Great British Menu reveals 2018 chef line-up

The hit cooking show will pay tribute to 70 years of the National Health Service when it returns to BBC Two this summer.

Twenty-four of the nation’s top chefs will be challenged to create dishes to serve at a final banquet, held in the Great Hall of St Bartholomew’s hospital – Britain’s oldest working hospital.

Each weekly regional heat will see three chefs compete to impress one of the veteran judges, who this year include Daniel Clifford, Angela Hartnett and, for the first time, Paul Ainsworth.

Only two chefs will make it through to the Friday regional final where they’ll need to convince returning judges Andi Oliver, Oliver Peyton OBE and Matthew Fort that their dishes deserve a spot in the national cook-off.

The trio will be joined by guest judges representing the NHS, including Dan Smith - one of the first paramedics on the scene of the Manchester Arena bombing.

Fort says: “I can’t think of a better group of people to celebrate series 13 with than the heroes of the NHS, and luckily for us judges the standard of the food is higher than ever. Stupendous!”

The full line-up is as follows:

North East​
Competing chefs:

• Dan Fletcher, Fenchurch at The Sky Garden, London
• Danny Parker, House Of Tides, Newcastle
• Dave Coulson, Peace & Loaf, Newcastle

Friday guest judge: Dr Anne Weaver (lead clinician with the London Air Ambulance)

London and South East​
Competing chefs:

• James Cochran, formally James Cochran EC3, London, now 1251, London
• Scott Goss, The Twenty Six, Tunbridge Wells
• Selin Kiazim, Oklava, London

Friday guest judge: Jenny Turner (Britain’s longest serving nurse)

Scotland​
Competing chefs:

• Benedict Reade, Edinburgh Food Studio, Edinburgh
• Lorna McNee, Andrew Fairlie, Perthshire
• Ross Bryans, formally Corrigan’s Mayfair, London

Friday guest judge: Dr Sara Kayat (GP & TV expert)

Central​
Competing chefs:

• Marianne Lumb, Marianne, London
• Ryan Simpson-Trotman, Orwells, Oxfordshire
• Sabrina Gidda, Bernardi’s, London

Friday guest judge: Dan Smith (consultant paramedic and one of the first at the scene of the Manchester Arena bombing)

Wales​
Competing chefs:

• Andrew Sheridan, Sosban, Carmarthenshire
• Chris Harrod, The Whitebrook, Monmouthshire
• Jason Hughes, Chateau Rhianfa, Anglesey

Friday guest judge: Aneira Thomas (first baby born on the NHS and retired mental health nurse)

South West​
Competing chefs:

• Jude Kereama, Kota, Cornwall
• Olivia Barry, Adelina Yard, Bristol
• Tom Brown, formally Outlaw’s at the Capital, London now Cornerstone, London

Friday guest judge: Barbara Childs (Matron in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Great Ormond Street Hospital)

North West​
Competing chefs:

• Craig Sherrington, Virginia House, Cumbria
• Ellis Barrie, The Marram Grass, Anglesey
• Liam Simpson-Trotman, Orwells, Oxfordshire

Friday guest judge: Dr Jake Dunning MBE (Infectious disease specialist recognised for his work during the West Africa Ebola epidemic)

Northern Ireland​
Competing chefs:

• James Devine – formally Noble, Belfast now Ardtara Country House, Londonderry
• Shauna Froydenlund, Marcus at The Berkeley, London
• Tommy Heaney, The Great House, Bridgend

Friday guest judge: Shehan Hettiaratchy (Lead trauma surgeon at St Mary’s Hospital, who helped treat victims of the Grenfell Tower fire)

Finals judges​

• Starter: Dr Rangan Chatterjee - author, GP and star of BBC One's Doctor In The House
• Fish: Chris Ogden, pioneer of robotic surgery for prostate cancer who performs up to 200 operations a year
• Main: Tom Lynch MBE - paramedic and founder of the Ambulance Cycle Response Unit, a groundbreaking scheme which uses bikes to respond quickly to medical emergencies
• Dessert: Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent OBE, Head of Maternity, Children & Young People for NHS England who has taught and mentored thousands of new midwives

Veteran judges​

• Tom Aikens - restaurants include The Pawn, Hong Kong and Tom’s Kitchen, various locations
• Daniel Clifford - Midsummer House, Cambridge
• Angela Hartnett - restaurants include Murano and Merchants Tavern, both London
• Michael O’Hare - The Man Behind the Curtain, Leeds
• Jeremy Lee - Quo Vadis, London
• Paul Ainsworth - restaurants include No 6 and Rojano’s, both Padstow
• Phil Howard - Elystan Street, London
• Richard Corrigan - restaurants include Corrigan’s Mayfair and Bentley’s, both London