No.1’s Chef de Partie, Lesley Lovie
Coming from a large family of six, Lesley discovered her love of cooking from a young age whilst helping her mum in the kitchen and has since forged a career from her passion.
The 21-year-old chef de partie at No.1 Bar & Grill, has been a finalist twice for North-east Young Chef of the Year and has worked at a range of top Aberdeen restaurants and hotels since leaving school aged 15.
‘At No.1, we focus on using a lot of local produce so this has allowed me to focus on Scottish cuisine with a modern twist. Instagram is a good influence and I follow a lot of London and international chefs so I always see new and interesting styles which helps me to come up with ideas.
‘We all bounce ideas off each other at No.1 and it’s a real team effort every time that we create new seasonal menus.’Despite working in a range of top venues, Lesley has still to cook for anyone famous, but if she ever had the opportunity she would choose the fish dish she created for last year’s awards – stonebass with fondant potatoes, celeriac puree, breaded langoustine tail and shellfish bisque.
Away from the kitchen, Lesley, from Aberdeen, has another talent and has played the guitar since she was seven years old, so music is her passion outside of work.
As for her own favourite food and guilty pleasure, Lesley has a big sweet tooth and loves a good, homemade cookie with milk chocolate, white chocolate and raspberry and sticky toffee are her top picks!
So, of course, her chosen recipe to share with Trend readers had to be the hugely popular No.1 chocolate fondant.
Dark chocolate fondant, salted caramel, banana chips, & banoffee ice cream
(serves 4)
Chocolate fondant
You will need four double buttered moulds
100g plain flour
100g unsalted butter
100g 75% dark chocolate
100g caster sugar
Two egg yolks
Two whole eggs
• Pre-heat oven at 180oC
• Butter four moulds the night before
• Melt butter and chocolate then allow to cool slightly
• In a bowl, whisk the sugar with the whole eggs and yolks until white and fluffy
• Fold in the flour until mixed through
• Mix in the melted butter and chocolate mixture
• Pour into the moulds and set in fridge for an hour
• Then cook at 180oC for 10-12 minutes
Salted butter caramel
400g caster sugar
200ml water
200ml double cream
100g salted butter (diced)
Pinch of salt
• Melt the sugar and water until light brown in colour – be careful as this becomes extremely hot
• Pour in the cream and whisk until mixed
• Slowly whisk in butter until golden and smooth, add the salt and cool.
To assemble – place salted caramel on the plate, pop the chocolate fondant straight from the oven on top and dress with shop bought banana chips and banoffee ice cream. At No.1, we use local, independent Casa de Gelato banoffee ice cream, but vanilla or salted caramel ice cream would also work.