Spotlight On... 21 Pastry Chef Megan Armstrong

If you’ve ever indulged in a meal at a 21 Hospitality restaurant, you’ve probably had the pleasure of eating one of Cumbrian-born Megan’s creations. Based at the flagship 21 restaurant at the Quayside, her pastries and desserts are also served at The Broad Chare, St Vincent, Café 21, Saltwater Fish Company and Porterhouse Butcher and Grill. She’s been with the company for five years now, but cooking and baking have been in her blood for much longer.

“My aunty was a chef, so I was surrounded by cookery anyway,” explains Megan. “I soon developed a passion for sweet things and decided to specialise in pastry.”

After cutting her teeth at a Carlisle restaurant, Megan made the move to our fair city to study at Newcastle College – interestingly the only place to offer a professional pastry course in the area – and it was there that she first encountered 21 Hospitality after completing a work experience day in the kitchen at 21.

She clearly made an impression at 21 and ended up nabbing a job with the company after graduating from Newcastle College. She’s gone from strength to strength since and her love of working at 21 and its sister venues is clear.

“It’s a fantastic team to work with. Everyone here is really great,” raves Megan. “You’re always pushing yourself and challenging yourself to learn new things. And, because so many restaurants are part of the 21 group, you’re touching on a lot of different cultures of food. I get to experiment with different things at different restaurants.”

From sweet treats like tarts, tortes and cakes to savoury delights like salmon en croûte and beef Wellington, the range of dishes that Megan makes for the various 21 group venues is wide and varied and the experience no doubt set her in good stead to excel at the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts’ Annual Awards of Excellence this summer.

The gruelling two-part competition saw Megan wow judges during the semi-final stage which she explains as “puff pastry heavy” and involved making classic French palmiers, cheese straws, a coronation crab bun and a mille-feuille – the latter of which she helpfully described as “kind of like a Greggs Bavarian slice” for the uninitiated.

The finals stage saw Megan and her competitors given five-and-a-half hours to make three pretty complicated desserts – a strawberry Charlotte royale, a Paris-Brest and a stand constructed entirely from nougatine with a crown-related theme in celebration of King Charles III’s recent coronation.

A painstaking process, crafting the nougatine stand really put Megan’s skills to the test but she succeeded in creating something that’s not only a feat of culinary excellence but a feat of structural engineering too.

“It was a bit nerve-wracking,” confesses Megan. “I practiced making the nougatine stand a lot just to make sure it didn’t crumble on me!”

As nail-biting as the finals were, Megan rightfully won the judges over and was officially announced as Young Pastry Chef of the Year at the fancy Annual Awards of Excellence gala dinner at Claridge’s in London this July. Alongside that prestigious accolade, Megan’s award also includes a trip to the Moet & Chandon vineyard in the Champagne region of France.

“I’ve never been to France, so I’m really excited,” says Megan. “I’m looking forward to drinking a few glasses of champagne and exploring the countryside. I’m also going to Nancy with the 21 group this year, so that’ll be two trips to France in 2023 alone!”

No doubt Megan will be sampling a few foodie French treats on her trips too which will only help develop her skillset further. When it comes to the future, however, Megan has set her sights firmly on a continued career with 21.

“I plan to stay here and train the next generation of pastry chefs,” explains Megan. “I’m looking forward to being a mentor to someone in the same way that 21 founder Terry Laybourne and our head pastry chef Helen Doyle were to me.”

Naturally, we had to ask a pastry chef as skilled as Megan what her favourite dessert is.

“I think my favourite dessert to eat is a chocolate fondant,” says Megan. “When it comes to making desserts, it’s macarons. They can go wrong in so many ways, so when you get it right you feel like you’ve really mastered it.”

And as for a must-try dessert on 21’s current menu?

“I definitely think people should try the salted caramel and chocolate souffle,” concludes Megan. “It’s delicious.”

Well, we’re already drooling at the thought of Megan’s dessert suggestions and if you’d like to try one of her award-winning creations – sweet or savoury – then get yourself a table booked at 21 or one of its sister restaurants today.