A top chef who has cooked for football superstars David Beckham and Wayne Rooney is helping a school student prepare for a major culinary competition.<\/p>\n
Pin Chou, a 17-year-old sixth former at a top independent school in North Wales, is competing for the Rotary Club International\u2019s Young Chef 2012 crown.<\/p>\n
Pin, from Seoul, in South Korea, a boarder at Howells School, Denbigh, has been taken under the wing of chef Joe Lynch, from the highly-acclaimed Con Amici restaurant in the town.<\/p>\n
Joe, 46, originally from Llandudno Junction, inherited his love of cooking and Iralian food from his Sicilian mother but he honed his skills at some of the North West\u2019s most popular restaurants.<\/p>\n
These included Est Est Est in Chester and Alderley Edge where David and Victoria Beckham used to dine and where United stars including Ronaldo, Rio Ferdinand, Wayne Rooney and Gary Neville rubbed shoulders with Corrie regulars Bill Roache(Ken Barlow) and Michael Le Vell (Kevin Webster).<\/p>\n
Pin, whose journey home at the end of each term involves an 18-hour flight, came through the local heat of the Rotary Club competition with a two-course traditional Korean meal including a chicken and potato fritter.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cMy form tutor asked if I wanted to try and I thought I\u2019d have a go. I cook at home and have learned to cook in the traditional Korean way.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t do cookery in school \u2013 I\u2019m studying Business, Art, Media and IT at A-level and would like to go to university here but perhaps I could become a chef one day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI enjoy cooking though and it\u2019s a good skill to have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Howells School Trustee Nicola Locke said: \u201cWe\u2019re very excited that Pin has done so well and I\u2019m sure her family back home are thrilled for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowells School is always keen for pupils to gain experience in this and other competitions and events as it all adds to the educational experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s brilliant that Joe is helping her and she couldn\u2019t have a better mentor as Con Amici\u2019s many regular customers could testify.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joe was one of the judges in the local heat and was so impressed by Pin that he has offered to mentor her for as long as she is in the competition which continues on February 17 at Deeside College.<\/p>\n
There the competitors from across Rotary District 1180, covering North and Mid Wales, the Wirral and Merseyside, will have two hours to prepare and cook a healthy three-course meal costing less than \u00a315 and the top two will go on to the Regional Final in Nantwich in March.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cMy speciality is Italian food, that\u2019s what I love and what I learned from my mother but the principles of cooking are the same across the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about having good quality ingredients and letting them speak for themselves. We try at Con Amici to use local wherever possible and the standard here in the Vale of Clwyd is very high.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mum and her sisters grow their own herbs and things and I get a lot of those from them as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy parents had a guest house and I helped with the cooking and then my cousin started a restaurant in Chester, Dino\u2019s in Lower Bridge Street, and I went to help him after leaving school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joe rose to be head chef and area manager at top chains Est Est Est and Piccolino\u2019s but wanted to do is own thing and he and business partner Leigh O\u2019Brien opened Con Amici in April and it\u2019s gone from strength to strength.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cAlwyn Thomas, from the local Rotary Club asked me to be a judge and I just thought Pin showed such creativity and potential so I\u2019m happy to help her whether she wants to cook traditional Korean cuisine or something else.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can show her the ropes and how to present food to the best advantage and various techniques and hopefully it will help her go further.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pin hasn\u2019t decided on her menu for the next round when she has to prepare a three-course meal but she is going to stick to her native Korean dishes<\/p>\n