The National Chef of the Year 2013 is Announced

Hayden Groves, executive chef at BaxterStorey has won the title of The National Chef of the Year, in the prestigious competition run by the Craft Guild of Chefs.

Mr Groves impressed a tough judging panel, including BBC Masterchef’s Monica Galetti, at the live final held yesterday at the Restaurant Show at London’s Earls Court. Using seasonal ingredients unveiled to the contestants from a mystery basket, Mr Groves went on to produce some top dishes, including soused Cornish mackerel, clams, passion fruit for his starter and rib eye of beef, pithivier, girolles, roasted Jerusalem artichoke which made up his main.

Mr Groves now follows in the footsteps of other renowned chefs such as Gordon Ramsay, Mark Sargeant and Simon Hulstone and walks away with a haul of prizes, including an exclusive study trip at a three-starred Michelin restaurant in France. He said: “The win still needs to sink in. I have a few thanks including my great wing man and my family who have stood by me for the past four years. My girls will be glad that they have a happy daddy coming home from work today!”

Judge David Mulcahy said this year’s final was really gripping: “The standard was absolutely top notch this year, which I believe was helped by the mentor day we held prior to the final,” he said. “The day gave our eight contenders the chance to view ingredients and meet sponsors, bolstered by an inspirational talk and masterclass from Michelin-starred chefs Philip Howard and Alyn Williams, a previous winner of The National Chef of the Year.

“Hayden who has been a competitor in previous years and who came in the top three last year was outstanding this year, although it was a very close competition right up until the end even in the judges’ room! Hayden’s determination should be a motivation for all chefs to come forward and compete including our other finalists.”

The competition runners up were Simon Webb (head chef, CH&Co) and Andrew Wright, (sous chef, Restaurant 23, Leamington Spa).

Making it through the paper entry stage, 44 of the UK’s top chefs were this year selected to compete at a series of semi-finals in London and Sheffield in a bid to make the final eight.