Forty chefs in the running to be crowned National Chef of the Year

To ensure a fair and unbiased approach, all the entries are judged anonymously as competitor names and places of work are hidden prior to the experts seeing each entry. There are separate judging teams for starter, main course and dessert and another team viewing the whole menu for overall balance. Once the marks are submitted, scores are reviewed in a deliberation meeting before any names are revealed to the judges.

The following forty chefs have today received a Lafont chef’s jacket in the post from Continental Chef Supplies which provides confirmation they have reached the next stage of the competition.

Adam Fisher, head chef, Pennyhill Park Hotel
Ahmed Abdalla, head chef, Legacy At The Grand Hotel
Andrew Tabberner, chef, Bryn Williams @ Porth Eirias
Asen Ibrov, executive chef, Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria
Ben Drake, head chef, The Elephant Restaurant
Charlotte Vincent, head chef, Dartington Hall
Chris Loye, chef / owner, Flavour
Cleverson Cordeiro, head chef, Frog by Adam Handling
Craig Edgell, head chef, Buoy and Oyster
Daniel Andree, head chef, Beach House
Danny Young, head chef, The Torridon, Scotland
Elliot Hill, executive chef, The Chester Grosvenor
Gary Townsend, chef owner, Elements
Grahame Wickham, head chef, White Hart at Fyfield
Iain Gourlay, head chef, Dalhousie Castle Hotel & Spa
Ian Wilson, Leading Catering Services (LCS), Royal Navy
Jamal Bendghoughi, teaching chef, Le Cordon Bleu
James Turner, sous chef, Hélène Darroze at the Connaught
Jethro Lawrence, development chef, apetito
Kyle Bowman, development chef, Newcastle United - Sodexo Live!
Lachlan Maddigan, chef de partie, Restaurant Gordon Ramsey
Laura Kimber, head chef, Salt
Lee Tyler, head chef, Meadowsweet
Lee Parsons, chef owner, The Parsons Table Restaurant
Luciano Lucioli, executive chef, Innholders' Hall - Artizian Catering
Marcus Ashton-Simpson, head chef, DN1 Delicatessen and Dining
Matt Ramsdale, head chef, Northcote
Murray Cooper, senior sous chef, The Forest Side
Nick Edgar, head chef, Hambledon Vineyard
Orry Shand, executive chef, Entier Ltd
Paul Gamble, senior brand innovation chef, Waitrose and Partners
Ruth Hansom Rigby, chef owner, Hansom Restaurant & Wine Bar
Sam Rust, chef de partie, Grove of Narberth
Sam Clover, chef patron, The Peacock Inn Chelsworth
Sergio Cinotti, chef, Gem42
Thomas James, development chef, Tesco
Tom Bennetts, head chef, Driftwood Spars
Tom Heywood, head chef / owner, Pignut
Vladimir Hromek, head chef, South Farm Ltd
Yann Florio, director / founder, Haute Cuisine Limited

Over the next few weeks, these chefs must create an amuse-bouche or pre-dessert with the theme ‘A taste of summer’ using seasonal ingredients. Chefs should bring this to life with a story of a personal food hero. It could be an inspirational chef, family member, mentor or industry personality that has inspired this dish.

Matt Abé, chef patron at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay said: “In my first year as Chair of judges, I have loved seeing and scoring every single dish put forward by the competitors. It’s an honour to lead the judging team for such a prestigious culinary title. Generally, the standard has been very strong, and we already know that whittling them down from 40 to ten is going to be a challenge. My advice for this next stage is to really focus on telling us your own personal story so as judges we understand the creative thinking behind your dishes.”

Competition director and food innovation & sustainability director at Sodexo UK and Ireland, David Mulcahy added: “There were some highly creative styles of cooking in this first round, and it was fantastic to see chefs enter from a wide variety of sectors and backgrounds. A significant number of dishes had particularly elegant presentation with a great deal of workmanship and style. Having judged this competition for many years I feel that I have seen more creativity and innovation in the menus this year and I am already excited to see what’s presented in the next stage.”

A new panel of experts will score the semi-finals alongside Matt Abé and results from both rounds will be considered when selecting the finalists to ensure a rigorous and robust judging process.

Essential Cuisine and Lumina are headline partners of National Chef of the Year, which is also supported by Churchill, Continental Chef Supplies (CCS), Evolve Group, Hallgarten & Novum Wines, Valrhona, Classic Fine Foods, Gastronomy Plus and St Ewe.