Simon Hulstone Wins Knorr National Chef of the Year 2008

Simon Hulstone, Chef Proprietor of The Elephant Restaurant in Torquay won the KNORR National Chef of the Year contest.

Link: The Elephant Restaurant, Torquay

The final was held at The Restaurant Show at London's Earls Court in October. Hulstone created a dish from a mystery basket of ingredients.

The winning chef was described by the judges as "…someone who demonstrates exceptional technical skill and produces food with flavour, texture, balance and style that is second-to-none."

SIMON'S WINNING MENU

Starter – Low temperature egg with toffee pea cream and black pudding croquette

Fish Course – Steamed grey mullet with crab and chilli mousse, mussels and citrus butter sauce

Main Course – Loin of rabbit with savoy cabbage and parsnip puree

Dessert – Date pudding with salted butter caramel ice cream

The judging panel awarded Clark Crawley for creating the best starter, Steve Allen, Head Chef of London's Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's was praised for the best fish course, David Kennedy was applauded for his best main course, and Simon Hulstone, Chef Proprietor of The Elephant Restaurant in Torquay, was congratulated for devising the best dessert.

David Mulcahy, Vice President Craft Guild of Chefs, said: "We have experienced a phenomenal day with each and every one of the eight finalists giving it their all in this, the climax of the KNORR National Chef of the Year 2008 competition.

"However, there can only be one winner and the judges' decision was unanimous. Simon delivered an outstanding menu under the pressurised spotlight only competition conditions bring, and our heartfelt congratulations go out to him on his tremendous victory."

The mystery basket ingredients included:

• Rabbit
• 2 x Grey Mullet
• 500g Mussels
• 4 x Corn-fed Chicken Legs
• 100g Streaky Bacon
• 4 x Large Potatoes
• 4 x Large Parsnips
• 500g Pumpkin
• 1 x Savoy Cabbage
• 4 x Portobello Mushrooms
• 1 x Celeriac
• 1 x Bag of Baby Spinach
• 3 x Chillies
• 1 x Lemon Grass

The eight finalists were:

• David Kennedy, Chef Proprietor of Black Door Restaurant in Newcastle
• Steve Allen, Head Chef of London's Gordon Ramsay at Claridge's
• Frederick Forster, Head Chef, Le Boudin Blanc, London
• Clark Crawley, Sous Chef at Barclays Wealth, London
• Simon Hulstone, Chef Proprietor of The Elephant Restaurant in Torquay
• Ian Boden, Head Chef at Limes Restaurant, Derby
• Andreas Wingert, Senior Sous Chef at Lucknam Park Hotel, Colerne, Wiltshire
• Brian Canale, Head Chef at Heritage Portfolio, Edinburgh

News item | Published 8 Jan 2009