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Winner of ‘Hungry Chef’ competition revealed

Dan Price, a chef de partie, has won the second ‘Hungry Chef’ competition, open to chefs from any rank across BM.

Hungry Chef

The competition was open to commis chefs and chef de parties, as well as sous chefs of smaller sites within BM. It was launched in 2023 to provide a stepping stone to BM’s other chef competitions, as well as wider industry national and international competitions.

Instead of being multi-stage, which can require chefs to take extensive time out of work, the entire competition took place on 26 September at St Luke’s Community Centre near Old Steet in London.

BM chefs simply had to submit their name and place of work to enter, and all were invited to compete on the day, allowing everyone that enters the chance to gain competition experience.

First stage

The first stage of the competition saw the chefs undergo a skills test and a ‘mystery box’ filled with ingredients, from which they had 10 minutes to design and 35 minutes to cook a dish.

Second stage

The second stage involved the chefs cooking a pre-planned menu using either an aged pork chop, whole duck or Cornish plaice. They had the flexibility to produce multiple courses, or one course served ‘family style’, and had 90 minutes to prepare, cook and present their menus.

The judges

Scott Furbach, one of BM’s executive chefs, and last year’s winner Crenguta Dragan, supported entrants with their ideas and skills training in the run-up to the competition and judged on the day along with BM consultant chef Mark Kempson, head chef of the Michelin-starred Kitchen W8 in London.

The judges looked at dish flavour and presentation, and how the chefs worked in the kitchen including cleanliness and organisation. They praised Dan’s dishes including a roast bone-in pork chop with caramelised cauliflower purée, smashed Ratte potatoes with herb dressing, confit carrot with chicken crumb and pan sauce.

The prize

All competitors will be invited to take part in a skills course with BM consultant chef Adam Byatt at the Michelin-starred Upstairs at Trinity in London. They will also receive two culinary books to support their education and development and be invited to take part in supplier visits.

Dan will additionally get to enjoy a dining experience at Kitchen W8 alongside a range of prizes and culinary learning experiences from some of London’s leading knife, book and kitchen equipment retailers, and Books for Cooks.

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Daryll Young, BM head of chef development and innovation and competition judge, said: “We launched the Hungry Chef competition because we have quite a few team members across the business who have had a change of career later in life, or who are happy staying at a certain rank in the kitchen for various reasons. We didn’t want the amazing chefs that we have at this level to miss out and fall under the radar.

“It can also be very intimidating and overwhelming for chefs to put themselves forward for some of the more high-pressured competitions, so we wanted to provide our more junior chefs with a competitive environment that allows them to push themselves but isn’t as intense as Chef of the Year.”

He added: “The standard of everyone’s food was brilliant and confirmation of why we wanted to run this competition. The reason Dan’s food stood out was that his dishes worked particularly well together, and he worked smart. But most of all, everything on the plate had real thought put into it and tasted amazing.”

Mark Kempson, head chef at Kitchen W8 and BM consultant chef, said: “It was a real pleasure to be on the judging panel for the BM Hungry Chef competition. This year the standard was high and it was so nice to see these chefs pushing themselves. The pressure of a cooking competition can be overwhelming but this year’s chefs did an incredible job and I encourage them all to put themselves out there and enter again. It was a tough decision to decide on an overall winner! Congratulations to all the chefs who entered and especially the winner Dan.”