National Chef of the Year judges announced

The Craft Guild of Chefs has confirmed the new chairs of judges for its upcoming National Chef of the Year (NCOTY) and Young National Chef of the Year (YNCoY) culinary competitions.

This week, David Mulcahy, organiser of the events, announced that Matt Abé, chef-patron at the three Michelin-starred Restaurant Gordon Ramsay is the new chair of judges for the NCOTY. Meanwhile, Russell Bateman, former NCOTY winner and head chef at the Falcon Hotel, will oversee the YNCOTY competition. 

Mulcahy comments: "The Craft Guild of Chefs prides itself on the rigorous judging process we have in the NCOTY competition, and this is always strengthened by us selecting some of the most influential chefs in the UK to chair it. We are delighted to welcome Matt Abé as our new NCOTY chair and we know he will have a huge impact on the success of the competition. To be able to put your dishes in front of a chef that has achieved as much as Matt will be a huge honour to everyone who enters."

The YNCOTY competition will launch later this year, with previous winners of other chef competitions being invited to enter. Bateman says of this year's event: "I absolutely love these competitions and so this is a real honour for me to lead the judging process for YNCOTY. Nurturing young talent is something I am extremely passionate about and, having chaired the graduate awards previously, it seems the right next step to take to follow and support these young chefs' journeys."

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