Out of hundreds of chefs in the Royal Navy, meet the very best.
Some claim, some title – but Leading Chef Alexis Jones is the Royal Navy’s Senior Chef of the Year, as named by the historic livery company responsible for the trade, the Worshipful Company of Cooks.
A chef in the RN since 2002, last autumn Alexis was selected as one of the Senior Service’s participants in the Forces’ annual catering championship, Joint Caterer.
The leading hand, currently serving at NATO’s SHAPE headquarters near Mons in Belgium, came back to the RN’s chef school at HMS Raleigh to train with other naval culinary maestros for a fortnight ahead of the three-day contest hosted by the defence staff college at Shrivenham.
LCH Jones was just pipped to the title of overall Senior Chef of the Year, however his exceptional performance did catch the eye of the Worshipful Company who’ve now named him RN Senior Chef of the Year.
Celebrity chef Brian Turner and the company’s Master Lieutenant Colonel Marcus Appleton presented LCH Jones with his trophy alongside civilian and military chefs rewarded for their culinary prowess, entrepreneurial skills running restaurants and charity work.
For LCH Jones, the award was a crowning moment in a year of outstanding performances not only in competitions, but also a toast to his clear passion, dedication, culinary knowledge and leadership qualities.
“My passion for cooking developed from watching my mum in the kitchen and, of course, I enjoyed her tasty dishes,” he said, paying tribute to her and his wife for their inspiration and support.
“The only requirements for success are hard work, dedication, motivation, support and love.”
The leading hand is the first Commonwealth national to be named the RN’s senior chef. As a youngster he was torn between food and music – he was a member of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Cadet Force band – as a career and decided to marry the two, creating meals to the sounds of a trumpet.
One day he intends to return to his home islands and share his experience and knowledge with young chefs, particularly those with learning difficulties or poor academic results, to help them realise their full potential.
LCH Jones is the first Commonwealth national to win the RN Senior Chef of the Year award
