Chefs prepare to honour their peers
The AA has announced the shortlist for its annual Chefs' Chef award, the winner of which will be named in September when the 2003 AA Restaurant Guide is published.
The aim of the award is to honour the chef who has most impressed his or her peers over the previous 12 months - perhaps through consistency, innovation or contribution to the industry as a whole.
Nominees have been selected by a panel of judges including Simon Wright, editor of the AA Restaurant Guide, Amanda Afiya, Chef editor, Caterer & Hotelkeeper, and the current holder of the Chefs' Chef title, Heston Blumenthal, chef-proprietor of the Fat Duck, Bray, Berkshire.
The shortlist includes Claude Bosi of Hibiscus, Ludlow, Shropshire; Michael Caines of Gidleigh Park, Chagford, Devon; John Campbell of the Vineyard at Stockcross, Newbury, Berkshire; David Everitt-Matthias of Le Champignon Sauvage, Cheltenham; Chris Galvin of the Orrery, London; Mary Ann Gilchrist of Carlton House, Llanwrtyd Wells, Powys; Shaun Hill of the Merchant House, Ludlow, Shropshire; Marion Jones of Croque-en-Bouche, Malvern, Worcestershire; Germain Schwab of Winteringham Fields, Winteringham, Lincolnshire; and Marcus Wareing of Pétrus, London.
Previous winners, including Heston Blumenthal, Marco Pierre White, Gordon Ramsay, Jean-Christophe Novelli and Kevin Viner. are excluded from the poll.
AA Restaurant Guide editor Simon Wright said the list reflected the depth and variety of quality chefs across the country. "It ranges from someone heading a large brigade in a five-star hotel to someone working almost alone in a small country house. There are independent chef-patrons at smallish restaurants in the regions, chefs from the top end of the London market and a chef who grows much of her own produce.
"There is a pretty wide geographical coverage too, which is encouraging. Two chefs from London you might expect, two from Ludlow is less predictable."
Chefs featured in the guide are invited to send in their votes for the shortlisted chefs.
