School chef in line for awards
Caterer Jamie Kimmett cooking up storm
A chef who oversees catering at a number of schools in Stirling is in the running to claim two national awards for his cooking.
Jamie Kimmett has wowed judges so far at the Food for Life Challenge in the ScotHot Scottish Culinary Championships and competed in a live theatre event on Wednesday at the SECC in Glasgow against other top public sector cooks.
The chef, who joined Stirling Council in 2022, works as a catering supervisor for Strathblane and Drymen Primary Schools in addition to Strathblane and Croftamie Nurseries.
Jamie has also made it to the semi-final of the ASSIST FM Scottish Local Authority Cook of the Year Award where he will compete against chefs shortlisted from all 32 of Scotland’s local authorities on March 22.
Speaking ahead of his appearances, Jamie said: “I’m really excited to be representing Stirling Council for both competitions, and hope to be successful in both.
“For ScotHot I’ll be serving to the judges, Vegetable Kofta. It will be nutritious and appetising that meets the Food for life guidelines within the schools.
“For the Scottish Local authority Cook of the year I hope to showcase some of the wonderful produce that we have here in Scotland and have selected dishes that hopefully complement each other to create a delicious dining experience.”
Janice Fanning, Manager of Catering and Cleaning of Stirling Council’s Facilities Management team said: “Jamie’s passion for cooking shines through his work within Stirling Council’s Catering Team and involvement with school career talks.
“We count ourselves incredibly fortunate to have him on the team and are very proud of him getting to this stage in both competitions.
“We wish Jamie the very best of luck in the upcoming competitions.”
Before joining Stirling Council, Jamie worked as Head Chef at Blanefield Care Home.
He has an HND in Professional Cookery and has experience catering everything from the Royal Box at Wimbledon to Gleneagles Hotel.
He also took part in the 2020 Culinary Olympics in Stuttgart with the Compass UK Culinary Team, which was awarded gold.