Two females win Young Chef Young Waiter 2009

Rose Greene from Le Champignon Sauvage in Cheltenham and Sarah Cooper from London’s Ledbury have won the 2009 Young Chef Young Waiter competition.

The pair were declared the winners of the annual competition at an awards ceremony held at London’s Jumeirah Carlton Tower hotel last night, after a hotly contested cook-and-serve competition at London’s Westminster Kingsway College.

It is the first time that two female competitors have won both titles in the 25-year history of the Young Chef Young Waiter competition. Greene, who came second last year, took the chef title, with Cooper walking away with the waiting title.

Second were chef Jenny Thoden from the Church Green Restaurant in Lymm, Cheshire, and waiter Peter Saunders from Northcote in Blackburn, while third place went to chef Shaun Dickens from L’Ortolan in Reading, and waitress Julie Doig of Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s in London.

During the competition, the chefs were presented with a mystery basket of ingredients including breast of lamb on the bone, lamb tongue, lamb sweetbreads, red mullet, squid, and Chorizo sausages.

Chefs were judged on their choice of menu, on their cooking skills and timing, while waiters were judged on their skill in serving the meal, customer contact skills and professionalism of their wine service. 

Judges include Bruce Poole, chef proprietor of the Michelin-starred Chez Bruce, as the chair of the chef judges, and Stephen Mannock, programme director at the National Skills Academy for Hospitality, as the chair of the waiter judges.

Greene and Cooper received a selection of prizes including £2,000 each courtesy of the Savoy Educational Trust, plus a three-day culinary course sponsored by St Pellegrino at the University of Alma, based in Parma, Italy, which includes practical courses on food, wine and water.

The pair also received £1000 each from restaurant critic Michael Winner, who was a special guest at the gala dinner of sponsor Von Essen Hotels.

Young Chef Young Waiter, which is run in association with luxury hotel group Von Essen, rewards the best young chef and young waiter aged 25. It is organised by the Restaurant Association in partnership with HSBC, the Savoy Educational Trust and Sodexo.

Chairman of the Restaurant Association, Bob Walton, said that he was delighted with the standard achieved this year, which was “higher than ever.”

“All these competitors had an extraordinary talent and we should be proud of them,” he said. 

“Once again, Young Chef Young Waiter continues to highlight the skills and professionalism of the youngsters now making a career in the industry.  They represent a very bright future for the industry.”

Southern regional finalists of YCYW contest unveiled >>

Northern regional finalists of YCYW competition named >>

Von Essen becomes main sponsor of Young Chef Young Waiter >>
 

By Kerstin Kühn

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