Masterchef finalist Owen Vaughan has returned to his former college to inspire catering students.

Owen achieved a childhood dream when he made it to the final of last year’s Masterchef: The Professionals, and credits his time at Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor as a ‘great stepping stone’ in his career.

The 24-year-old is head chef at the Fanny Talbot restaurant in Barmouth, having held the same role at the Penmaenuchaf Hall hotel in Dolgellau. Before that he worked at Portmeirion, and Palé Hall, Bala, after studying catering at Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor until 2016.

Owen Vaughan in the Masterchef kitchen
Owen Vaughan in the Masterchef kitchen (Shine TV/BBC)

“Studying catering at Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor was a fantastic start, and a great stepping stone for my career,” Owen said following a talk to catering and hospitality students at the Dolgellau campus.

“It was good to catch up with the lecturers and talk to current students. I talked to them about my time in college, how my experience was while I was there and what I’ve done since.

“I’m head chef at the Fanny Talbot restaurant in Barmouth. We do fine dining, quite posh food and we use a lot of local Welsh produce.

“I told the students it’s a solid career in terms of what you can achieve. I was just trying to inspire them really, and there were a lot of questions afterwards so hopefully I did that. They asked me about why I went into the industry, and about Masterchef, whether it was nerve racking - which it was! It was an extraordinary experience - it was something I’d always wanted to do and something I’ll never forget.”

Although he didn’t win the show, he learnt a lot.

“I gained a lot of confidence from it and got great feedback from the judges,” he said.

“The judges were critical, but that really helped me get a lot more out of the experience, and they also mentored you so there was a lot of really good feedback to take from it.”

Masterchef finalist Owen Vaughan returned to Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor’s Dolgellau campus to give a talk to catering and hospitality students
Masterchef finalist Owen Vaughan returned to Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor’s Dolgellau campus to give a talk to catering and hospitality students (Picture supplied)

Owen, from Barmouth, started cooking at a young age with his nan. It became an obsession and turned into a career.

“I always knew I wanted to cook because I’ve always enjoyed it at home,” he said. “It’s something that came quite naturally to me. From then it became an obsession. I’d always be looking online, watching cooking programmes and reading cookbooks. I just wanted to learn as much as I could. I was (and still am) obsessed with food.”

For more information on hospitality and catering courses available at Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, visit the college website.