Ravensdale chef John Kenwright has made it into the last 16 of the World Paella Day Cup
John, who works in and owns the Townhouse Restaurant in Dundalk with his wife Sarah, has reached the last sixteen of the World Paella Day Cup which is held in Valencia, Spain each year.
Now John is looking for the people of Dundalk and beyond to help him reach the last eight of the competition which will book him a ticket to the finals in Valencia which will take place appropriately enough on September 20th which is International Paella Day.
The World Paella Day CUP first took place in 2021 and has been growing in popularity each year with chefs from all over the globe taking part. Spanish chefs do not take part in the event and amazingly John is not only the only chef from Ireland in the last 20 but also the only European. The event brings together chefs, every year, from all over the world who seek to win the title of best paella maker.
The public will play an important role in the competition, as their votes will be crucial in choosing the finalists who will be eligible for the trophy and winning recognition as the best paella chef.
John has over 20 years of experience in the kitchen and has worked with, and for, some of the best chefs in the country, in some of the country’s top restaurants; namely, Shanahans on the Green, Dublin, The Metropolitan, Letterkenny, The Nuremore Hotel, Carrickmacross, The Leftbank, Dundalk and The Merrion Hotel, Dublin. Five years ago he and his wife Sarah decided to go out on their own and opened the Townhouse on Jocelyn Street, which has become a firm favourite for cuisine lovers in Dundalk.
According to John he is very excited to have made the final twenty in the world but he would love nothing more than to make it through to the final eight and get to travel to Valencia for the final stages of the competition.
“I’m the only Irish chef and indeed the only European chef left in the competition so I’m hoping people will get behind me and vote for me to help me reach the final eight. It’s a public vote so I’m relying on people to get me into that final eight,” explained John.
“I first heard about the competition maybe three months ago when a friend of mine, who I worked with in Shanahan’s Restaurant, Robert Curley suggested I enter. He is also a chef and he took part in the first staging of the event in 2001. I said I’d give it a go and I had to enter a preliminary round online to show I could cook paella. They whittled down the numbers over the course of a month and last week I received an email to say I had made it into the final 20.
“I’ve got in contact with Brehon Brewhouse in Inniskeen. They are making a beautiful sour for me which will be infused with juniper berries, lemons and sloe gin. So I will be using that in my stock and bring a bit of home flavours to my dish. I’ll be using rabbit, pork and a bit of duck fat on the day if I manage to make the finals so it’s a case of wait and see now if I can get the votes before the deadline on June 23rd,” added John.
From June 10th to the 23rd, the public will be able to vote for their favorite chef and if John is successful he will travel to Valencia for five days in September before battling it out with the seven other finalists on September 20th to see if he can win the competition outright. You can help John get to Valencia by voting for him at the following link:
vote.worldpaelladay.org/voteme/979264/716864157?lc=eng
