A DUDLEY restaurant worker has been crowned best griller in the UK and Ireland in the sizzling final of the Nando’s Grillers’ Challenge 2023.

Debbie Bate from Nando’s Dudley, at Castlegate, was named winner after a hotly contested final that took place in Nando’s Birmingham New Street restaurant.

The Nando’s Grillers’ Challenge is an annual international competition that celebrates and tests the skill, passion and knowledge of the grillers behind Nando’s famous PERi-PERi flame-grilled chicken.

Each country which has a Nando’s restaurant whittles down their very best grillers and one from each country then goes head-to-head to battle it out in an international final, which this year is set to take place in Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia.

A shocked Debbie said: “I cannot believe I won. To say the competition was tough, would be an understatement.

“The Grillers’ Challenge has been an incredible experience and I have met so many amazing people during the competition.”

She added: “I joined Nando’s six years ago and never dreamt that I would be representing my country on a global stage, whilst cooking delicious chicken.”

Garry Duncan, operations director of Nando’s UK and Ireland, said: “Winning the competition is a big achievement and is thoroughly deserved. Debbie demonstrated heaps of passion, remarkable skill, and unwavering nerve as she grilled her way through each round. I am proud that she is now going to represent UK and Ireland in the International Grillers’ Challenge in Malaysia later this year.”

He added: “The Grillers’ Challenge is so much more than a competition. It celebrates what make’s Nando’s unique and puts our famous PERi-PERi chicken in the spotlight whilst honouring our Southern African roots. This competition also gives us an opportunity to celebrate the amazing talent within our teams on a global stage, whilst igniting ambition and broadening horizons.”