The judging panel for Foodservice’s Chef of the Year competition has been revealed.
Held from 27-29 May, John McFadden from Criniti’s will return as head judge, with Adam Moore (corporate chef) and Nick Whitehouse (Epping Club) completing the expert panel.
Guest judges will join the panel over the three-day competition and will include Karen Doyle and Steve Belcher from Le Cordon Bleu Sydney, Julio Azzerello from Gourmand Providore, 2016 winner Matthew Weller and chef and owner of Bloodwood and Popla, Claire Van Vuuren.
“It is important to have consistency of judging with three chefs across every heat over the three days,” says competition director Gary Farrell.
“It’s also very useful to have some fresh eyes and palates appearing for heats, semi-finals and the grand finale.”
Chefs will be judged on their finished dishes, technique, hygiene, food safety practices and bench work.
“I think this is a remarkable opportunity for chefs — it’s all about your technical ability being applied in a tight time frame, it really pushes your boundaries,” says McFadden.
Entries for Chef of the Year close at 9pm on 1 May. There have been more than 120 entries received which will be narrowed down to 32 finalists.