Cooking alongside Rhys were Michal Wlodarczyk from The King’s Head House in Eastington, Gloucestershire and Jonathan Taylor and Rian Devaney, both from BaxterStorey – Royal Bank of Scotland in Edinburgh.

The contestants had just three hours to cook their signature dishes as part of a four-course meal under the watchful eye of our experienced panel of judges – Richard Skinner, Executive Chef for Artizian Catering (and Blue Arrow’s first Chef Of The Year Winner 2013), Sudha Saha, Executive Head Chef at the Saffron Group, and Mark Sargeant, Michelin star Chef and restauranteur.

There was even an extra challenge in the form of a mystery fish course, for which all four contestants had to prepare a dish using hand dived-scallops and a number of set ingredients.

Rhys said: “I’m over the moon. A lot of hard work and planning has gone in to creating my dishes and I’m chuffed that each dish looked and tasted the way I wanted them to. I couldn’t have done much more so I’m elated with the feedback the judges gave me. I couldn’t have asked for better.”

Rhys’ winning menu:

• Starter - Venison tartare, crispy quail’s egg, smoked emulsion and beetroot 
• Fish - Duo of hand dived scallops, granny smith apple, hazelnut crème fraiche, chorizo oil and pea shoots
• Main - Pan seared partridge, horseradish mash, black cabbage, date puree and pomegranate reduction
• Dessert - Clementine cheesecake, gingerbread and pickled cranberries