National Chef of the Year 2017: Semi finalists revealed

23-May-2016 - Last updated on 26-Apr-2021 at 20:04 GMT

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Chefs from restaurants, hotels and pubs across the country, including Kenny Atkinson's House of Tides, Cliveden House and Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, are among the 40 semi-finalists in this year's National Chef of the Year (NCOTY) competition.

Eleven judges for the competition, now in its 44th year, took 220 hours between them to pick their 40 semi finalists from 159 paper entries.

David Mulcahy, vice president of the Craft Guild of Chefs and organiser of the NCOTY competition, said: "Following the paper entry stage all judges agreed that the standard this year has improved on recent years, and I have no doubt that we are in for a tough competition.

"The focus on a very clear set of skills at the semi-final stage will determine who deserves to go through to the final stages where they will be able to show their own personal innovation and skills with what will be the best mystery basket yet. The National Chef of the Year continues to grow and develop and to reflect today’s fast paced and exciting industry.”

Semi-finalists will compete in heats at Sheffield College and Le Cordon Bleu in London next month where they will be judged on their cooking skills before 10 are chosen to go through to the final at The Restaurant Show on Tuesday 4 October.

Clare Smyth, chairman of the judges said: "Having discussed the entries and menus at length with my fellow judges I know it is going to be a very tough, close and exciting semi-final. On a personal note, I’m delighted to see five female chefs make the top 40 which is the highest we’ve ever had and is something as a committee we’ve really encouraged for the last few years. I hope the chefs will grab this opportunity with both hands and ensure they are ready for it."

NCOTY 2017 semi-finalists: