Meet Ruth Hansom and James Devine: The Young and National Chefs of the Year 2017
Posted by Lockhart Catering
on 10 February 2017
There are many chef competitions in the UK, but the Craft Guild of Chefs National Chef of the Year competition holds a very special kind of prestige.
From the tough semi-finals under the watchful eyes of some of the UK’s most well-respected chefs, to the live finals in front of a massive audience at The Restaurant Show in London, the National Chef of the Year and Young National Chef of the Year competitions aren’t for the faint-hearted – which makes them even more special for those who win.
At The Restaurant Show 2016, hundreds watched as James Devine and Ruth Hansom were awarded the titles of National Chef of the Year and Young National Chef of the Year 2017 respectively. Years of hard work and dedication, and not to mention honing outstanding culinary skills paid off for these two chefs who are now set to be in for an amazing year, and are following in the footsteps of the likes of Gordon Ramsay, Mark Sargeant and Russell Bateman, all members of the National Chef of the Year ‘Hall of Fame’ and now well-established and highly respected household names.
Now that they’ve had time to get used to their new statuses, we caught up with James and Ruth to find out how they cooked their way to success in the live final, as well as how their experiences of being the Young and National Chefs of the Year have been so far and their plans for the rest of the year. And if you’re thinking of entering the 2018 competition yourself, don’t miss their priceless advice for this year’s hopefuls!
James Devine, National Chef of the Year 2017
Northern Irish chef James Devine was sous chef at Deanes EIPIC in Belfast when he decided to enter the National Chef of the Year 2017 competition – and as a total newcomer to the contest he had absolutely no expectations, and certainly not of winning.
“It’s one of those things that will perhaps never sink in!” James told us. “It was massive to win, and being a winner on my first attempt certainly made it sweeter considering that it’s such a rare thing.
“Oddly though, I thought of that as an advantage through the process; I felt I had somewhat an underdog status, nobody really expected me to win and therefore I never felt any pressure. Cooking up there [on the stage at The Restaurant Show] was actually the most relaxed I’ve been in a long time!”
James’ winning menu for the live final consisted of an appetiser of tortellini, roast chicken, butternut squash and sage veloute, followed by Tees Valley rib of beef, braised puy lentils and watercress. To round off his incredible courses, a soft-centred chocolate and coffee tart drizzled with passion fruit curd.
“I cooked food that I wanted to eat, not food that I thought the judges would like. The three dishes were all simple, tasty and warm; the kind of dishes that you’d want to have three or four mouthfuls of.”
It’s easy to see why the judging panel, which was chaired by Clare Smyth MBE and included several more high-profile names from the culinary world, were so impressed by James’ spectacular dishes, but his composed and disciplined approach to his cooking were well-noticed too.
James described his preparation for the competition, particularly the semi-finals as a “learning curve”, and admitted that his most important lesson was to cook food that he was confident in and not be influenced by the judge’s expectations.
In fact, his biggest challenge of all turned out to be getting all of his equipment to the competition. A “disastrous” incident with airport security very nearly thwarted his hopes of taking part, but the Irish luck was on James’ side, as were his family and friends who were on hand to offer advice and support when things got tough – in particular, his mum, who he says had a feeling that he was going to win the competition even before he found out that he had made it into the semi-finals!
And we’re sure he could hear his mum’s words ringing in his ears when his name was announced. You can watch that amazing moment below:
Reflecting on the announcement of the results after the live final, James is still just as excited now as he was when it happened.
“The live final was awesome, I genuinely loved it. I remember saying to Alyn Williams afterwards that I’ll do it all again if they want!
“The hard part for me was the wait between the competition ending and the announcement. I felt I’d done enough and could feel a weird energy in the air, but even with that in mind I’m chronically unlucky and still feared that I’d fallen just short.
“When my name was announced I was obviously thrilled, there are no words that could do it justice. I’ve watched that clip [of the announcement] back so many times and every time, I get the same goose bumps.”
Looking ahead, James has plenty in store for his year. Since his National Chef of the Year win he’s been inundated with job offers from chefs including Simon Rogan and Alyn Williams, but he has other plans. He left Deanes EIPIC at the end of 2016, and has taken up a new part-time role at Noble Restaurant in Holyrood, which affords him the time to plan his dream venture of starting his own restaurant brand by 2018.
