Great British Menu to crown a champion of champions in a first for hit series

Great British Menu is back on BBC Two this summer, and this year - for the first time ever - one outstanding chef will be crowned the champion of champions when banquet diners vote on their favourite dish in the final episode.

This series will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the National Health Service, with chefs cooking celebratory and heartfelt dishes in tribute to the heroic staff of the NHS. Once again in charge of picking the perfect four-course menu are judges Andi Oliver, Oliver Peyton OBE and Matthew Fort.

Helping the judges to select the winning dishes are guest judges who represent the incredible NHS heroes who treat more than a million patients every 24 hours. They include Dan Smith, one of the first paramedics at the MEN bombing; Aneira Thomas, the first baby born on the NHS; Jenny Turner, Britain’s longest-serving nurse and Dr Rangan Chatterjee from BBC One's Doctor In The House.

The competition challenges 24 of the nation’s top chefs to create exceptional dishes to be prescribed at this year’s banquet, held in the beautiful Great Hall of St Bartholomew's Hospital, Britain’s oldest working hospital. Their creations must give the ultimate thank you to NHS heroes from around the country, with tastes unlike anything they’ve experienced before - even in the finest of restaurants.

The competing chefs include returning finalists, a previous banquet chef and ambitious first-time competitors, renowned for their skill and flair in the kitchen. In each weekly regional heat, three chefs must first battle it out to impress a formidable veteran judge whose identity won’t be revealed until they walk through the door. Representing some of the biggest names in the UK restaurant scene they include Michael O’Hare, Angela Hartnett, Daniel Clifford, Tom Aikens, and in his first year as a judge, Paul Ainsworth.

Only two chefs will make it through to the Friday regional final where they’ll need to convince the expert panel of judges that their dishes deserve a coveted place in the national finals - and a potential spot on the final banquet menu.

Andi Oliver says: “I am so absolutely thrilled to be returning to GBM and when I heard that this year we would be celebrating the extraordinary people who work in our beloved NHS I jumped for joy! The combination of culinary excellence from our incredible chefs and the hugely emotional and personal connection that we all have to the NHS means that this will be an exceptional year for the competition.”

Oliver Peyton says: “The joy in everyone’s hearts involved in this competition was amazing. All the chefs wanted to be at the final banquet because like everybody else we owe the people who work in the NHS a huge debt of gratitude.”

Matthew Fort says: “I can’t think of a better group of people to celebrate series 13 with than the heroes of the NHS, and luckily for us judges the standard of the food is higher than ever. Stupendous!”

Pictured: Andi Oliver, Oliver Peyton, Matthew Fort

Chefs and Guest Judges

North East
Competing chefs:

• Dan Fletcher, Fenchurch at The Sky Garden, London
• Danny Parker, House Of Tides, Newcastle
• Dave Coulson, Peace & Loaf, Newcastle

Friday guest judge: Dr Anne Weaver (lead clinician with the London Air Ambulance)

London and South East
Competing chefs:

• James Cochran, James Cochran, formally EC3, London now 1251, London
• Scott Goss, The Twenty Six, Tunbridge Wells
• Selin Kiazim, Oklava, London

Friday guest judge: Jenny Turner (Britain’s longest serving nurse)

Scotland
Competing chefs:

• Benedict Reade, Edinburgh Food Studio, Edinburgh
• Lorna McNee, Andrew Fairlie, Perthshire
• Ross Bryans, formally Corrigan’s Mayfair, London

Friday guest judge: Dr Sara Kayat (GP & TV expert)

Central
Competing chefs:

• Marianne Lumb, Marianne, London
• Ryan Simpson-Trotman, Orwells, Oxfordshire
• Sabrina Gidda, Bernardi’s, London

Friday guest judge: Dan Smith (consultant paramedic and one of the first at the scene of the Manchester Arena bombing)

Wales
Competing chefs:

• Andrew Sheridan, Sosban, Carmarthenshire
• Chris Harrod, The Whitebrook, Monmouthshire
• Jason Hughes, Chateau Rhianfa, Anglesey

Friday guest judge: Aneira Thomas (first baby born on the NHS and retired mental health nurse)

South West
Competing chefs:

• Jude Kereama, Kota, Cornwall
• Olivia Barry, Adelina Yard, Bristol
• Tom Brown, formally Outlaw’s at the Capital, London now Cornerstone, London

Friday guest judge: Barbara Childs (Matron in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Great Ormond Street Hospital)

North West
Competing chefs:

• Craig Sherrington, Virginia House, Cumbria
• Ellis Barrie, The Marram Grass, Anglesey
• Liam Simpson-Trotman, Orwells, Oxfordshire

Friday guest judge: Dr Jake Dunning MBE (Infectious disease specialist recognised for his work during the West Africa Ebola epidemic)

Northern Ireland
Competing chefs:

• James Devine – formally Noble, Belfast now Ardtara Country House, Londonderry
• Shauna Froydenlund, Marcus at The Berkeley, London
• Tommy Heaney, The Great House, Bridgend

Friday guest judge: Shehan Hettiaratchy (Lead trauma surgeon at St Mary’s Hospital, who helped treat victims of the Grenfell Tower fire)

Finals judges

• Starter: Dr Rangan Chatterjee - author, GP and star of BBC One's Doctor In The House
• Fish: Chris Ogden, pioneer of robotic surgery for prostate cancer who performs up to 200 operations a year
• Main: Tom Lynch MBE - paramedic and founder of the Ambulance Cycle Response Unit, a groundbreaking scheme which uses bikes to respond quickly to medical emergencies
• Dessert: Professor Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent OBE, Head of Maternity, Children & Young People for NHS England who has taught and mentored thousands of new midwives

Veteran judges

• Tom Aikens - restaurants include The Pawn, Hong Kong and Tom’s Kitchen, various locations
• Daniel Clifford - Midsummer House, Cambridge
• Angela Hartnett - restaurants include Murano and Merchants Tavern, both London
• Michael O’Hare - The Man Behind the Curtain, Leeds
• Jeremy Lee - Quo Vadis, London
• Paul Ainsworth - restaurants include No 6 and Rojano’s, both Padstow
• Phil Howard - Elystan Street, London
• Richard Corrigan - restaurants include Corrigan’s Mayfair and Bentley’s, both London

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