Marco Pierre White was among the chefs to be honoured at the Craft Guild of Chef Awards 2007 last night.

The awards, which took place at the Royal Lancaster hotel in London, recognised 14 chefs from all sectors of the industry and culminated in a special award for White.

Among the other winners were Simon Young, executive chef of the Jumeirah Carlton Tower, London, who took the banqueting chef award title and who earlier this year hosted Caterer's Chef Conference, and Lee Bennett, head chef of the Savoy Grill, part of Gordon Ramsay Holdings.

The Savoy Grill saw further glory with a second award to Lahiru Jayasekara, formerly senior chef de partie at the grill, who received the young chef award. Jayasekara has recently moved to join Alain Roux's brigade at the Waterside Inn in Bray.

Other chefs to emerge victorious were pub restaurant chef award winner Michael Bedford, chef-proprietor of the Trouble House near Tetbury, who is relocating to a cafe-delicatessen in the same village next month and David Hunt, who took the contract catering chef award. Hunt is executive chef for Sodexho - Scotland and Ireland.

The winners in full

• Apprentice chef award: Emily Webb, pastry apprentice, Royal Garden hotel, London
• Banqueting chef award: Simon Young, executive chef, Jumeirah Carlton Tower, London
• Competition chef award: Andy Twells, executive chef and general manager, Compass Group UK
• Contract catering chef award: David Hunt, executive chef, Sodexho - Scotland and Ireland
• Cost sector chef award: Nick Copson, head chef and catering manager, Teesdale School, Barnard Castle, County Durham
• Development chef award: John Feeney, European culinary director, Griffith Laboratories - The Food Architects
• Education chef award: David Auchie, lecturer, South Lanarkshire College
• Ethnic chef award: Vijay Anand, group executive chef, Patak's Foodsolutions
• New restaurant of the year award: Scott's, London
• Pastry chef award: Graham Hornigold, pastry chef, the Lanesborough, London
• Pub restaurant chef award: Michael Bedford, chef-proprietor, the Trouble House, Tetbury, Gloucestershire
• Restaurant chef award: Lee Bennett, head chef, the Savoy Grill, London
• Young chef award: Lahiru Jayasekara, senior chef de partie, the Savoy Grill (since being nominated Jayasekara has joined the Waterside Inn in Bray)
• Special award: Marco Pierre White

Michelin-starred chef Michael Bedford to launch new café-delicatessen >>

Read Caterer's exclusive interview with Marco Pierre White here >>

Simon Young prepares for the 2007 Chef Conference >> 

By Amanda Afiya

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