Why you should enter the National Chef of the Year competition, blog by Kuba Winkowski

My name is Kuba Winkowski, I am the head chef at The Feathered Nest Inn in the Cotswold and National Chef of the Year 2019.

The Staff Canteen has given me a great opportunity to share my thoughts and experiences in this monthly blog.

Over the next few months, I would like to tell you about my journey to winning this prestigious title and how it has affected my everyday life.

Last Wednesday, as I was scrolling down through Twitter, I noticed a message from Craft Guilds of Chefs informing that entries for NCOTY 2020 are open.

Automatically, I rushed to their website to check the brief for this year. I was full of excitement and a little bit nervous while waiting for website to load. I felt this sensation for last couple of years at exactly the same moment.

The text appeared on my screen, half way through the reading I stopped and reminded myself: "Wait a minute, I don’t have to worry about it. I am the National Chef of the Year."

There is no doubt that this competition can be a daunting and sometimes overwhelming challenge, especially when you look at the task ahead, prestigious judges you have to impress and the list of previous winners.

I can bet that many of you found yourself in the dilemma of whether or not to enter.

I remember exactly how over the years I was growing the confidence and courage to enter.

Many of my work colleagues took part in YNCOTY and NCOTY, so I had been exposed to the idea for a while. I watched the finals during Restaurant Show in Earl’s Court in 2014, when Luke Selby and Russell Bateman won their titles.

This was the moment when the seed was sown. I was excited by the whole thing, the challenge, the buzz and the prospect of cooking for all of those great chefs in the jury.

Deep down I knew that NCOTY was something I would like to be part of, however it still took me another 3 years to enter.

In 2015, I was in the process of developing my own cooking style, repertoire and building my team at The Feathered Nest Inn.

That took a lot of afford and time, so I didn’t feel like I had enough energy to submit my entry or simply I didn’t feel confident enough. Then came the 2016 brief.

I remember like it was yesterday. I was sitting in my car, around midnight after work, reading it. I felt adrenaline pumping through my blood, almost a cold sweat. Excitement and fear at the same time. I was contemplating my entry for