12 National Chef of the Year finalists announced
The Craft Guild of Chefs has announced the 12 finalists for the 2024 National Chef of the Year (NCOTY) competition.
Judges said the standard of entries was so high it was one of the closest semi-finals in the contest's history.
In previous years, ten chefs have made it through to the final, but chair of judges Kenny Atkinson requested that 12 entrants be given the opportunity to cook their dishes for the judges.
Competitors were challenged with creating an original three-course menu and had to create a signature vegan dish based on the theme ‘One Humble Ingredient'.
They also had to answer questions from the judges about why they chose to enter their dishes and what winning would mean to them.
The 12 chefs will go on to compete in a live final at the University of West London on 10 October.
The finalists for this year are:
• Alex Angelogiannis, the Glenturret Restaurant by Lalique
• Ben Boeynaems, the Beaumont Hotel
• Charlotte Vincent, the Candlelight Inn
• Cleverson Cordeiro, Frog by Adam Handling
• Grahame Wickham, Guards Polo Club
• Jethro Lawrence, Apetito UK
• Karl O'Dell, the Monarch
• Mark McCabe, the Ethicurean
• Matthew Smith, Inver restaurant
• Paul Leonard, the Forest Side
• Ruth Hansom Rigby, Swinton Estate
• Simon Webb, BaxterStorey
Two chefs have also been confirmed as reserves for the final, Yiannis Mexis from Hide and Jozef Rogulski from the Stafford.
Atkinson said: "The standard of dishes was genuinely mind-blowing from the semi-finalists and so when we put the scores from both rounds together, we had a real challenge on our hands.
"As chair of judges, I knew I needed to taste the dishes of every single one of these finalists which is why we've increased the number of chefs still in the running.
"The results have been so close to call in both judging rounds so I would say to every chef who hasn't made it through to try again as you've absolutely risen to the challenge and next year it could be you in this position."
Last year's NCOTY winner was Ben Murphy, chef patron at Launceston Place in London.
