Eight finalists announced for Parliamentary Pub Chef Awards

John Calton of Great British Pub Awards Best Food Pub-winning site the Staith House, North Shields, Gordon Jones of the Brit Pub, Port Talbot, Milan Hukal of the Dog Inn, Grundisburgh and Michele Cremona of the Candlemaker, Battersea were nominated for the Parliamentary Pub Chef award by their local MPs and shortlisted for the awards by a panel of industry judges.

Gordon Stott of the Sun Inn, Dummer, Robert Yuill of the D’Arcy Thompson, Dundee, Edward Hackland of the Waggon, Halam and Matt Long of the Raglan Arms, Llandenny were shortlisted for the Parliamentary Young Pub Chef of the Year award.

Impressed​

BBPA chief executive Brigid Simmons said: “We were so impressed with the quality of the chefs we saw and it was a tough task to reduce the field to eight brilliant finalists.

“Pubs are increasingly serving very high quality food – as the nominees for this competition have shown – and for ambitious chefs, it’s a great chance to take control of your own kitchen.”

The finalists are now set to face-off at a cook-off at the Vintry, London, in January, where they will cook for a panel of judges including Michelin-starred chefs.

Outstanding​

Andrew Griffiths, chair of the All-Parliamentary Beer Group, said: “This is the first time that the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group has asked MPs to take part in this competition and the response has been outstanding.

“I hope this will turn out to be an annual event and can only help to raise the profile of the pub industry and build a relationship and an understanding between MPs and pub operators.”