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The Menu of the Year Catey has been awarded to some of the industry's most talented chefs since the first title in 1984: Andrew Pern at the Star Inn in Yorkshire, Gary Rhodes at the Castle hotel in Taunton, Somerset, and Michel Roux at the Waterside Inn in Bray, Berkshire.

All have shared a similar talent - the ability to design a menu that pushes the boundaries while appealing to the widest audience possible.

Last year's winner, Shaun Rankin, head chef at Bohemia on Jersey, is no different. As the 2003 winner Sat Bains said when judging the shortlist: "Rankin uses seasonal ingredients and classic combinations well, such as duck and orange and asparagus and egg. But he also uses more interesting pairings, such as squid and pigeon - it's the sort of dish you think you would love to try."

Bohemia opened nearly three years ago as the fine-dining restaurant of new Jersey hotel the Club Hotel & Spa. Cleverly, the restaurant opened more than two years before the hotel, allowing it to build up its own reputation first - and secure a client base for the hotel before its first guest had even slept there.

Rankin's menu is a contemporary version of French-influenced fine dining. It certainly stretches beyond the traditional country house hotel cuisine one would expect to find on the rest of the island. "It's about marriages and combinations," he says, "as long as you don't forget about textures and consistencies."

Pairings have included monkfish with Parma ham and braised oxtail; grilled local scallops with lambs' tongue; and pork belly with langoustines. "I think the menus are intriguing but not over the top," Rankin adds.

The judges were also impressed by his innovation, use of local produce, the care he took with ingredients and the value for money his menus offered.

For Rankin the award was also a pat on the back for all his team. "I know my colleagues are very happy with this achievement and everything it stands for," he says. "It gives them satisfaction to know that their commitment to the industry has been recognised."

It was also testament to the effort that Rankin and Lawrence Huggler, owner of Bohemia and the Club Hotel & Spa, have made in modernising the fine-dining experience on Jersey. "On the night of the awards people I did not even know were congratulating me - then I realised just how big an achievement it was," Rankin says. "Returning to work, it became apparent that it was the first time that Jersey had won a Catey, so it was big news."

This year the judges will be looking for similar qualities. The shortlist of 12 will be chosen from Caterer's weekly Menuwatch column, which features the best menus from new UK restaurants. Rankin, who will be a judge, says: "I will be looking for well-explained food that you know will taste as good as it reads."