The cream of the crop of the UK chef scene was celebrated at this year’s Craft Guild of Chefs Awards, which took place at a glittering gala dinner at the Hilton Park Lane Hotel on 15 June.
Vice presidents of the Craft Guild of Chefs Steve Munkley and David Mulcahy hosted the ceremony in front of an audience of 800 industry luminaries. Amongst the big winners of the night were the Chiltern Firehouse and acclaimed chefs Sat Bains and Billy Campbell.
The Special Award, which has previously been awarded to top chefs including Heston Blumenthal and Marco Pierre White, went to two-Michelin starred chef Sat Bains. He opened his eponymous restaurant in Nottingham in 2002 to great acclaim and has since been heralded as one of Britain’s most celebrated chefs.
Nuno Mendes’ Chiltern Firehouse won Best New Restaurant with tough competition from Jason Atherton’s City Social, Kenny Atkinson’s House of Tides and Lee Westcott’s Typing Room.
Billy Campbell, executive chef at Thistle Glasgow Hotel, was voted the People’s Choice after a closely fought contest which saw almost 1,500 votes flood in online. Campbell pipped fellow nominees Allan Blackmore of Levy Restaurants, Al Crisci of The Clink Restaurants, Jiri Koutny of Edinburgh Marriott, and Pilu Pazos of Lakefield College, to win the award.
A further 14 awards were handed out, including the Guild’s new Concept & Innovation Chef Award,whichrecognised industry trendsetters who are bringing food, fashion and style to the fore. This category had three shortlisted venues (Bodeans, STK London and TED – Think, Eat, Drink) which were voted for on the evening, with the winner being STK London.
The Craft Guild of Chefs Awards acknowledge a host of leading lights across the industry, whether they work in a pub, fine dining restaurant, city university, military unit or in contract catering, and even as development chefs for national retailers.
The full list of winners
Apprentice Chef
Ben Garnett-Sinclair, apprentice chef at Lusso (sponsored by Compass Group)
Armed Service Chef
Amrit Limbu, junior chef at 10th Brigade, Queen’s Own Gurkha Logistic Regiment (sponsored by Purple Foodservice Solutions)
Banqueting/Event Chef
Mark Reynolds, executive head chef at Delaware North (sponsored by Santa Maria)
Chef Lecturer
Gary MacLean, chef lecturer at City of Glasgow College (sponsored by Food Matters Live)
Competition Chef
Adam Bennett, chef director at The Cross, Kenilworth (sponsored by C&C Catering Equipment)
Contract Catering Chef
Mark Cheetham, executive chef, Sodexo UK (sponsored by Kerry Foods)
Craft Guild’s Concept & Innovation Chef Award
STK London (sponsored by Jestic Foodservice Equipment)
Development Chef
Antony Bennett, head of food development, La Tasca Restaurant Group (sponsored by McCain Foods)
Ethnic Chef
Stephen Gomes, chef/patron at Moksh (sponsored by Nayati)
New Restaurant of the Year
Nuno Mendes, Chiltern Firehouse (sponsored by Jelf Insurance)
Pastry Chef
Daniel Pearse, head pastry chef at Hakkasan (sponsored by Carpigiani UK)
People’s Choice
Billy Campbell, executive chef at Thistle Glasgow Hotel (sponsored by Nisbets)
Pub Restaurant Chef
Ray Brenner, head chef at The Peach Pub Company (sponsored by Bidvest 3663)
Public Sector Chef
Rob Bean, executive head chef at University of Leicester (sponsored by Theos Food Company)
Restaurant Chef
Adam Smith, head chef at Devonshire Arms Country House Hotel (sponsored by Gram UK)
Young Chef
Craig Bateman, chef at Compass Group UK & Ireland (sponsored by Falcon Williams)
Special Award
Sat Bains, Sat Bains with Rooms (sponsored by Sodexo)
The prestigious awards ceremony were even more the richer for being held in the ‘golden’ year of the Guilds’ 50th anniversary. For more information on the 2015 Awards including all those that were shortlisted click here