One big debut: First ever Chef Battle crowns its champions

This week, the Chef Battle made its debut with 24 chefs coming together at the Obsessed Lab and Woodspeen restaurant for a full takeover built to celebrate what our tastemakers do best – craft, creativity, community, carbon and cheer.

Each duo – one mentor chef paired with one rising star – took on this year’s brief, tapping into the theme of sustainable nutrition as part of London Climate Action Week.

In collaboration with our headline sponsor Fresh Direct, chefs were challenged to create two dishes:  one savoury plate championing a regional food hero and sustainable ingredients, and one dark chocolate dish designed to delight the senses and showcase our vision for the future of food.

The heats took place in two rounds where chefs battled it out under the watchful eyes of judges Rik Razza, head of craft development, chef partners Jenny Chandler and Simon Attridge alongside Chefs Manifesto partner Palmiro Ocampo.

Taking the top spot were Domenico Papa and Madeline Clare with their bold pairing of Hodmedods split fava bean gochujang chilli with bao tilla and sticky toffee not miso chocolate mousee. Second place went to Colm Mcbride and Oisin Dougan from Team Ireland impressing with their sugar pit pork chop and stout and dark chocolate cremeux, followed by Flynn Moore and Ukhun Efosa Osemudiamen in third place with their fava Bean Moi Moi and dark chocolate and black bean brownie.

Reflecting on their win Dom and Maddie said: “It still hasn’t quite sunk in. We were competing with some of the best and brightest BaxterStorey have to offer and that alone was a massive privilege. Just as you would expect from our team of chefs, even though it was a competition, the kitchen felt like one big team, everyone was rooting for everyone else and every chef in the kitchen supported the others.”

Alongside the title, the win brings a set of opportunities focused on growth – offering wider industry exposure, international stage experience and time to learn from our chef partners, supporting their continued development.

Outside the kitchen, it was a full sensory experience for families, friends and teams with a front-row seat to the action in a viewing area and plenty to explore in between heats.

Starting the day with an edible wall by Urban Organic, guests picked from fresh lemon thyme and verbena, taking in the aroma before being sipping a sparkling rhubarb rooibos drink finished with a lemon thyme garnish.

Across the gardens, they dipped into live tastings, chef experiences and masterclasses, with Chefs Manifesto chefs Sammy Monsour and Kiran Jethwa leading conversations on ancient grains and the role they play in building more sustainable food systems.

Paul Newnham CEO of the SDG2 Advocacy Hub and founder of the Chefs’ Manifesto brought the live-show energy, roaming the kitchen mic-in-hand, catching up with chefs to talk through their dishes, ingredient choices and thinking behind their plates.

Chef trainers Stephen Selwood and Steven Wilson turned up the heat with a Smoke & Fire experience serving BBQ bites, while head chef Alex Pach created a classic British afternoon tea experience.

Team beverage in partnership with our supply partner Extract Coffee Roasters kept guests fuelled, serving the first taste of our Unity Club coffee – the newest addition to our food-to-go brand, Society, helping fund community projects and charities across our regions.

For our head of food UK, Dan Wilson, the final was a result of months of growth: “Each of our chefs’ competition journey started months ago. Every plate that came out was of an exceptional standard. The difference came down to the journey – what they learnt early on, how they embraced the mentoring and how they put that into practice today.”

Director of food, Greg Bramwell added: “Across the business, we have an incredible depth of talent and passion for food and beverage and giving people the space to show that is so important. Moment like this show why investing in our people matters. When you give them the platform and support, you’re giving them the belief to step forward, grow and showcase what they’re capable of. It’s also a reflection of the culture we’re building. We are creating something special here and in our industry.”

Want to see how it all unfolded? The full Chef Battle video is coming soon on our YouTube channel.