Craft Guild of Chefs National Chef of the Year 2014 semi-finalists announced
The semi-finalists for this year's Craft Guild of Chefs National Chef of the Year awards have been announced, including chefs from Lucknam Park Hotel, restaurant Gymkhana, Unilever and the Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons.
The 40 chefs will now go on to compete in the semi-finals of the competition this summer, after being selected in the paper judging round. The contest brief was to submit plans for a four-person lunch menu, which had to reflect Asian, Oriental, British, Modern European and Rest of the World styles.
It also had to include a vegetable-based starter, locally-sourced fish for the main course, and a dessert using summer fruits.
A panel of judges will now go on to decide the winners, including the executive head chef of Le Manoir, Gary Jones, and Clare Smyth of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay. After the heats on 10 June and 25 June, at Sheffield College and Le Cordon Bleu London, eight chefs will be chosen to go through to the final, which takes place at the Restaurant Show on 7 October.
The winner receives a strong boost to their career and prizes worth £1,000.
Jones said that winning the competition was a "career-defining moment", while competition organiser and vice-president of the Craft Guild of Chefs David Mulcahy said: "The standard of the entries of this year's competition is excellent and we're really looking forward to see how the menus transfer from paper to the plate."
Last year's winner was Hayden Groves, executive chef at Baxter Storey.
FULL LIST OF SEMI-FINALISTS
SHEFFIELD - HEAT ONE - 10 JUNE Sheffield City College, Sheffield
Zoltan Szabo, head chef, Grand Central Hotel
Andrew Wright, sous chef, Restaurant 23
Max Tempest Endicott, sous chef, The Star Inn
Thomas Pickard, sous chef, Swinton Park Hotel
Dylan Wyn Owens, sous chef, Belle Epoque
Robert Potter, head chef, Lucknam Park Hotel
Ian Boyd-Thorpe, sous chef, The Peat Inn
Andrew Gotting, executive group head chef, Galloping Gourmet
Glenn Evans, food development manager, Greene King
Slawomir Mikolajczyk, head chef, Winteringham Fields
Dion Jones, head chef, Crewe Hall Hotels
LONDON - HEAT TWO - 25 June - Le Cordon Bleu, London
Kyle Jenkins, sous chef, La Trompette
Paul O'Neill, senior sous chef, Ashdown Park Hotel
Andrew Lagor, business development chef, Unilever Food Solutions
Byron James Hayter , head chef, L'Horizon Beach & Hotel Spa
Francisco Carrasco, sous chef, Aqua Shard
Diane Kay, development chef, Reynolds
Rohan Wadke, junior sous chef, Grand Central Hotel
Saurav Nath, sous chef, Gymkhana
Liam McKenna, junior sous chef, Sandringham Yacht Club
Sankar Chandrasekaran, sous chef, The Cinnamon Club
LONDON - HEAT THREE - 25 June - Le Cordon Bleu, London
Adam Handling, head chef, St Ermins Hotel
Russell Bateman, head chef, Colette's
Greg Newman, junior sous chef, Bovey Castle
David Bush, senior chef de partie, House of Commons
Andrew Birch, sous chef, Montagu Arms Hotel
John (Jake) Burton Stewart, senior chef de partie, BaxterStorey
Steven Wylie, executive chef, Sodexo
Tony Stuart, hospitality head chef, Lexington Catering (Standard Bank)
Scott Dineen, senior sous chef, BaxterStorey
Simon McKenzie, executive chef, R.W. Randall
LONDON - HEAT FOUR - 25 June - Le Cordon Bleu, London
Daniel Morgan, sous chef, The Square
Iain Dixon, sous chef, The Nut Tree Inn
Fabian Palese, sous chef, The Park Lane Hotel London
Al Eggleston, executive chef, Vacherin
Simon Webb, head chef, CH&co
Neil Yule, head chef, Sodexo
Lahiru Jayasekara, head chef, The Manor at Weston on the Green
Maarten Geschwindt, chef patron, Landmark Hotel
Nick Edgar, head chef, Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat Saisons
Elisha Carter, head chef, Café Royal Hotel