Five young chefs recognised in Craft Guild of Chefs’ Graduate Awards

James Newton from the Royal Garden Hotel, Connor Godfrey from Wilton’s Restaurant, Ruth Hansom from The Ritz London, Wayne Herrington of the Landmark London Hotel and Victoria Scupham from The Royal Household all achieved a score of 85 per cent or higher in the organisation’s final examination, which took place at University College Birmingham on 28 August.

Chairman of judges Paul Gayler MBE said: “All in all it was a great day’s work for these talented chefs who worked professionally and tidily. It was interesting to see some of the old classics that the judges first cooked at college being brought back for these young chefs to prepare.”

Newton was the highest achiever with a score of 87.5 per cent, and as such received a four-day break sponsored by Warner Hotels (Bourne Leisure Group).

Ian Spencer, who works at Buckingham Palace, received the Employer’s Awards for Excellence in Training for his mentoring work with Scupham.

The final included a theory paper, as well as butchery and fishmongery tests, the creation of a dish using ingredients from a ‘mystery basket’ and the preparation of a classic main course and dessert.

Event organiser Steve Munkley added: “What makes this competition special is that all of the finalists are able to pass the examination so they all support each other throughout the process and want each other to do well.  Some of the chefs put many hours of practice in between the mentor day and final and their hard work and dedication has paid off.”