Hannah Westphalen, Sous Chef at Knight Frank and LexChef 2013 champion, has made Lexington history by becoming our first chef to make it into the finals of the prestigious Royal Academy of Culinary Arts Awards of Excellence (AAE).
The AAE is the most prestigious award available to young people in the hospitality industry today, recognising and encouraging the most talented up and coming chefs, pastry chefs and waiters under the age of 27.
Hannah Westpahlen, a sous chef at Lexington commented; “It’s amazing to have reached the final, and I wouldn’t have been able to get there without the support from all the Lexy crew! The semi-final was a lot tougher than I expected, however I worked my absolute hardest and it evidently paid off! It’s going to take a lot of work and commitment preparing for the final, but I know that by doing my best I hope to come out the other side with the Award of Excellence from the Academy”.
Following an unprecedented number of entries, the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts announced that just 12 chefs made it through to the finals of the AAE. The finals take place on Wednesday 3rd June at University West London and joining Hannah in the final are chefs from prestigious restaurants from across the UK including; Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Fera at Claridge’s and Galvin Bistrot de Luxe.
The finalists will be tested on a wide variety of food preparation and cookery techniques and will be tasked with a ‘mystery basket’ cookery task. The purpose of the AAE is to inspire and encourage young people to achieve the highest possible standards in their profession and to offer them clear guidelines for success in their career.
