Craft Guild of Chefs reveals changes to National Chef of the Year competition

17-Apr-2020 - Last updated on 27-Apr-2021 at 13:38 GMT

The Craft Guild of Chefs has revealed it is implementing a series of changes to its National Chef of the Year (NCOTY) programme in light of the Coronavirus crisis.

While the competition is still set to go ahead, the online entry deadline has been extended to Monday 15 June, to give chefs plenty of time to create their menus and access ingredients.

From there the judges, which includes Chair of Judges Paul Ainsworth, will whittle the entries down to the highest scoring 40 chefs.

The ongoing UK lockdown means it won’t be possible for the usual semi-final stage to take place, and so instead the shortlisted chefs will go through to a new secondary round where they will be asked to present a small signature dish of their choice via a short video.

This dish should reflect their personality and tell a story that sums up the chef in a couple of bites.

Additionally, as part of this second stage, chefs will be sent four supplementary questions to answer briefly and submit online.

These questions will ask the chefs for further information on their initial three course menu, and help the judges with choosing the 10 finalists who will compete for the prestigious title at The Restaurant Show in September.

“We want to ensure every chef has a fair opportunity to take one of the ten places at The Restaurant Show and that the industry really has something to celebrate later this year,” says David Mulcahy, organiser of the competition and vice president of the Craft Guild of Chefs.

“Whilst many chefs aren’t currently able to work, we want to help them use the coming months to learn and be inspired by other chefs, suppliers, judges and industry leaders. This allows them to be more ready than ever to get back to business and take their careers to the next level as soon they can.

“This year, NCOTY isn’t just about winning a title, it’s about us inspiring chefs and giving them hope, strength and positivity during the most challenging time of their careers.”

The Craft Guild of Chefs says it will also be running a series of webinars with judges, sponsors and former winners in the coming months to help support and inspires chefs as they continue to navigate the Coronavirus crisis.

To help chefs understand this new process for the competition, the Craft Guild of Chefs has created a FAQs document on its website.

Chefs can also email any additional questions to the organisers via vasb@angvbanypursbsgurlrne.pbz.

Entries to the competition should be completed on the NCOTY website.