Meet Chef of the Year 2025: Minal Patel from Prashad Drighlington

National World - LocalTV

James Connolly meets Minal Patel from Prashad in Drighlington who was recently crowned ‘Chef of the Year’ at the Yorkshire Evening Post Oliver Awards 2025.

Transcript

00:00Following her win as Chef of the Year at the Yorkshire Evening Post's Oliver Awards 2025,

00:05I'm here at Prasad restaurant in Driglington to meet Manal Patel. Let's go inside.

00:11It started with my mother-in-law and father-in-law started the business Prasad

00:15very, very long time ago, around 30, 32 years now. I am the daughter-in-law. I came from India in

00:222004. I joined with them into the kitchen and I learned with them. I've been to the colleges and

00:28I learned in the colleges. Me and my husband run now. Success is just creeping up. Like every year

00:35we had a 2010, we had a Gordon Ramsay shows happen. After two years, we opened into the

00:40Driglington. My food talks about my success. On that journey, we had many accolades. Many chefs

00:47came here and they love my food. So that's how we build up and still going. It's a God grace. I'm

00:54very, very privileged to be part of it. You were awarded Chef of the Year at the Oliver Awards,

00:59which is the huge award at the end of the night. What was that moment like for you?

01:03It was, I was so happy because in a Prasad journey, we had many accolades, but this is like,

01:10for me, it's a personal. Manal Patel, the Chef of the Year. So I was so happy to get the Chef

01:17of the Year in an Oliver Award. How do you design the menu here at Prasad?

01:22In the menu, certain things are very traditional, authentic. I can't change that. It's too popular.

01:28Very Gujarati starters and the mains. But in that, what I use the seasonal words,

01:35like seasonal vegetable, I use in some of the starters. I have a few menus, like we do set

01:41menus and the tasting menu I do that just keep changing. And that's the menu have a lot of

01:47creation and seasonal product and producing there. I wanted to ask about the Great British

01:53Menu. You recently featured in this hugely popular cooking competition. What was that

01:58experience like? When I selected for the Great British Menu, I thought, wow, I have a huge,

02:05huge opportunity. And I was after that, I was so happy. And it was amazing experience. Some of the

02:14customers said, oh, I cried for you. I had tears in my eyes. So that comment is mean to me a world.

02:22That's that's the winning. Whatever I did on the competition and whatever I'm working here,

02:29it's all working. I have huge support with my regular customer and also around the leads and

02:35around our area. It's fantastic. Is there any big goals that you have for 2025 or anything

02:42you're looking forward to in particular? I'm pushing more. I want more. It's not here.

02:48It can go to two rows to three rows. I want more accolades and more more name for a Prasad.

02:55We are unique and we want everybody world to know us.

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