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The competition takes school chefs out of their comfort zone and challenges them to create fine dining calibre dishes.

In the final the contestants had to use their ingenuity to create an improvised dish from a mystery box of ingredients. He prepared a pan-fried duck breast on a bed of sweet potato and beetroot, garnished with radish, broad beans, and fresh redcurrants with a redcurrant jus. 


Dunbar said: “When I arrived on the day, I was confident but also felt a level of expectation as I had finished second place the year before. As soon as it was time to begin cooking the butterflies immediately turned to adrenaline.

“Before the results were announced, I felt good and knew I had cooked well but still couldn’t quite believe it when they announced I had won. A few days have now passed, the reality has sunk in and I’m still ecstatic that I won Chef of the Year. Winning has improved my confidence and has motivated me to push myself further with ISS and see what the future holds.”

The judges included members of the ISS Food Services senior team, along with guest judges Cheryl Humphries, Chef of the Year for 2018 and kitchen manager at High Weald Academy in Kent, and Jeanette Orrey MBE, children’s food campaigner and co-founder of Food for Life.

Orrey stated: “It has been fantastic to take part as a guest judge for this competition that celebrates school chefs. There is a lot of talent here and I was very impressed with the quality of the entries, and it shows that the chefs we have in schools have the skills to cook good food for the children they serve. Congratulations to all the contestants.”