The event, which was organised by executive chef Rob Kennedy, saw over 120 chefs attend for a day of culinary workshops sessions, competition and engagement.

A series of culinary workshops were led by chefs including Adam Lestrelle from Coworth Park, Karl Pendlebury from AHDB, Frank Pontais from Koppert Cress and Mohit Malhotra from Rational.

Noelle Jones, managing director of Chartwells Independent, said: “I’m immensely proud of how the day has gone and the quality of food that was on show; a true testament to the depth of talent we have across Chartwells Independent. Coming out of the pandemic, we challenged ourselves to go on a culinary journey, focusing around three core principles – quality, simple, delicious.

“Rob Kennedy has been a driving force behind this, having a significant impact on the consistency and standard of food we now offer across the business. The food stands up when it comes to quality of ingredients and skill of execution – today was very much a celebration of that.”

The focal point for the day was a culinary competition with over 20 participants. The competition included three rounds: two static judging rounds, including a bread category and a bakery category, followed by a live cook off signature dish category.

Entrants were judged by Graham Crump (British Culinary Foundation), Steve Scuffell (Craft Guild of Chefs) and Nick Tessyman (Christ’s Hospital) all chaired under the guidance of Compass UK executive chef Nick Vadis.

Krzystof Mikulski from Redmaids won first prize in the bread display category; while Georgi Georgiev, from Christ’s Hospital received a special award for the quality of their standalone loaf; Sarah Van der Walt from Rugby School won the bakery category, with an incredibly detailed tree cake; while Amy Joyce, from Whitgift School, took home the signature dish, with a Caribbean rum cake.

Amy Joyce, senior sous chef at Whitgift School, added: “It was amazing to get together with likeminded chefs from across Chartwells Independent for the first time since the pandemic started. We’re a tight knit community that’s passionate about serving quality food to our pupils, but we rarely get the opportunity to showcase the full range of our skills in front of our peers and a panel of industry judges, which made it extra special.

“Truth be told, I was incredibly surprised when I was announced as the winner. I’d been perfecting my dish of Caribbean rum cake for several weeks now, but as can be the case with live events, I’d had a few issues when starting the round. It’s a dish that takes inspiration from my roots and a lot of thought and emotion went into developing the recipe, so receiving the top accolade really means a lot.”