National Chef of the Year 2012 semi-finalists announced
The chefs, who work in all areas of the industry - from restaurants, to hotels and contract catering - will now compete in one of four semi-finals next month at Sheffield College and Wesminster Kingsway College in London where they will battle it out for a place in the competition's final.
Only eight contenders are able to go through to the final of the national competition, which will be held at The Restaurant Show at Earls Court 2 in London on 9 October, with one winner taking the NCOTY 2012 title and a prize package worth £15k.
One winner of each heat will be announced on the day while the remaining four finalists are chosen from those with the highest scores across all the heats.
David Mulcahy, organiser of the competition and vice president of the Craft Guild of Chefs, said: “Even at this stage, it’s a long road to the final. The calibre of entries seems to get stronger and stronger every year, and this year’s semi-finals are going to be tough. On top of this, every stage of the competition features intense scrutiny by an experienced panel of chefs, this year led by Philip Howard as our 2012 chairman of judges.”
The NCOTY 2012 semi-finalists are:
- Ross Anderson, specialist instructional officer, Food Services Wing (Army)
- Russell Bateman, head chef, Collette's
- Craig Beacham, sous chef, Elephant
- Ian Boden, food development chef, M&B
- Alex Bond, sous chef, Auberge du Lac
- Sam Bryant, head chef, Strattons Hotel
- David Bush, senior chef de partie, House of Commons
- Michael Dipple, sous chef, Cannizaro House
- Neal Dove, executive head chef, The Assembly Room, Marlow
- Paul Dunstane, chef, Restaurant Associates
- Richard Edwards, head chef, The Park Restaurant, Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa
- Glenn Evans, development chef, Reynolds Catering Supplies
- Premila Fernando, junior sous chef, Barbecoa
- Justin Galea, executive chef, Turnberry Hotel
- Maarten Geschwindt, head chef, The Winter Garden, Landmark Hotel
- Chris Golding, head chef, The Ampersand Hotel
- Hayden Groves, executive chef, BaxterStorey
- Anthony Hinds, junior sous chef, Stanneylands Hotel
- John Howie, head chef, Sodexo Prestige
- Imthiaz Kader, executive chef, Park Plaza Westminster Bridge
- Selin Kiazim, head chef, Kopapa
- Ashwani Kumar, head chef, Mango Lounge
- Paul Matthews, sous chef, Restaurant Associates
- Joe McCafferty, sous chef, Roka
- Martin Nisbet, head chef, Angelus
- Robert Oberhoffer, chef-owner, The Dove
- Paul O'Malley, senior sous chef, Butchershop Bar & Grill
- Andrew Scott, head chef, Mallory Court Hotel
- Andrew Smith, senior sous chef, Thackerays
- Lionel Strub, head chef, Mirabelle
- Zoltan Szabo, senior sous chef, Grand Central Hotel
- Wayne Thomson, chef-patron, No.9 Church Street
- Dan Towell, head chef, Elior UK
- Dez Turland, group development chef, Brend Hotels
- Julian Tworek, senior sous chef, Hyatt Regency The Churchill Hotel
- Ernst Van Zyl, head chef, Etrop Grange Hotel
- Ben Williams, head chef, Read's Restaurant with Rooms
- Alyn Williams, head chef-patron, Alyn Williams at The Westbury
- Andrew Wong, chef, Bumbles
- Andy Wright, junior sous chef, Restaurant 23
NCOTY is open to all chefs who are 23 years or older on 1 April in the year of the competition. They can work in any sector of the catering industry, including hotels, restaurants, pubs, universities and in contract catering.
Competition categories are divided up into Asian/Oriental, Modern British/European and Rest of the World/Other. Previous winners of the competition include Gordon Ramsay, Simon Hulstone and Mark Sargeant.
