Lucknam Park Chefs triumph at 2010 Craft Guild of Chefs Awards Hrishikesh Desai wins National Chef of the Year & Mark Stinchcombe Young National Chef

Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa, Colerne, Wiltshire is delighted to announce that two of their chefs have won top accolades at the 2010 Craft Guild of Chefs Awards. Hrishikesh Desai, Brasserie Head Chef, was crowned National Chef of the Year while Mark Stinchcombe, Brasserie Junior Sous Chef was named winner of the inaugural Young National Chef of the Year. Hrishikesh Desai, former Roux Scholar, who works with the Michelin-starred chef Hywel Jones, won the coveted title after a live cook-off between nine other finalists at the Restaurant Show at Earl’s Court. Regarded as one of the most highly respected culinary challenges in the industry, the Craft Guild of Chefs judges were impressed with Desai’s menu of fillet of bream, tortellini of duck and bitter chocolate tart. Mark Stinchcombe, Brasserie Junior Sous Chef also fought off fierce competition to be named winner of the Young Chef of the Year contest, an award that has been designed to nourish young talent within the industry. Chairman Harry Murray MBE commented: "Hrishikesh is a worthy winner of this coveted award; he's a very talented chef who has worked extremely hard to develop his skills. He also displays a great passion for cuisine and consistently tries to exceed his guest’s expectations. Mark is following in Richi’s footsteps, we are extremely proud of their achievements and we must pay tribute to their mentor Hywel Jones the Executive Chef of Lucknam Park who has supported them both over the last few years" Lucknam Park is an AA 5 Red Star Hotel and is a member of Relais & Châteaux. In the last six months the hotel has won a hat trick of awards which includes “Team of the Year” from the Institute of Hospitality, “Independent Hotel of the Year” at the Catey Awards and “Hotel of the Year” at the AA Hospitality Awards. For further information or reservations please call Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa on 01225 742 777 or visit www.lucknampark.co.uk For press information please contact Lucy Forsyth or Catherine Aird at Ann Scott Associates on 020 78239988 or lucy@annscott.co.uk / catherine@annscott.co.uk