All the chefs who took part in Great British Menu 2025

Scott John-Hodgson

John-Hodgson, head chef at the Michelin-starred Solstice in Newcastle from chef patron Kenny Atkinson, returns to Great British Menu following his appearance last year. The chef started working at Atkinson’s Michelin-starred House of Tides, where he progressed to sous chef. In 2022, he moved to Solstice, where he is based now, which earned its first star within eight months of opening under his leadership.

 

He had actually studied sport at university with ambitions to become a teacher, but soon realised he was better suited to a career in hospitality.

 

Minal Patel

Patel has been head chef at the Bib Gourmand-listed Indian vegetarian restaurant Prashad in Drighlington in Leeds since 2004. The Gujarat-born chef and life-long vegetarian moved to England following her marriage to Bobby Patel, the son of Prashad’s owners, and established the family-run restaurant’s cuisine as both homely, innovative and highly accomplished (Bobby’s brother, Mayur, is also the founder of craft beer and Gujarati food brand Bundobust).

 

She learned to cook with her mum and attended catering college before completing a stage at Gordon Ramsay’s Petrus.

 

Callum Leslie

The executive chef at the Black Swan in Oldstead started out in the industry as a kitchen porter in a local pub. The Holmfirth-born Leslie worked at the Michelin-starred Box Tree in Ilkley before the likes of the two-Michelin-starred Midsummer House, the two-Michelin-starred Berkley and two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Sat Bains. He joined Tommy Banks Group as a sous chef and was made head chef at the Black Swan aged just 26. In 2024, he took over as executive chef of the restaurant.

 

Ahmed Abdalla

The head chef at Legacy at the Grand led the fine dining restaurant to three-AA-rosettes within its first year of opening. During The Caterer’s recent visit to the restaurant, it was serving multiple-choice tasting menus named after the eras of York’s storied history. Prior to that, Abdalla had worked across a number of restaurants across Yorkshire, including small plates diner Skosh.

 

Scotland

 

Hannah Rose

Rose was previously chef de partie at the Three Chimneys on the Isle of Skye and later the two Michelin-starred Ynyshir restaurant in rooms in Machynlleth. She also spent nearly five years at Tommy Banks’ Michelin-starred Black Swan in Oldstead before becoming a private yacht chef.

 

David Millar

Millar is executive chef at Carlowrie Castle in Kirkliston near Edinburgh, which dates back to 1852. Prior to that, he was executive chef at sculpture garden Jupiter Artland, development chef at Six by Nico and executive head chef at contract caterer CH&Co. Earlier in his career, he worked as chef de partie at the two Michelin-starred Pied à Terre and as sous chef at the Michelin-starred Kitchin.

 

Mark McCabe

McCabe is head chef at the three-AA-rosette Henrock by Simon Rogan at Linthwaite House, Bowness in Windermere, Cumbria. The 37-year-old is originally from Tannadice, north of Dundee, and started cooking at Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage before becoming head chef and later co-owner of the Ethicurean in Somerset, which has since secured a Green Michelin star.

 

Calum Munro

Munro is chef-owner at Scorrybreac, meaning ‘speckled rock’, in Portree on the Isle of Skye. He opened the 16-cover fine dining restaurant in 2013 with his brother Niall and named it after his parents’ home. It serves freshly caught seafood and locally foraged ingredients, such as Portree crab, larch oil, crab custard and rice cracker and eggnog custard tart with Woodruff bourbon caramel. Prior to Scorrybreac, Munro trained in kitchens around the world, including Vancouver and Paris.

 

South West

 

Amber Francis

Amber Francis has over ten years’ experience in the industry, having worked at the likes of the Ritz London, the Dairy in London’s Clapham and Zebra Riding Club in Hertfordshire. She then became head chef aged just 26 at Maene, formerly in London’s Spitalfields. During her tenure at the contemporary British bistro, the restaurant was listed on the Michelin Guide. She is currently head chef and senior food educator at a secondary school in north London. Francis also starred in Great British Menu 2023.

