Finalists of National Chef of the Year competition revealed
The finalists will cook at CORD by Le Cordon Bleu with the final of the prestigious chef competition to be aired at a VIP red-carpet premiere at the Everyman Broadgate cinema on 21 October.
The final line up of chefs who have made it through to the final is:
- Marc Billings, head chef, Prestwold Hall and Hall Barns at Prestwold, Leicestershire
- Ben Boeynaems, executive chef, The Beaumont Hotel, London
- Ross Brown, chef de partie, BaxterStorey, London
- Iain Gourlay, head chef, Cringletie House Hotel, Scottish Borders
- Elliot Hill, head chef, Panoramic 34, Liverpool
- Christopher Niven, executive chef, Marine North Berwick, East Lothian
- Russell Plowman, senior sous chef, Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Perthshire
- Stefan Sewell, head chef, RAF, Suffolk
- Jack Shaw, head chef, Lexington Catering/ Savills, London
- Adam Smith, sous chef, Gravetye Manor, Sussex
- Thomas Swaby, head chef, Inverlochy Castle, Fort William
- Gary Townsend, head chef, 1 Devonshire Gardens, Glasgow
The chefs will serve their original menus from the entry stage which allowed each of them to tell their story of the pandemic through food.
Menus will include a vegetarian starter incorporating ingredients on the KNORR Future 50 Foods list of ingredients that have been identified with the support of the WWF as having a positive impact on the environment.
The main course will focus on supporting British suppliers on land and at sea with a dish incorporating both meat and fish, while desserts will reflect the start of the pandemic, when ingredients were sparse, and households turned to baking for comfort.
“There have been some truly creative and delicious looking dishes demonstrated in the first two stages of the competition and we can’t wait to taste them in the next round,” says chair of judges Paul Ainsworth.
“This is the UK’s toughest culinary competition and any chef who puts themself forward in these challenging times deserves the utmost respect and recognition.”
Before the cook-off, finalists will participate in an event at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium on 8 September alongside Young National Chef of the Year finalists.
