A LAKES chef is set to appear on the 2021 season of the Great British Menu.

Dan McGeorge, head chef at Ambleside's Rothay Manor, will feature as one of four chefs representing the North West of England in the regional heats, starting on May 5, seeing the chefs competing for a place in finals week.

30-year-old Liverpudlian, Dan McGeorge will be battling it out against his fellow competitors Kirk Howarth of Plates, London, Dave Critchley of Lu Ban, Liverpool and Ashwani Rangta, of Gupshup, Altrincham.

Dan McGeorge, head chef at Rothay Manor, said: "It still hasn’t sunk in that I’m part of Great British Menu 2021.

"I’m looking forward to showcasing my dishes and representing the Lake District in the North West regional heats and seeing how far I can progress against some of the best established and up and coming chefs in UK’s restaurant scene."

The 2021 series of Great British Menu broadcast on BBC Two at 8pm, started in March, with three episodes being shown each week, over a period of eight weeks, covering each regional heat before finals week, culminating in the Banquet.

This year’s theme is all about British innovation, as 2021 marks thirty years since Sir Timothy Berners-Lee first made the internet widely available, as well as Helen Sharman becoming the first British astronaut to go into space.

In line with the theme, no doubt the competing chefs will exhibit a hefty dose of technical cooking to match the brief, and we’ll see plenty of sous vide, perhaps the odd pinch of molecular gastronomy and some seriously impressive plating that pays homage to all manner of British inventors, innovators and public figures.