National Chef of the Year semi-finalists announced

The semi-finalists for this year's National Chef of the Year competition have been announced.

For the first time in the 20-year history of the now annual competition, organiser the Craft Guild of Chefs has introduced categories to encourage more ethnically diverse cuisines to the event.

The semi-finalists have been selected through a paper judging process and will compete at four semi-final cook-offs at Westminster Kingsway College in London on 13 and 16 September, each concentrating on a different type of cuisine. The categories include Asian and Oriental; modern British and Irish; European; and African, American and Australian.

Ten chefs will go through to the final: the top two from each semi-final and the two chefs with the highest scores after that. The final cook-off will take place at this year's Restaurant Show at London's Earls Court on 11 October.

Simon Hulstone, chef-proprietor of the Michelin-starred Elephant in Torquay, Devon, was the last winner of the title in 2008.

Previous winners include Gordon Ramsay, Roger Narbett and Eyck Zimmer.

The finalists are:

Simon Atkinson, unit caterer, Royal Marines

Mark Aust, head chef, Artizan

Christopher Bell, head chef, Heathcotes

Adam Bennett, head chef, Simpsons restaurant

Lee Bennett, executive chef, Le Pont De La Tour

Ian Boden, area development chef, Wilsonvale

Mark Budd, executive head chef, Stafford hotel

David Bush, House of Commons

Brian Canale, head chef, Heritage Portfolio

Simon Christery-French, sous chef, Pearl Restaurant

Clark Crawley, head chef, Restaurant Associates

Hrishikesh Desai, brasserie head chef, Lucknam Park hotel

Richard Edwards, senior sous chef, Lucknam Park hotel

Frederick Forster, head chef, 44 Restaurant and Lounge

Justin Galea, executive sous chef, Turnberry

Chris James Golding, sous chef, Zuma restaurant

Hayden Groves, executive chef, Lloyds of London

Jim Hamilton, head chef, Fairyhill

Dean Heselden, head chef, London Clubs International

Imthiaz Kader, head chef, Park Plaza Westminster Bridge

Selin Kiazim, senior chef de partie, The Providores

Palash Mitra, curry chef, The Cinnamon Club

Robert Oberhoffer, chef-proprietor, The Dove restaurant

Christopher Oddie, head chef, Mitie Catering and The Irish Club

Grzegorz Olejarka, head chef, Brooklands hotel

Sudha Shankar, executive chef, Saffron

Hansel Sheldon Fonseca, sous chef, Gordon Ramsay Holdings

Kuldeep Singh, sous chef, Benares restaurant & bar

Ashley Spencer, lecturer in culinary arts, Westminster Kingsway College

Robert Stordy, corporate chef-lecturer, University of Derby (Buxton Campus)

Lionel Strub, chef-proprietor, Fennel Restaurant

Dez Turland, group development chef, Brend Hotels

Simon Webb, head chef, Restaurant Associates

Nick Whatmough, head chef, Restaurant Associates

Andy Wilcock, head chef, Cucina Restaurants

Andrew Wong, chef, Bumbles restaurant

Terry Wright, head chef, Compass Group

Vadivelloo Yogaeshwaran, sous chef, Riverbank Park Plaza hotel

 

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 By Kerstin Kühn

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