An Aberystwyth chef has secured a place on the menu at a banquet, celebrating 100 years of the BBC, after winning in a TV cooking competition.

Nathan Davies, head chef at SY23, will be cooking the starter course at the banquet, after beating 32 of the United Kingdom’s best chefs in BBC cooking show, Great British Menu.

The show sees four chefs from eight regions across the UK, including Wales, compete against each other, with the finalists from each of the regions competing against each other. Four of whom will cook a dish at the banquet, and an additional runner-up serving their canapés and pre-desserts at the banquet.

After being tasked to pick a winner from eight “innovative” starter courses, Nathan was awarded first place on the menu at the banquet, serving the starter for the attendees.

On his victory, Nathan said: “To see it through right to the end, and to get a dish at the banquet is an amazing achievement, and just a lovely way to finish the whole process.”

Nathan added: “My dish was inspired by Merlin, the television show. I wanted it to be a mediaeval broth, and with us being in Wales, we’ve got fantastic lamb and all these wonderful ingredients that lend themselves quite naturally to the dish.

“The whole thing’s been hard to perfect. The last couple years have been quite tough so it’s been a nice escape to do something a bit different. It’s a tough competition, with a lot of really good chefs, and in particular I found my heat week to be really strong.

“All I wanted to do was to do better than I did last year, so my goal was to get through to finals week. Luckily for me, I got the first dish so it eased the pressure for me for the rest of the week. I could just really enjoy it.

“I think the competition has changed quite considerably. Last year I scored really highly from Tommy Banks, the veteran chef, but when it came to the judges table, they didn’t get where I was trying to go with the food. Having someone like Tom Kerridge on the panel, someone who not only has done a lot in the industry but they’re still in the industry now has really helped me I think.”

On working on a TV show compared to in a kitchen, Nathan said: “I work in quite a methodical way in the way that I set up, so I think you’ve just got to almost forget that the cameras are there. Enjoy the process first and foremost, and just get stuck into it.

“I think it helped that I brought my barbecue from home which I cook on in the restaurant all the time, so I just relaxed into it and enjoyed the process. It’s such a unique thing, compared to our day-to-day work, but I really enjoyed it to be honest.”