Cooking for celebrities including Manchester City’s manager Pep Guardiola and players is all in a day’s work for Welsh Senior Culinary Team chef Dylan Wyn Owens.
Originally from Porthmadog, Dylan, 31, is head chef of hospitality at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium where he leads a team of 130 chefs on match days. He and his team produce 4,500 meals for each Premier League match and up 6,500 meals for Champions League matches.
Next week, the talented chef will take a break from his duties at the Etihad Stadium to make his debut for Wales at the IKA Culinary Olympics, the biggest and oldest international culinary art exhibition, in Stuttgart from February 14-19.
He has been selected for the Senior Culinary Team Wales which will join around 2,000 chefs and pastry chefs from more than 60 nations in Stuttgart.
“It’s a great honour and privilege to be selected to represent my country,” said Dylan. “I’m excited because it’s a first for me, as I haven’t done a team competition before and never been to the Culinary Olympics.
“I think we have bonded well as a team and we are going there to win gold medals.”
Dylan, who loves modern, clean cooking with an Italian influence, credits his grandmother, who ran a bakery, with sparking his interest in cooking.
From Coleg Menai in Bangor, he joined the Michelin starred restaurant at The Chester Grosvenor under head chef Simon Radley who advised him at 18 to go to London to broaden his experience.
He worked at Locanda Locatelli Restaurant under Giorgo Locatelli for a year before moving to The Lanesborough Hotel with chef Nick Bell. Meningitis then stunted his London career as he was forced home to North Wales to recuperate for four months.
He returned to work at The Chester Grosvenor and next stop was The Pheasant, Tarporley before joining Aidan Byrne at The Church Green, Lymm as head chef for two and a half years. He then ran the Fine Dining Company in Cheshire catering for exclusive weddings and dinner parties for two years.
His link with Manchester City and the Etihad Stadium began when he secured a post at the exclusive Tunnel Club which led to his current job.
He is now relishing a new challenge with the Senior Culinary Team Wales which is led by Nick Davies, culinary craft trainer with Cambrian Training, who combines the roles of team manager and member. Sergio Cinotti, co-owner of the award-winning Gemelli and Gem42 Restaurants, Newport, is captain for the first time.
The other squad members are Will Richards, Cambrian Training, Matthew Smith, freelance chef from Newtown, Mark Robertson from Coleg Cambria, Wrexham, Jay Humphris from Coleg y Cymoedd and Zak Pegg from The Harbourmaster Hotel, Aberaeron. Logistics manager is Peter Fuchs, culinary director of The Celtic Collection and ICC Wales, Newport.
The senior team’s competition is divided into two elements – a Restaurant of Nations and chef’s edible buffet. The team presents its chef’s edible buffet on February 16 and its Restaurant of Nations menu for 110 covers on February 18.
Culinary Team Wales is sponsored by the Welsh Government’s Food and Drink Wales, Cambrian Training Company, Grŵp Llandrillo Menai, Castell Howell Foods, Hybu Cig Cymru and Harlech Foods.
