Great British Menu: Sheffield chef behind JÖRO makes it through to the final

A Sheffield chef behind the popular JÖRO restaurant has showed off his culinary skills and made it to the final of a cooking competition on national TV.
Lee Peace
By Lee Peace
Published 9th Mar 2022, 11:09 BST
Updated 11th Mar 2022, 12:18 BST
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Luke French, chef director and culinary mastermind behind the Kelham Island eatery, wowed the judges when he appears on BBC Two’s popular Great British Menu on Thursday night.

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Chef at Sheffield's celebrated JÖRO to appear on BBC Two's Great British Menu

Appearing alongside him was Mark Aisthorpe, who cut his teeth as part of the University of Sheffield catering team and is now chef patron of the Bulls Head at Holymoorside.

Luke French pictured with show host Andi OliverLuke French pictured with show host Andi Oliver
Luke French pictured with show host Andi Oliver
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They battled it out to represent the North East and Yorkshire region and to earn the ultimate accolade of serving a dish at the final banquet.

in the end Luke triumphed, with guest judge Tom Kerridge praising both chefs for showing “moments of absolute brilliance.”

Luke said: “It has been a bit of a life goal of mine to come on the show and to cook on it and to get to the final is absolutely amazing.

"I am very proud of myself.”

Mark Aisthorpe, chef patron of the Bulls Head at Holymoorside, is among the region’s best chefs competing in the Great British Menu.Mark Aisthorpe, chef patron of the Bulls Head at Holymoorside, is among the region’s best chefs competing in the Great British Menu.
Mark Aisthorpe, chef patron of the Bulls Head at Holymoorside, is among the region’s best chefs competing in the Great British Menu.

Mark added that he had “really enjoyed” being on the show and paid tribute to Luke as an “amazing” chef.

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This year’s series is celebrating 100 years of British Broadcasting with contestants tasked to reflect the theme in their cooking.

Both chefs have appeared on the show all week and beat competition from other cooks in the preliminary rounds to reach the regional final last night.

Their dishes were inspired by TV classics such as The Darling Buds of May and major TV moments such as King George V’s first Christmas message.

Andi Oliver with regional contestants Mark Aisthorpe, Luke French, Bobby Geetha and Liz Cottam, clockwise from left. Bobby was eliminated after scoring the lowest marks in the first heat (photo: BBC/Optomen/Ashleigh Brown)Andi Oliver with regional contestants Mark Aisthorpe, Luke French, Bobby Geetha and Liz Cottam, clockwise from left. Bobby was eliminated after scoring the lowest marks in the first heat (photo: BBC/Optomen/Ashleigh Brown)
Andi Oliver with regional contestants Mark Aisthorpe, Luke French, Bobby Geetha and Liz Cottam, clockwise from left. Bobby was eliminated after scoring the lowest marks in the first heat (photo: BBC/Optomen/Ashleigh Brown)

Another major broadcast moment that inspired their cooking earlier in the week was Super Saturday in which Dame Jessica, Sir Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford all won gold meals at the London 2012 Olympics.

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Dame Jessica, who is from Sheffield, made a guest appearance on the show and visited Mark’s restaurant to try out the desert he would be serving up on the show.

She gave it a rave review and said: “That is amazing, so good. Gold medal winning!”

A date for the grand final has not yet been set as a number of regional heats still need to take place.

Related topics:SheffieldKelham IslandBBC Two

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