These chefs have been shortlisted for the AA Chef of the Year Award

The shortlist for the AA Hospitality Awards' Chef of the Year Award has been unveiled, naming 12 of the UK's top chefs ahead of the final ceremony at Grosvenor House on September 23rd.

The winner will be decided by a collective vote by any restaurant with an AA Rosette - succeeding last year's winner, Claude Bosi of Bibendum. 

• Claude Bosi is the new AA Chefs' Chef and three restaurants are awarded 5 Rosettes in the AA Restaurant Guide 2019
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• Three restaurants are awarded 4 Rosettes in the AA Restaurant Guide 2020

The 12 finalists are as follows: Core chef owner, Clare Smyth; winner of this year's National Restaurant Awards' Restaurant of the Year Mark Birchall of Moor Hall; Paul Ainsworth; head chef of the award-winning Welsh restaurant Ynyshir, Gareth Ward; Jason Atherton - chef owner of six restaurants, soon to be seven with the addition of The Betterment at The Biltmore later this month; James Sommerin; notable Edinburgh chef Tom Kitchin; Andrew Wong; Hélène Darroze; Angela Hartnett; Northcote's Lisa Goodwin-Allen and Hambleton Hall's Aaron Patterson. 

The bar for the award has been set very high, as a string of legendary chefs have won the award over the years, including Tom Kerridge, Nathan Outlaw and Daniel Clifford. 

The awards will also reveal which restaurants have been deemed worthy of receiving another (or indeed any) AA Rosettes - between 1 and 5 are possible. Among those with 5 AA Rosettes are Bibendum, Core by Clare Smyth and Moor Hall.

The annual ceremony is one of a slurry within the months of September and October, including the Hardens London Restaurant Awards and the much-awaited Michelin Guide.