Former Steyning Grammar student crowned national chef of the year

Luke Selby fought off competition from nine other finalists at the Restaurant Show to take home the top spot. Talking to The Staff Canteen, a networking website for chefs, he said: “It was a massive shock, I wasn’t expecting it at all especially looking at the calibre of guys I was competing against. I was really second guessing if I had done enough.

“It was hard work, I committed to this and the Roux Scholarship and I worried I had taken on too much but I put a lot of work into it and it has paid off.”

Luke also won the Roux Scholarship earlier in the year as well as being crowned the Young National Chef of the Year in 2014.

This year, for the very first time, Gary Jones from Le Manoir was the chair of judges and told The Staff Canteen why Luke took the top spot this year: “Luke had three consistent dishes and that’s what you are looking for as a judge, he really hit it. He deserves it.”

At this year’s National Chef of the Year final he added: “We knew with this line-up we were going to get some great food today.

“The standard year on year keeps going up but this year was a leap and it’s the strongest results I’ve seen for both junior and the senior competitors.”

As the winner, Luke is now part of the National Chef of the Year ‘Hall of Fame’, which represents culinary excellence and offers the chance to meet and work with some of the most exciting industry names.