 

Ashleigh Farrand

Farrand is head chef at the two-AA-rosette Kingham Plough pub with rooms in Chipping Norton. She trained at Ellenborough Park in Cheltenham while completing her studies then worked there full-time to achieve her Level 2&3 NVQs in professional cookery with HIT. Farrand further honed her skills at the Slaughters Country Inn and Frog Mill at Andoversford before joining the Kingham Plough as sous chef in 2019.

 

Nicholas Balfe

Yeovil-born Balfe is the owner and chef director at Holm in Somerset, which he launched in late 2021. He started his career in the industry by staging at St John and Moro before securing a position at Margot Henderson’s Rochelle Canteen. He was later named head chef at Jackson Boxer’s Brunswick House and began working with Isaac Mchale and James Lowe at their Young Turks pop-up in east London. Balfe also launched Salon in Brixton Market and Levan and Larry’s, both in Peckham, with Mark Gurney and Matt Bushnell. 

 

Joe Fallowfield

Fallowfield is head chef at Fallowfields at Housel Bay hotel in Cornwall, which was awarded three-AA-rosettes. He trained at Cornwall College and went onto stage at a number of kitchens across the UK before working for chefs such as Stuart Eddy at the Square, Jude Kereama at Kota and Simon Hulstone at the Elephant in Torquay.

 

North West

 

Jack Bond

Bond is the co-owner and head chef at the Cottage in the Wood in Keswick, a Michelin-starred restaurant with rooms in the northern Lake District. He joined the Cumbria venue with his wife Beth, the former general manager at Chantelle Nicholson’s Apricity in London’s Mayfair, in January 2024 and purchased the property in the summer from long-standing owners Liam and Kath Berney.

 

Bond is originally from Southport and has worked in restaurants including the three-Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park in New York and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London, where he was development chef. He has also worked with Marcus Wareing at the two-Michelin-starred Berkeley hotel and the Gilbert Scott.

 

Livia Alarcon

Alarcon is the head chef and owner of La Bistroteca in Liverpool’s Baltic Market. She has worked in the industry for over 10 years, famously becoming head chef at the Middle Eastern-inspired Maray aged just 21, which she took on after turning down a job offer from Jason Atherton. La Bistroteca marks her first solo outpost and pays homage to European bistro culture, with dishes such as steak sandwich, confit duck fries and popcorn mussels.

 

Eddie Shepherd

Shepherd is the chef and owner of the eight-cover Walled Gardens restaurant in Manchester, where he serves a 12-course botanical tasting menu. He became vegetarian 20 years ago while studying philosophy at university and has continued to explore his passion for sustainable dining through foraging ingredients and making chocolate from scratch. During The Caterer’s visit to his restaurant in 2023, he demonstrated an obsessive attention to detail, starting with a dandelion petal fruit pastille topped with lemon verbena from his raised beds in the garden.

 

James Hill

Hill is the head chef and owner at the Oak at Curthwaite in Cumbria, the region where he grew up. He started working in hotels aged 14 and eventually moved to London to join the Connaught. His previous restaurant, the Lounge on the Green, was also awarded two AA rosettes and recognised in the Michelin Guide.

 

Who won Great British Menu 2025?

The Champion of Champions of Great British Menu 2025 was Amber Francis – “the only school chef on Great British Menu”. She made it to the final banquet with her dessert ‘Books, the mind’s food’, which included hay-infused set cream, fermented strawberries, strawberry gel, a white chocolate disc and fermented honeycomb. Alongside was a honey parfait and sable biscuit, and the dessert was presented in a wooden school desk.

 

Francis’ win meant the show’s overall champion has been the chef who cooked the sweet course for the third time in a row. The 2024 winner was Kirk Haworth, who won with his dairy-free ’a Taste of Unity’.

 

Photo: BBC/Optomen Television Limited/Gemma Sharman