Chef of the Year finalist in 2004, said: 'Ramone is definitely a rising star of the South West culinary world. I have seen and worked with a lot of trainee chefs in my time and he certainly has what it takes.' David put forward Ramone for the prestigious award and said the young chef spent a long time selecting and researching the dishes he will prepare in just two and a half hours in front of the judges. Such culinary illuminaries as The Horn of Plenty's Peter Gorton, Gidleigh Park's Michael Caines, the Tanner Brothers and the Castle in Taunton's Richard Guest will be judging his culinary efforts. If Ramone succeeds to the title he will have the choice of working at one of these judges' establishments for a week to widen his experience. Asked what attracted to him to catering Ramone said: 'I find that there's a new challenge in cooking every day and I especially enjoy doing the main courses. 'My aim is to reach Michelin star recognition and as a fully qualified chef, hopefully, I would love in the future to work in different parts of the world.' Ramone has selected produce from each of the South West counties to tempt the judges' palates, including duck from Devon, Denhay ham from Dorset, honey from Somerset, Falmouth scallops from Cornwall and cider from Wiltshire. He is now chef de partis at Brown's, responsible for the sauces and larder among his varied duties. He is very much part of a team in Brown's kitchen, consisting of head chef David Jenkins, sous chef John Hooker, who was also a young chef of the year nationally in 2005, chef de partis, Josh Moore and newest recruit Jenny Ashton. For the competition Ramone will prepare scallops with a cauliflower purée for starters complemented by braised wild mushrooms. For the main course there will be some honey glazed duck roast with comfit duck breast and a Wiltshire cider jus. Ramone, who has been working at Brown's for 18 months and is a former Tavistock College pupil, acquired a taste for caterng when he worked at the Plume of Feathers in his home village, Princetown. After leaving college he embarked on an NVQ level two catering course at Plymouth College of Further Education and joined Brown's 18 months ago. Brown's was bought by Phil Biggin and Helena King from Phil Brown in December 2006 and was named by the Good Hotel Guide as town hotel of the year for 2006, earning a 'Caesar.' David said his team were all behind Ramone: 'For such a young man he has a mature head on his shoulders and is calm under pressure. I know that he has what it takes to go all the way in this profession.'
