International Salon Culinaire, which takes place as part of Hotel, Restaurant & Catering (HRC) on 21-23 March 2022 at ExCeL London, has opened for entries.  

The competition, which will be celebrating its 120th year in 2022, comprises over 100 live challenges for chefs of varying levels, testing their skills and knowledge in areas such as plant-forward cooking, seafood, sugarcraft, pastry, butchery, cold starters and more.  

The event will also see the return of the Tilda Chef Team of the Year and the Craft Guild of Chefs National Chef Team of the Year, highlighting some of the best chef teams working in the UK hospitality industry.  

International Salon Culinaire is once again supported by Compass Group UK & Ireland as Headline Sponsor, a business which is passionate about the continued professional development of talented chefs, and which has been an integral supporter of the competition for a number of years. 

New for the 2022 competition, and reflecting some of the newly acquired skills many chefs have developed during the pandemic, is the Restaurant Home Meal Kit challenge. Other exciting additions are the all-new Apprentice challenge and the inaugural Pub Chef of the Year competition.  

Salon Chef Director Steve Munkley commented: “I’m delighted that International Salon Culinaire is back and live at HRC after a tough two years for the hospitality industry. We will once again be testing the skills, knowledge and creativity of each competitor, from seasoned professionals to some of the most talented junior chefs in the industry.  

“Salon Culinaire is a fantastic avenue for chefs to test their skills against the competition and stand out from the crowd, so get entering!” 

Over 70 highly respected chefs and hospitality professionals have been confirmed as judges for the competition, including Cyrus Todiwala OBE, Yolande Stanley MBE and HRC Chef Ambassador Michel Roux Jr, plus senior chefs from institutions such as the Royal Lancaster London, the Royal Household, London Hilton Park Lane and Cowarth Park, Ascot.  

The Live Theatre kitchens will be equipped with state-of-the-art professional catering equipment, including combi-ovens supplied by Unox, induction hobs from Induced Energy, and refrigeration provided by Leibherr. In addition, all Live Theatre Best in Class winners and the winner of the Live Theatre Chair of Judges Award will be offered an exclusive VIP study tour of Venice, courtesy of Unox. 

The deadline for entries to the competition is 21 February 2022. To learn more about the full range of competitions, view the full list of judges, and to enter, chefs can visit the International Salon Culinaire website.