Dines Out: The best of chefs

So the Brighton and Hove Food and Drink Awards are over for another year and the awards ceremony was as usual a busy and friendly event where the rivalry was good-hearted and the who food industry joined together in celebrating the city’s status as the UK’s most exciting gastronomic destination.

For me the highlight had to be the awards for best chef and young chef of the year, the two categories that I had the privilege of chairing the judging panel. And after that judging I was asked to sum up my thoughts on all of the competitors, so here they are.

The chef of the year award was given to – Michael Bremner from 64 Degrees. Michael is, unsurprisingly, a chef cooking at the top of the game, but probably not his top as we are never surprised by the invention that he employs in creating exciting new dishes. And on this occasion it was that combination of classic skill, modern techniques and pure invention that really shone.

Highly commended was Steven Edwards from Etch. Steven is a confident and precise chef whose seemingly simple dishes are actually the culmination of talent and experience – and that manifests itself in food that is in fact in its construction complex – but simply delicious.

Also highly commended was Duncan Ray from The Little Fish. Duncan’s cooking is based on classic ideas and combinations that he takes to the next level, precise cooking, clean flavours and expert seasoning made his dish a real delight that we kept returning to.

Our Young Chef of the year is George Boarer from Etch. Watching George work in the kitchen was fascinating – focused and clean, his process was a fine example of the intelligent care that a modern chef needs to make it in the competitive arena of modern cuisine. We all agreed that this was a very fine dish that respected and showed partridge at its best.

Highly commended was George Ousley from Isaac At. George created a dish that we loved and tackled the cooking of oysters, a route that could easily go wrong but was actually a triumph. It was a brave and stylish dish that we really admired – and finished.

Also highly commended was Jackson Heron from 64 Degrees. Jackson cooked partridge and certainly got it right, but he also showed us that he is a chef who, whilst working at 64 Degrees has learned a great deal but is also developing his own style of dish rather then simply copying his employer.

These young chefs are the names to look out for in the coming years and we all felt that they had the makings of becoming culinary stars.