National Chef of the Year and Young National Chef of the Year final to take place on 31 October

20-Sep-2022 - Last updated on 20-Sep-2022 at 08:55 GMT

The final and awards night for both the National Chef of the Year and Young National Chef of the Year cooking competitions will take place on 31 October.

The two high-profile events had originally been planned for yesterday (19 September), the day of the state funeral for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

“Given the national importance and impact of the state funeral, we have postponed the cook-off and awards evening which was due to take place on the same day. Our thoughts are with the Royal Family at this sad time,” a spokesperson says.

Celebrating its 50th birthday this year, National Chef of the Year is one of the industry’s highest profile cooking competitions, with previous winners including David Everitt-Matthias, Simon Hulstone and Gordon Ramsay.

The competition will see 10 high-profile chefs produce a three-course celebration menu.

The starter may be a fish, seafood or vegetarian dish worthy of the special occasion, with judges focusing on the sourcing, provenance and sustainability of the ingredients used.

For the main course, chefs must use British or Irish venison and incorporate more than one element whether offal, a secondary cut or prime cut.

Judges will want to see how natural seasonal accompaniments are showcased within this dish. For the final course, the brief has been left wide open and is simply a warm or cold dessert for a grand finale which provides balance to the menu and has a clear wow factor.

The top ten has been confirmed by this year’s chair of judges Kenny Atkinson are: