MasterChef: The Professionals puts Dorchester chef into next round
Charlie Jeffreys made it past the first tests
A Dorchester chef has made it through to the quarter-finals of one of TV's toughest cooking shows.
24 year old Charlie Jeffreys made his first appearance on MasterChef The Professionalslast night on BBC One (Thursday 24th November).
He started his career as a potwasher, aged 13, at the Yalbury Cottage in Lower Bockhampton.
He then moved across to the cookers and completed a two year apprentice there.
Charlie's now a chef de partie at The Dorchester hotel in London.
Jamie Jones from the Yalbury Cottage is Charlie's former manager, and a mentor to the young chef.
He says he's proud of his achievements:
"He's smashing. He went from washing up, focussed, dedicated, didn't want to let anybody down, that's always been his way.
"If he gets through or not, we're proud of him for getting that far and for what he does."
Charlie's run in the competition continues tonight (Friday 25th November), when he'll cook for some notoriously tough food critics.
Two of the contestants will get a place in the semi-finals.