Next year's ceremony on June 10 at the Grosvenor House Hotel in Mayfair will double up as a celebration of the awards themselves - all 19 previous recipients of the special award, which was this year given to Cyrus Todiwala, will be invited to the event.
"In the ‘chefs’ circle, it will be the biggest event of the year and I, personally, am so proud of how the awards have evolved in the past 20 years and the way chefs feel about receiving one," Steve Munkley, Craft Guild of Chefs vice president and the awards organiser, said.
"One thing that does need emphasising, however, is that if a chef isn’t in it, they can’t win it, and no-one should question why someone hasn’t been named if they haven’t nominated them. We want to know about chefs that demonstrate outstanding culinary excellence, whatever sector they work in," he added.
Nominations are now open in all categories except the special award - categories remain largely the same as last year apart from the Education Chef Award, which has become the Chef Lecturer Award. Chefs must be nominated on the Craft Guild website by a peer or mentor ahead of the deadline on February 15.