Metzger was automatically seeded a place in the final after winning the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts Young Chef of the Year award. He joins fellow seeded chefs Julien Pickersgill, British Culinary Federation Young Chef of the Year, and Josh Bingham, highest achiever at the Craft Guild of Chefs Graduate Awards, and the five young chefs selected from the semi-final heats last month.

The chefs going through to the final are:
Julien Pickersgill, House of Commons, London
Josh Bingham, Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, Oxfordshire
Spencer Metzger, The Ritz Hotel, London
April Lily Partridge, The Club at The Ivy, London
Claire Willett, Wyboston Lakes, Bedfordshire
Daniel Lee, Brooklands Hotel, Surrey
James Goodyear, Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, Oxfordshire
Luke Selby, Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, Oxfordshire

They will compete in front of a live audience at the Restaurant Show on October 7. The winner and two runners up will be revealed along with the National Chef of the Year 2014 at an awards ceremony following the show.

John Williams, executive chef at The Ritz, said: “Spencer is a real asset to the Ritz kitchen team with his infectious personality, fantastic work ethic and ever growing cooking skills. He came to work for me aged 16 and has been with me ever since; he is a fine young chef of whom I am immensely proud, I have no doubt that he will put absolutely everything into the Craft Guild of Chefs Young National Chef of the Year.”

For more information visit, www.craftguildofchefs.org or follow @TNCOTY #YNCOTY on Twitter.