Stars need a day off too

Last year I was privileged to be a judge for two key industry competitions, the Cateys and the Restaurant Association Young Chef Young Waiter awards.

Being a judge is not something to take on lightly. It requires a great deal of time to do the job properly. Typically, there is the pre-meeting reading, which usually involves a couple of large volumes of material about the entrants. This takes a day to plough through, annotating the text and grading the candidates against key criteria.

Then there is usually the judges' meeting, at which a shortlist is drawn up. This isn't a straightforward process. Some of the judges will have interpreted the criteria differently from others and there will be a great deal of debate about entrants' merits.

If the competition is skills-based, this leads on to regional and national heats, which the judges attend to see the participants in action and sample the results.

So, depending on the nature of the competition, a judge must be prepared to devote at least three or four days to the event and often to travel to semifinals around the country.

As a consultant, I manage my own diary and decide how I spend my time. There are not the same demands on me as there are on a media personality such as Raymond Blanc. Indeed, Blanc was one of the chefs judging the Young Chef Young Waiter event, as were Michael Caines, Heston Blumenthal and John Torode. Other big names at the final included Richard Shepherd, Philip Howard, Bruce Poole, Annie Schwab and Jean-Christophe Novelli.

People often lament the failure of senior people to put more back into the industry. From my experience, I can say that the big, established names are generous with their time and more than happy to give youngsters and newcomers the benefit of their experience and enthusiasm.

It is grossly unfair to carp about celebrities because they can't attend a function or conference. They work incredibly long hours keeping their own businesses at the pinnacle; they have a second job feeding the media's insatiable appetite for gastro-news; and, in what little spare time they have, they are prepared to turn out for the industry for free. No wonder they have to be selective about the invitations they accept.

I would like to hear fewer gripes about non-appearances and more plaudits for their work in promoting the sector. We can all judge the results of that.

Stephen Evans is chief executive of Food That Delights, chairman of First! Venues, a member of the Restaurant Association's national committee and chairman of its education and training subcommittee