The chef at Secret Spices restaurant in Margate has scooped a national award.
Raju Kamaly was named as one of 11 to win chef of the year awards from the Bangladesh Caterers Association (BCA).
The award was announced at a ceremony held at the Park Plaza Hotel, Westminster on Sunday (November 19).
BCA awards have been running for 12 years and the chef awards are highly regarded by the Bangladeshi curry industry. The 11 winning chefs were awarded for their innovation, presentation of food, hygiene standards and customer service. They had to compete against thousands of entrants, who were then short-listed to 47 finalists.
The 47 competed in an exciting ‘live-cook off’ in October, held at Ealing, Hammersmith & West London College. From the ‘live cook off’, the 11 winners were chosen.
The award’s night was attended by 1,200 guests and co-hosted by celebrities, film producer Tasmin Lucia Khan and actor Alexis Conran.
BCA represents more than 12,000 UK curry houses and takeaways and is an industry that contributes £4.2 billion to the economy, creating thousands of jobs.
Mr Kamaly said: “I am so proud to win BCA’s Chef of the Year Award for our region. The competition was tough and now I want people to come and experience our food and support the British Curry Industry – cooking is our first-love.”
Kamal Yakub, President, BCA says: “Our awards showcase the talent of these extremely hardworking chefs. They have a lot to be proud of – they are inspiring the next generation of curry chefs.”