Eusebi’s Sebastian Wereski wins chefs challenge

The head chef at the award-winning Eusebi Deli  is celebrating after winning Glasgow Community Food Network’s Chef’s Challenge 2019.

Sebastian Wereski, who joined the Eusebi Deli team when the restaurant first opened in 2015, secured first place following a MasterChef-style cook off at City of Glasgow College on Tuesday 1 October.

Glasgow Community Food Network’s annual Chef’s Challenge is part of an ongoing campaign to encourage Glaswegians to eat more locally-sourced food.

Judged by Gary Maclean, Scotland’s National Chef, food writer Cate Devine, and Jan Macdonald from Glasgow Allotments Forum, Community Food Network’s Chef’s Challenge 2019 tasked eight local chefs with creating innovative dishes using produce sourced from Glasgow’s market gardens, allotments and community gardens.

Sebastian competed alongside chefs from restaurants including Ox and Finch, 78 Bar and Kitchen and The Balcony Café, securing first place with a dish of allotment root veg risotto finished with garden herbs.

The Chef’s Challenge final followed a week of judging in September, where restaurants across Glasgow were challenged to create a dish using a box of locally-sourced fruits and vegetables. Chefs were then scored for creativity, taste, presentation, sustainability, and how fully the dish was centred around the produce from the box.

Sebastian said: ‘I’m delighted to have won Glasgow Community Food Network’s Chef’s Challenge this year. This competition is an amazing opportunity to showcase some of Glasgow’s best home-grown food and have a lot of fun along the way.

The award winning Sebastian Wereski, head chef at Eusebi Deli (Photo: Eriika Zacharopoulou)

‘Using local produce is so important to the whole team at Eusebi’s, and anything we can do to encourage more people in Glasgow to make the most of the amazing fruit and veg on our doorsteps is a winner as far as we are concerned. I’d like to thank the team at Glasgow Community Food Network for giving me the opportunity to take part in this brilliant competition.’

Giovanna Eusebi, owner at Eusebi Deli, said: ‘We’re all so proud of Sebastian’s well-deserved award win at the Glasgow Community Food Network Chef’s Challenge. Glasgow has an amazing, thriving food scene and at Eusebi’s we’re very proud to be a part of that. The range of local produce grown in allotments and community gardens here in Glasgow is incredible, and it’s essential to highlight and promote that as fully as possible.’

Cate Devine, a judge for the Glasgow Community Food Network Chef’s Challenge, said: ‘Being a judge on last year’s inaugural Chefs’ Challenge was a revelation for me. This year’s Challenge reinforced my conviction that this is an amazing and unique culinary competition that showcases the passion and skill of Glasgow’s chefs and growers. Together they have the power to transform the city’s poor dietary reputation and show the world that it has a more positive story to tell.’

Eusebi Deli – which has just launched its autumn menu – has been based in Glasgow for over 40 years, offering an authentic Italian dining experience, with modern dishes, quality regional products and a passionate front-of-house team.

For more information about Glasgow Community Food Network’s Chef’s Challenge 2019, please visit https://glasgowfood.net/projects/chefs-challenge-2019

Eusebi Deli is located in the heart of Glasgow’s West End at 152 Park Road. For more information, visit http://eusebideli.com

• Click HERE for more food and drink news from Scottish Field