Being crowned Craft Guild National Chef of the Year is the dream that chefs nationwide have on their wish list. For Hrishikesh Desai, brasserie head chef at the Lucknam Park Hotel, that dream came true when he was awarded the coveted title at a special ceremony at the Great Connaught Rooms in London alongside the National Restaurant wards on October 11.

Earlier there had been an intense final at the Restaurant Show where 10 top UK chefs aspired to win with their three course menus created from a basket of mystery ingredients, which had been revealed to them only a few days before.

In just two hours they had to transform ingredients that included bream, mussels, squid, Gressingham duck, pork belly, chicken breast, sliced pancetta and an assortment of vegetables for starters and mains, and items for dessert such as chocolate and cinnamon, into a world class menu.

The live cook off saw Desai produce a world class meal of fillet of bream with tomato, aubergine and mussel salad, and crispy calamari, followed by a main course of breast and tortellini of duck with celeriac cream and apple chutney, and a dessert of extra bitter dark chocolate tart with raspberry and cardamom salad, and yogurt sorbet.

Runners up were Adam Bennett, head chef at Simpsons Restaurant in Birmingham, and Frederick Forster, head chef at 44 Restaurant & Lounge in Hornchurch, Essex, who achieved second and third place respectively.

Changing the competition to open the doors to a wider audience proved to be a winning formula this year, with categories covering cuisine styles from across the globe, each one having a chef ambassador to vet its authenticity.

Throughout the final, competitors were judged on technical skill, creativity, use and interpretation of ingredients, flavour and texture combinations and presentation style. The judging panel included top chefs such as Atul Kochhar, Jun Tanaka, John Campbell, Angela Hartnett, Chris Galvin, Peter Gordon, Ching-He Huang and Simon Hulstone.

Craft Guild director of competitions David Mulcahy comments: “This year’s competition has been a phenomenal success, and the revised format has certainly showcased the amazing talent we have in our industry today. Hrishikesh is a spectacular winner who fought off what was an extremely strong panel of competitors for the title. Myself and my fellow judges were treated to a host of mouth-watering dishes with each and every one of the 10 finalists giving it their all.

“With any competition there can only be one winner, and our decision was unanimous – give or take a few debates along the way. He created and delivered a balanced and well thought out menu, which may seem an easy thing to achieve when in your own kitchen, but under the spotlight that this competition brings, it’s an outstanding achievement and we give him our utmost respect and congratulations.”

Mulcahy added that plans were in the pipeline to launch NCOTY 2011 early in the New Year.

As well as the title, Desai was awarded prizes that included £1,500 cash; £1,250 of vouchers, and a study trip to France courtesy of Lockhart Catering Equipment in association with REVOL. He was also rewarded with the contents of his kitchen at the final from Electrolux Professional; a gastronomic study trip to Dubai from Continental Chef Supplies; two places at a VIP masterclass with Marco Pierre White courtesy of Unilever; and knives from Robert Welch.

Bennett and Forster also received a host of prizes, plus each finalist received a magnum of Pommery champagne and commemorative china from Churchill China.