This led to an opportunity to be part of a new restaurant opening in Singapore and then another, Table 65, which was awarded a Michelin star just nine months after opening.
At that point Daniel decided to return home for a while, with a promise of another new and exciting opportunity in Singapore when he returned….then Covid struck.
“It was a hard time for me, life just flipped very quickly and having been cooking for amazing restaurants all over the world, I went to work in Tesco and was living back at home.”
Like other chefs in the most recent line-up of MasterChef, Daniel took this time to hone his skills and think about entering the show.
Regular viewers of the show know that all contestants are given a skills test at the very beginning of the show to give the judges a chance to assess their cooking abilities.
Daniel’s was sausages, mash and onion gravy – a relatively simple test I suggest.
“You’d think so wouldn’t you but no. I burst the skin on one of my sausages and I swear, I never heard Marcus say onion gravy so although I included it for flavour I strained it all out before I served it. Not the best start!
“The annoying thing was I’d been practising dozens of complicated classic sauces and techniques for weeks. I’d even perfected the art of tunnel boning a chicken [look it up!] and had got that down to 14 minutes.”
Nerves settled after that early round, Daniel went on to wow the judges and other professional chefs with his innovative take on
LIVE24-SEVEN.COM
Asian food finally lifting the coveted trophy in mid-December.
“It’s a great experience and I have such respect for chefs Marcus and Monica. They are at the top of their game and it’s unnerving when they watch your every move but they are also really constructive. It was intimidating at times but I genuinely felt lucky to be in that position.”
So what does the future hold for Daniel now?
“After my run of evenings at Thyme Kitchen in Lichfield I am off to Verbier for a month to work the ski season. After that I’d like to explore providing affordable but tasty street food, maybe from a food truck maybe in a restaurant working with a friend of mine.”
Watch this space or check his Instagram @daniel.jb.lee or his website
www.chefdanlee.com
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