The Executive Chef of the Year award, sponsored by Rational, honours those kitchen leaders who are excelling in their role, recognising their efforts from innovative menu design to food sourcing, kitchen specification and roll-outs.
Whether running kitchens in restaurants, pubs, public sector catering operations, for contract caterers or any other professional foodservice business, the executive chef has one of the most pivotal roles to play when it comes to what happens within a group’s back-of-house operations.
We are delighted to announce that the 2024 shortlist includes the following executive chefs:
Carl Newey, Stonegate Group
Over the past 12 months, Carl Newey, executive head chef at Stonegate Group, has been leading four multi-site formats within Stonegate Group, Britain’s largest pub company, and created the entire food and drink menus for the new premium food offer, which is available in Central London. He started in the role back in September 2021 and also previously worked as the food development innovation manager at Greene King pub group. Carl has now grown the premium ‘Chapter Collection’ of pubs to 12, generating a split of 70/30 (wet/dry) and a net turnover of £9.5m for this portfolio over the past year. Overall, Carl is responsible for the food operations for a portfolio of 64 pubs, growing by around 12 pubs per year, with a turnover of £40m net. He is also an ambassador for The Burnt Chef Project.
Chris Knights, Young & Co Brewery
Chris Knights has responsibility for the pub group’s food operations and the development of its kitchen teams. Chef training and development has been a key part of Chris’ remit, with the chain seeking to drive the highest culinary standards. More than 60% of its chefs are developed internally, while a significant number of the 100 apprentices that passed through its doors last year have taken up kitchen roles. Young’s Food Development Learning Centre continues to serve as a hub for the chain to experiment and innovate, with Chris overseeing a menu strategy based firmly around flexibility. Menus are updated quarterly and the company is focused on offering seasonal produce, 90% of which is sourced in the UK. A major focus this year was its ‘Sunday Best’ campaign, which saw pubs pushing to improve the quality of traditional Sunday roasts, and the relaunch of its ‘classics’ menu.
Lee Brooks, McMullen & Sons
Now entering his 14th year with McMullen’s and the past year has been as busy as ever for McMullen’s head of food, Lee Brooks. The experienced chef has created more than 100 menus across seven different concepts, including for spring, summer, autumn and winter. As well as training chefs and integrating new acquisitions seamlessly into the estate, he has also helped keep McMullen’s safe with 94% of the group’s pubs maintaining a 5-star score on the door. He introduced a revised food development calendar integrating the food team, marketing, operations and finance departments. Mr Brooks is responsible for a team of two development chefs, driving them to deliver better dishes and better results. He recently took on responsibility for drinks allergens on the menu. McMullen’s acquired four new sites in the last year, and food sales have grown significantly during this period.
Seamus O’Donnell, The Alchemist
Seamus O’Donnell is the culinary director at The Alchemist, where he leads a business of 23 UK sites and one international site from the front. The kitchen teams are at the forefront of his operations, ensuring the kitchen teams are upskilled, have the best tools to do their jobs and have a nice working environment where they feel appreciated and valued. Every year, Seamus celebrates his teams by hosting the annual culinary competition, where there are multiple competitions being held to showcase skill set, creativity and the overall comradery that can be seen across the venues. He also hosts Alchemist Apprenticeships, working with Only a Pavement Away and some smaller local charities. Seamus has been able to navigate through troubled waters over the past year, with the price rises in the cost of food, continuing to deliver budget GP without passing the full rise over to the paying guest.
Steve Allen, Côte
With more than 80 restaurants across the UK, French brasserie chain, Côte, has been continuing to evolve its menu offering and back-of-house operations in recent times under the direction of executive chef, Steve Allen. The experienced chef, who was formerly Gordon Ramsay’s executive chef, joined the group in 2022 and has focused on using fresh seasonal ingredients to showcase classic French cuisine in his menu development initiatives with the brand to date. He designed a new spring menu for the brand last year, and has followed this up with further menu development moves including the launch of the Côte At Home Alpine Menu and new dishes for the Spring Specials menu this year. The indulgent menu, which is part of the Côte At Home range, features seasonal favourite Tartiflette, one of the most loved après-ski dishes, as well as a luxury cheese fondue. Côte also reopened its St Albans restaurant after a major refurbishment project earlier this year, as part of an ongoing project to revamp selected sites.
The 2024 FEJ Awards ceremony and gala dinner takes place on 18 September at the Pan Pacific London.
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