The Staff Canteen Awards 2026: shortlists revealed

The shortlists for The Staff Canteen Awards 2026 have been revealed, with 32 chefs, teams, pubs and businesses now in the running for a gold mug across eight categories.

More than 63,000 votes were cast by our members and followers this year, up from more than 52,000 in 2025.

The winners will be revealed at the awards ceremony on Monday, November 16, 2026, at 83 Rivington Street in Shoreditch, London, in front of previous winners and VIP guests.

Mark Morris, founder of The Staff Canteen, said: “We are absolutely thrilled with the response to this year’s awards. To see more than 63,000 votes come in, up on last year, shows just how much our members and followers care about the people who make this industry what it is.

“Congratulations to everyone who has made the shortlist. There are amazing chefs, kitchen porters, front of house teams, pubs and businesses doing incredible things up and down the country, and every single one of them should be really proud.

“We are very much looking forward to celebrating with everyone on November 16, and we can’t wait to hand out some more gold mugs!”

Here is everyone who made the cut.

Chef of the Year, sponsored by Chef Works

• Dan Ashmore, executive chef at Schloss Roxburghe near Kelso in the Scottish Borders, where he oversees three restaurants, two bars and a team of more than 75, including Sunlaws, which holds three AA rosettes. He was previously executive chef at Gordon Ramsay's Bread Street Kitchen.
• Adam Byatt, chef owner of the one-Michelin-starred Trinity in Clapham, who opened Rosina by Wandsworth Common this summer and was voted AA Chefs' Chef of the Year 2026 in September.
• Kim Ratcharoen, chef de cuisine at the three-Michelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay on Royal Hospital Road, who has spent a decade in the kitchen and is weaving Thai flavours into its classic repertoire.
• Tom Shepherd, chef owner of Upstairs in Lichfield, which won a Michelin star within four months of opening, the first in Staffordshire, and retained it again in 2026.

One to Watch, sponsored by Lightspeed

• Kurtus Auty, senior sous chef at Bybrook restaurant at The Manor House, who won the Golden Apron aged 18 and competed on MasterChef: The Professionals in 2019, having cooked at Maze and Mere by Monica Galetti.
• Charlie Crote, head chef of Constance at Fulham Pier, who trained at The Ritz and ran The Midland Grand Dining Room before opening Constance alongside Adam Byatt.
• Jake Finn, chef owner of live-fire restaurant Cinder, in Belsize Park and St John's Wood, and No. Forty Nine, the New York-inspired bakery, bistro and wine bar he opened in St John's Wood this spring.
• Josh Root, group head pastry chef at Akoko, the one-Michelin-starred West African restaurant in Fitzrovia.

Member of the Year

Member of the Year is chosen from our past 12 Members of the Month, and recognises the member who gives the most back to The Staff Canteen community.

• Steve Angier, head chef at The Packhorse Inn in Moulton, Suffolk, and our Member of the Month for April 2026, who has held two AA rosettes there for seven years.
• Vivek Chauhan, executive pastry chef and co-owner of Coco N Choux and our Member of the Month for February 2026, whose two decades in pastry have taken him from One Aldwych and the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London to Le Méridien in New Delhi.
• Scott Philliskirk, head chef at West 10 Bar and Kitchen in Sheffield and our Member of the Month for November 2025, who went from the pot wash to two AA rosettes without formal training.
• Emma Pykett, pastry chef at The Fat Duck in Bray and our Member of the Month for September 2025, who has spoken openly about thriving in one of the country's most demanding kitchens as a dyslexic chef.

Kitchen Porter of the Year, sponsored by Winterhalter

• Buba Bozhidara, kitchen porter for BaxterStorey at Aberdeen Football Club, who keeps five match-day kitchens at Pittodrie running. Nominated by Jo Flood.
• Geoff Goater, kitchen porter at Rick Stein in Winchester. Nominated by Chris Baker.
• Fred Jeffrey, kitchen porter in the hospitality department at Exeter College. Nominated by Paul Carne.
• Rachid Nemar, kitchen porter at The Landmark London hotel in Marylebone. Nominated by Ignatius Izah.

