Aubrey Allen and the British Culinary Federation (BCF) have announced the 10 finalists competing in the BCF Chef of the Year 2010 at Hotelympia in London’s Excel next month.
Ten chefs from restaurants and catering establishments around the UK will demonstrate their cooking skills in a live cook-off judged by Pierre Koffmann, Jean-Christophe Ansanay-Alex, Glynn Purnell, Kevin Viner, EBLEX master butcher Dick Van Leeuwen and Master of Culinary Arts, Idris Caldora.
Peter Allen, managing director of Aubrey Allen, said: “It is so good to see so many talented young chefs. I will enjoy watching their great skill but I do not envy the pressure that they will experience or the task of the judges of deciding which one should be awarded first prize.”
The ten chefs competing in the BCF Chef of the Year 2010 final are:
- Mathew Cheal, Simpson's, Edgbaston
- Paul Foster, Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham
- David Kennedy, Black Door Group, Newcastle
- Kevin Sutherland, Baxter Storey, London
- Des Turland, Royal Duchy Hotel, Falmouth
- Stephanie Moon, Leeds City College
- Dean Crews, Finesse Hotels, Derby
- Chris Godfrey, The Old Police House, Chipping Norton
- Roland Graham, The Merchant Hotel, Belfast
- Mathew Warburton, Mint Restaurant, Birmingham
The finalists will work for two hours in Hotelympia’s Live Theatre on 1 March to present a three-course meal featuring a saddle of English lamb, for the chance to win a first prize of £2500. Second and third places will win £500 and £250 respectively.
In November last year, Helen Evans from Simpson’s Restaurant in Edgbaston won the BCF Young Chef of the Year title, after competing as the only female in the competition.
Find out what the BCF Chef of the Year judges will be looking for in our video of last year's competition, with Pierre Koffmann, Yolande Stanley and Jean-Christophe Ansanay-Alex: