Whatley Manor's William Keeble is crowned Young National Chef of the Year

The young chef beat Jordon Powell, chef de partie at South Lodge Hotel, who came in second, and George Harding, senior chef de partie, The Atlantic Hotel, who took the final place on the podium in a competition involving 10 chefs in total.

Competing in a cook off held yesterday (1 October) at The Restaurant Show, the 10 finalists were tasked with creating two different vegetarian or vegan canapes for the starter and a Norwegian cod main course appropriately garnished and served with an emulsified hot, warm or cold sauce. Finally, they served up a plated dessert using a classic victoria sponge as a base.

“It wasn’t easy to decide the winner and it was extremely close, coming down to tiny details but I think we’ve got a fantastic winner. William balanced the flavour well and showed artistry in his work,” said chair of judges Hrisikesh Desai.

“He showcased a lot of skill elements that can be easy to mess up under pressure and on top of that his organisation was incredible. He was cool, calm and showed that he has practised and wanted to push himself to the absolute limit.”