GBPA 2021 winner to appear on MasterChef: The Professionals
McClurkin, who won the Great British Pub Awards 2021 Best Young Pub Chef (sponsored by Makro), has taken part in series 14 of the popular cooking competition which sees judges Gregg Wallace, Marcus Wareing and Monica Galetti asses 32 professional cooks.
In an Instagram post, McClurkin said: “I’ll just go ahead and tick this one off the bucket list.
“Competing within MasterChef UK is an extremely unique experience to have endeavoured. Utterly life changing.”
McClurkin, described on the Dog’s website as a small town ‘chef with a big aspiration’, studied professional kitchen cookery for three years and went on to work under Tom Kerridge at the Hand and Flowers in Marlow, Buckinghamshire as well as Stephen Harris of the Sportsmen in Kent before he joined the team at the Dog in 2017 as chef de partie, attaining the role of head chef the following year.
Licensee of the Dog Marc Bridgen said: “We are immensely proud of what Sam has achieved today and continues to achieve throughout this year.
“As well as being named Best Young Chef by Great British Pub Awards, he will now star in MasterChef: The Professionals and it is staggering for someone who has just had their 25th birthday!
“In terms of what that means for the Dog, it will continue to raise our profile, and in these strange and challenging times for us to continue to go from strength to strength is amazing and reflective of the fantastic effort from our amazing staff.”
MasterChef: The Professionals showcases professional chefs who compete against each other in various ‘cook-offs’ in order to be awarded the title of best chef, and McClurkin’s heat is scheduled to air on BBC One on 29 November.
