Ten chefs reach the National Chef of the Year 2026 final
The Craft Guild of Chefs holds its grand final at the University of West London on Tuesday, with finalists ranging from a Yorkshire pub to a Highland hotel.
Ten chefs cook head to head on Tuesday for the National Chef of the Year 2026 title, when the Craft Guild of Chefs holds its grand final at the University of West London.
The judging panel, chaired by Matt Abé, narrowed a national field down to ten finalists after a round of live cooking tests earlier this year. Judges called the entries "exceptionally high standard," with the shortlist split evenly between chefs who have reached the final before and those competing for the first time.
The ten are Callum Leslie of the Black Swan at Oldstead, Carl Cleghorn of Tyme by Carl Cleghorn, Cleverson Cordeiro of Frog by Adam Handling, Craig Edgell of Buoy and Oyster, Danny Young of the Torridon, Jaden Dunn of Northwick Estate at Upton Wold, Jethro Lawrence of Apetito, Katie Morgan of Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Ruth Hansom-Rigby of Hansom Restaurant and Shaurya Kapur of Rosewood London. Sam Rust of Parc Le Breos and George Boarer of Etch by Steven Edwards stand by as reserves.
This year's line-up sees a 50:50 split of new faces and former finalists, so I'm excited to see who takes the top spot.
A panel of former winners
Abé's panel includes Lisa Goodwin-Allen, who left Northcote this year to open Pearl Mayfair, alongside Cherish Finden, Hrishikesh Desai, James Sommerin, James Petrie, Peter Joyner, Gary Hunter and April Lily Partridge. Between them, the panel has judged or competed in the contest for decades, and several are past winners themselves.
"This year's line-up sees a 50:50 split of new faces and former finalists, so I'm excited to see who takes that top spot," Abé said of the shortlist. "I'm proud that during my time as chair of judges, we've attracted talent from across the country."
A final judged on more than plating
This year's ten span the UK's regional food scene rather than just London's fine-dining postcodes: a Yorkshire pub-restaurant, a Devon oyster bar, a Highland hotel, a Cotswolds estate kitchen. All ten also take part in a two-day mentoring programme built around the competition, pairing them with past winners and sponsors' development chefs.
The guild runs the same philosophy through its junior ranks: its Graduate Award, handed out earlier this year, treats its own final as training as much as contest.
Tuesday's cook-off is followed by a results dinner that evening at the Hippodrome Casino in Leicester Square, where the Craft Guild announces the winner alongside its wider awards programme.
Whoever takes the title joins a list of past winners who built their own restaurants within a few years of lifting it. For this group, Tuesday is one night of cooking against the clock before the judges decide.
