Meet the National Chef of the Year 2018 finalists: Dean Westcar, head chef, Restaurant Hywel Jones by Lucknam Park

National Chef of the Year 2018 finalist, Dean Westcar is head chef at Restaurant Hywel Jones by Lucknam Park.

Dean took up his first job working for a hotel in 2012. Since then he has worked his way up through the ranks to become head chef at Restaurant Hywel Jones by Lucknam Park. Prior to this, Dean made an appearance on BBC 1’s MasterChef: The Professionals in 2015 where he made the semi-finals of the competition. A year before Dean also battled off stiff competition to be named South West Chef of the Year 2014.

How did it feel to get through to the final?

Reaching the final of National Chef of the Year is

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up there with my greatest achievement to date on par with winning an acorn award. I'm so proud to be in the final with another chef from Lucknam Park; Thomas Westerland our brassiere Head Chef. This only helped push the team more to achieving their own goals.

Why did you enter National Chef of the Year?

I entered National Chef of the Year to test myself and push myself against some of the best chefs around the country, being a chef you should never stop pushing your boundaries.

On Tuesday, October 3 a new National Chef of the Year will be crowned. We take a closer look at this year's finalists hoping to produce winning dishes at the final at The Restaurant Show, which will impress the judging panel.