A CHEF from Gidleigh Park has been named as a semi-finalist in the South West Chef of the Year 2015 competition.

Steffan Davis, a commis chef at the prestigious hotel, has been named as semi-finalist in the young professional class of the contest. He is one of eight chefs to make it to this stage in the class.

The respected cooking competition received a high number of entries from renowned chefs based at well-known establishments before its mid-August deadline.

Michael Caines MBE, judge and co-founder is delighted with both the quantity and quality of entrants. 

Michael said: ‘It was very exciting to see the menus submitted to the first stage of this year’s South West Chef of the Year. All chefs are expected to demonstrate creativity, skill and make full use of regional produce, and so far the standard of entries has been excellent. It bodes well for the semi-finals ahead and I can’t wait to taste the successful menus.’

South West Chef of the Year launched in June and is the only regional competition to celebrate the culinary inventiveness and proficiency of junior, professional and amateur cooks in the region. With an emphasis on sustainability, all entrants are expected to cook with locally sourced ingredients.

This year all meat and fish for each class is from companies based in Devon.

Semi-finals of the two professional classes and the student chef class will take place on October 3 at Exeter College. Semi-finalists who progress to the next stage of the competition will battle it out at the grand finals on October 29 at Exeter College.