As part of his National Chef of the Year prize package he will also be working with Knorr to develop his own recipe book, and receiving media training to get him comfortable in the spotlight, plus taking a unique training trip to Switzerland with Nespresso. He also received £1,200 in Lockhart Catering Equipment vouchers to help him on his way.
Having worked hard for his success, James has some wise words of encouragement for other budding chefs, and admits that there is a shortage of people going into this challenging industry.
“It’s a really hard industry. On paper there are very few upsides and I think people are seeing that now, there are easier options out there. For me, the answer is to make the industry more appealing; the rise of the four day week or something similar is a must for me,” which may drop a hint as to James’ plans for his own restaurant staff.
And his words of advice for anyone planning to enter the National Chef of the Year 2018 competition?
“Cook what you know, and what you like.”
Well, it certainly worked for James.
Ruth Hansom, Young National Chef of the Year 2017
Unlike James, Ruth Hansom was no stranger to the Young National Chef of the Year competition – her will to win has seen her make it to the finals of the Young National Chef of the Year competition FOUR times, and having taken runner-up places in previous years, she was all the more determined that the title would finally be hers.
As Young National Chef of the Year 2017, Ruth, who had been sharpening her skills for some time as commis chef at London’s iconic The Ritz, is the first female to ever claim the title. Unsurprisingly, her success hasn’t quite sunk in yet:
“It still doesn’t feel real to be honest! I feel honoured to be among an amazing list of young chefs who have won in the past.
“Coming second and third in previous years just made me more determined to win. I knew that I didn’t want to feel like that again, so I put all my time and energy into competition practice - I even turned down a drink on my 21st birthday, as it was the day before the competition live final!”
Ruth’s delectable autumnal menu of a seasonal vegetable salad and chicken liver panna cotta starter, followed by a main course of Norwegian fjord trout, smoked eel and horseradish tortellini with roast beetroot, sea vegetables and orange dressing, and finished off with a flourless chocolate cake with chocolate semi-freddo, malt mousseline, chocolate roasted peanuts and caramelised banana, was enough to cook her into a historic win in the Young National Chef of the Year competition, and she admitted that she had to perfect some of her skills in order to prepare.
“I wanted to cook something that was clean and simple, and focused more on executing flavours and balance. I did focus on my fish filleting skills and pastry work, but more so time management; I wanted to make sure that [in the live final] I was finished on time, but also not too early as I wanted to show that I did everything that I could have done in the time given.”
Speaking of the live final itself, her experience under the pressure was clearly to her advantage, as she was able to immerse herself in her work and keep her eyes on the prize.
“The Restaurant Show has an amazing buzz, but as soon as the competition starts, I’m in the zone and don’t notice anything that’s going on outside my station,” She told us. “When my name was announced I just burst into tears, which is totally not like me. The competition has meant so much to me for the past four years, and that was it!”
In case you missed it, watch the emotional moment when Ruth’s name was announced now:
Like James, Ruth has had many incredible opportunities come her way since her win – including attending Madrid Fusion, the international gastronomy congress, and going skrei fishing in Norway as part of her Young National Chef of the Year prize package - but she’s staying loyal to The Ritz, where she has now been promoted to sauce chef:
“I want to put all of my energy into that. I have an amazing head chef (John Williams) whose sauces are second to none, so I’m really excited to learn from him.”
However, her competition days are far from over, as she’s already preparing for the WorldSkills competition at the end of the year. But before that, she has a full diary of events, including a pop-up – and at 21 years of age, Ruth is only just getting started.
And for those hoping to fill her shoes as Young National Chef of the Year 2018, Ruth has some tried-and-tested advice to share:
“My only piece of advice is, you are a chef. It doesn’t matter whether you are a male or female, you have an equal chance to be as successful as anyone else, and don’t let anyone else tell you different!”
If you’re feeling inspired by James and Ruth, entries for the Young and National Chef of the Year 2018 competitions are already open, and we’re sure that it will be even tougher than ever. It will continue to be the competition that the culinary world watches closely for the most exciting emerging talent – the live final will once again be taking place at The Restaurant Show in October 2017, so don’t miss the chance to see the next big names in the culinary industry in action for yourself!
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