Winner : Simon Wood took home the TV crown . A single father of four was crowned MasterChef champion last night , fulfilling a dream to become a chef that he has nurtured since he was eight . Simon Wood , 38 , battled it out against Emma Spitzer and Tony Rodd as they were challenged to cook judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace a three-course meal in three hours . The final followed seven weeks of tough challenges , including the 'chef 's table ' , which involved cooking one of three courses on a menu set up by Italian chef Massimo Bottura . It brings to an end the eleventh series of the popular BBC weekly amateur cooking contest . Mr Wood , a data manager from Oldham in Greater Manchester , served a starter of octopus with chorizo and cannellini beans followed by a main of squab pigeon served two ways with blackberry sauce , watercress puree and carrots . He finished with a dessert of lemon posset topped with seven garnishes – citrus tutti-frutti , charred grapefruit and orange , a lime tuile , limoncello pistachio crumb , edible flowers , tarragon leaves and a lime air . After he presented the dishes to the judges , Torode said : 'Do you know why I love you ? Because you take something quite ordinary and make it special . ' Wallace said : 'Simon is brilliant , he 's an incredible talent . ' After being crowned the winner , Mr Wood said : ' I 'm shaking inside , it 's so surreal , I ca n't begin to describe how happy I am . It 's life changing . ' Finalist Mr Rodd , 33 , is an architectural recruitment consultant from London , while Miss Spitzer is the managing director of a luxury travel business and mother to four daughters under nine . Finalists : Simon Wood , 38 , right , battled it out against Emma Spitzer , left , and Tony Rodd , centre , as they were challenged to cook judges John Torode and Gregg Wallace a three-course meal in three hours . Mr Wood said : ' I have been cooking since I could reach the top of the oven , and I always cooked at weekends with my grandma . 'When I was eight I won a competition where the prize was to have your dream job for the day and mine was to be a chef . Thirty years later who would have thought I would have the MasterChef trophy in my hands . ' Momentous : Kim Woodward is the first woman to be appointed head chef at the Savoy Grill . A former MasterChef semi-finalist has become the first woman to run the prestigious Savoy Grill kitchen in its 126-year history . Kim Woodward has been appointed head chef at the famous venue , which has hosted lunches for the likes of prime ministers , musicians and captains of industry for decades . The 34-year-old follows in the footsteps of a string of maître chefs who have headed the kitchen since its opening in the Strand , London in 1889 . Ms Woodward , who lives in Camden , said : ‘ It is an absolute honour for me to be the head chef here in one of London ’ s most iconic restaurants . Obviously there is so much history here , and the people who come through the door come here for the classic dishes that the Grill is famous for. ’ At the five-star , art deco Grill , which is now part of the Gordon Ramsay stable , Woodward will head a team of about 35 chefs , of whom some 40 per cent are women . It marks her return to the venue — she was a sous chef between 2010 and 2012 , before becoming head chef at the York & Albany gastropub in Camden . She reached the semi-final of the 2011 series of MasterChef : The Professionals .
Single father Emma Spitzer , 38 , fulfilled childhood dream of becoming a chef . He beat mother-of-four Simon Wood and Tony Rodd , 33 , from London . Three finalists were challenged to cook a three-course meal in three hours .