Alex Greene first chef through to 2020 Great British Menu banquet

Chef Alex Greene of the Michelin-starred Deanes Eipic restaurant in Belfast is the first chef through to the 2020 Great British Menu banquet with his starter, ‘the potato, the onion, the cheese and the wardrobe’.

Greene was awarded a score of four 10s, narrowly beating Whatley Manor chef Niall Keating by just one point, having won the Northern Ireland regional heats.

His potato-based dish consisted of onion jelly, pickled onions, five different types of potato, a four-cheese custard, and truffle, served in a wardrobe, and was inspired by Belfast-born C S Lewis’ The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. It was described by the judges as “a sophisticated, sexy, sensual masterpiece”.

The theme of this year's competition is children's literature, to mark 150 years since the death of Charles Dickens, with judges Matthew Fort, Oliver Peyton and Andi Oliver joined by guest judge, How to Train Your Dragon author Cressida Cowell.

Greene started his career at Deanes Eipic in 2007, run by restaurateur Michael Deane. He returned to the restaurant three years ago, taking over from Danni Barry as head chef and retaining the restaurant’s Michelin star.

Chef line-up for 15th series of Great British Menu revealed >>

Former Eipic chef to launch solo restaurant >>

Photo credit: Ashleigh Brown for the BBC