International Salon Culinaire is one of the most prestigious chef competitions in the world. For more than a century, the competitions have created a platform for chefs of all levels, from aspiring chefs in training, to experienced professionals who have already established themselves in their culinary careers. This year, the series of competitions took place over three days at Excel London, from 17-19 March 2025.

The event is split into four categories including Salon Theatre, Skills Theatre, Sugarcraft and the Live Theatre; the latter features eight adjacent workstations equipped with cutting-edge cooking equipment, where chefs from across the UK compete in a series of thrilling, back-to-back live cooking competitions.

On Wednesday 19 March, Regency’s Development Chef, Andy Chan and his cooking partner, Matt Dodds, Foodbuy UK&I Culinary Support Manager, took part in The Live Theatre's Mystery Basket Grand Prix alongside 15 other teams of two. Over the course of 60-minutes, the teams were tasked with producing a two-course meal, consisting of a main and dessert from a mystery basket of ingredients supplied by event sponsors, Fresh Direct.

The ingredients list was emailed to the competitors the night before the competition and consisted of a set protein and a choice of primary ingredients for the accompaniments to the main course and dessert. On arrival, Andy and Matt submitted their two-dish descriptions to the judges and they then had 60-minutes to prepare the meal.

Andy and Matt's two course menu included:

Pan-roasted turbot fillet with fondant jersey royal potatoes, burnt cauliflower shoots, wild mushroom and black garlic purée and a fennel velouté
followed by
Blood orange crémeux with roasted rhubarb, lemon and basil sablés and torched meringue.

Despite the amazing culinary talent in the room, we’re pleased to announce that Andy and Matt took home the joint Silver award - two teams were awarded silver with no gold award.