Grand Jersey executive head chef wins prestigious Craft Guild of Chefs Award

Richard Allen, executive head chef at Grand Jersey, has won the Restaurant Chef of the Year category at the prestigious Craft Guild of Chefs Awards.

The awards took place last night (Wednesday 13th June) at Wembley Stadium. More than 680 key people from the industry attended the event to see 17 chefs be presented with their ‘culinary Oscars.’ The awards, now in their 19th year, recognise the talent that exists within British kitchens today. Established in 1965 as a Guild of the Cookery and Food Association, the Craft Guild of Chefs has developed into the leading chefs’ association in the UK and has many members worldwide.

Richard Allen was delighted to be selected as the winner of such a prestigious award. ‘I am thrilled to have been recognised by the Craft Guild of Chefs; these really are prestigious awards. To be shortlisted was fantastic but to win is amazing. I have had a fabulous 12 months, securing my first Michelin star, making it onto the Debrett’s People of Today list and overseeing the recent refurbishment of Tassili at Grand Jersey. This award really is the icing on the cake!’

An elite line up of judges whittled down a record number of entries for the 2012 Craft Guild of Chefs Awards to reveal a final three nominees for each of the categories. There were 17 awards presented in total, 14 open to nominations, and two that were decided by a special team of Craft Guild member judges. And this year, there was a surprise award, the rare Honorary Award, which was presented to Craft Guild of Chefs CEO, Martin Bates.

Mr Allen, has been executive head chef at Grand Jersey’s Michelin starred restaurant, Tassili, since 2007, and has enjoyed significant recognition since taking on the role. After only six months at Grand Jersey, Mr Allen was awarded three AA Rosettes for Tassili, and has retained them for three consecutive years. Most recently he was recognised in the prestigious Debrett’s 2012 People of Today list, after securing his Michelin star in October 2011. He has also been shortlisted for a prestigious Hotel Catey award two years in succession, 2010 and 2011.

Following in the footsteps of his father, Mr Allen trained at Bournemouth and Poole catering school before embarking on his career as a chef and has since had the opportunity to work with a variety of renowned chefs including Australian master chef Cheong Liew, Martin Blunos and Michele Roux JR - all of whom have influenced Mr Allen’s style of cuisine.

After working in various Michelin starred kitchens, Mr Allen took up the head chef role at the Cavendish Restaurant in Bath where he gained his first 3 AA Rosettes. Following three years at the Cavendish, Mr Allen relocated to Jersey to take up the position of executive head chef at Grand Jersey.

Grand Jersey is operated by BDL Management.

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