Social Media Influencer of the Year, sponsored by ASMI

• John Fisher, better known as Big John, the Romford dad whose videos of enormous takeaway feasts and catchphrase "Bosh!" have made him one of the most recognisable food personalities online.
• John Gregory-Smith, chef, TV presenter and author of seven cookbooks, with around a million followers on Instagram for his everyday recipes with a Middle Eastern twist.
• Tom Kerridge, chef patron of the two-Michelin-starred The Hand and Flowers in Marlow, who uses his platform to put the spotlight on the chefs who have come through his kitchens.
• Jon Watts, who learned to cook while in a young offenders institution, went on to work for Jamie Oliver and has built an audience of close to a million with easy-to-follow recipe videos and two Sunday Times bestselling cookbooks.

Front of House Team of the Year, sponsored by SevenRooms

• Fish Shop, Ballater, the Aberdeenshire seafood restaurant whose manager, Jasmine Sherry, won the Michelin Guide's Service Award in 2025.
• Home SW15, Craig Gordon's neighbourhood restaurant in Putney, run on the motto "People Make Home".
• Norman's Neighbourhood Kitchen, Huddersfield, where Oliver Roberts has built a young front of house team from scratch since opening a little over two years ago.
• Rooted, Bath, the vegetarian cafe and supper rooms cooking globally inspired food with responsibly sourced local ingredients.

Sustainable Business of the Year, sponsored by Globaltic

• Catch at the Old Fish Market, Weymouth, which serves fish landed by its own low-impact boats and holds the Sustainable Restaurant Association's three-star Food Made Good rating.
• Land, Birmingham, the plant-based restaurant recommended in the Michelin Guide, where trims and byproducts are worked back into the menu.
• Lumière, Cheltenham, Helen and Jon Howe's restaurant of almost 18 years, with a kitchen garden, an all-induction kitchen and paperless menus, and a three-star Food Made Good rating of its own.
• The Pony Chew Valley, the restaurant, farm and cookery school in Chew Magna, Somerset, founded by siblings Josh and Holly Eggleton and now a certified B Corp.

Gastropub of the Year

New for 2026, Gastropub of the Year celebrates the pubs cooking some of the best food in the country.

• The Angel at Hetton, the 15th-century inn in the Yorkshire Dales run by chef patron Michael Wignall and his wife Johanna, which has held a Michelin star since 2019 and in 2024 became Yorkshire's first five AA rosette restaurant.
• The Devonshire, Soho, the London pub from Oisín Rogers, Charlie Carroll and former Fat Duck chef Ashley Palmer-Watts, which opened in November 2023 and was named number one in the Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs 2026.
• The Star Inn at Harome, North Yorkshire, where Andrew Pern and chef director Stephen Smith run the thatched pub that has held a Michelin star since 2002 and was named AA Restaurant of the Year for England in 2026.
• The Unruly Pig, Bromeswell, near Woodbridge in Suffolk, which has topped the Top 50 Gastropubs three times and is now owned by chef patron Dave Wall and his wife Michelle.

The ceremony

The gold mugs will be handed out at 83 Rivington Street on Monday, November 16, 2026, the first year the awards have been held there after two years at Scotland House.

Sparkle Lighting is event partner for 2026 and will be dressing the room, while Nyetimber, Petrossian Caviar, BE WTR and Pillars Brewery are the food and drinks partners for the evening.

The 2025 winners included Tim De La Cruz of Smiths of Smithfield (Chef of the Year), Craig Nelson of Ox and Finch in Glasgow (One to Watch) and Emily Eeles of The Gaff in Abergavenny (Kitchen Porter of the Year).

Who do you think will be taking home a gold mug? Let us know in the comments.