Cumbrian Dales Chef Shortlisted In National Industry Awards

The Craft Guild of Chefs has named the shortlisted nominees for the 2022 Awards, which will be announced on 9 June at Magazine, Greenwich, London.

The annual awards are seen as the chefs’ Oscars recognising the exceptional talent across the whole of the hospitality industry - from apprentice and young chefs just starting out to chefs who are established in their careers in hospitality, pubs and restaurants.

Among those shortlisted across the 15 categories, is Nina Matsunaga, head chef and co-owner of the Black Bull, Sedbergh, who features as one of the three shortlisted candidates in the Pub Restaurant Chef category, alongside Simon Harris, The Embankment, Bedford (Peach Pubs) and Nick Hemming, The Heron Inn, Malpas.

As part of the awards process Nina and her fellow chefs are assessed against a series of stringent criteria, including their use of local produce, how they support for local farmers and producers and the wider community in which they operate, as well as their culinary creativity, team management, the way they develop their team and how they have made a contribution to the industry as a whole.

Nina commented:
"I’m, over the moon to be a shortlisted nominee in the Craft Guild of Chef Awards 2022. It’s been an eventful few years and now thankfully things finally feel like they are getting back to normal. As a chef you have to be passionate about what you do, and awards like this play a significant part in helping to shape you as a person, helping you to evolve and develop by benchmarking you against your peers. But it reality you are only as good as the team around you and without their support it wouldn’t be possible to do any of that, so being shortlisted also recognises them too.’’