Young chefs and waiters from Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant empire dominate the line-up for the 2009 Young Chef, Young Waiter (YCYW) competition as the regional finalists are revealed.
Organised by the Restaurant Association and in its 25th year, the YCYW competition has been tipped to be the most exciting yet, as participants from some of the country’s leading restaurants battle it out for the chance to win £2k and an educational trip to Parma, Italy.
Competitors will participate in one of four regional heats, two of which are held in the north and two in the south. The regional chef finals will be held at Darlington College on 9 September and Thames Valley University, London on 16 September, while the regional waiter heats will take place at Seaham Hotel, Co. Durham on 10 September and Cliveden, Berkshire, on 17 September.
Successful entrants will then go through to be scrutinized by this year’s judges Jean-Claude Breton, Simon King, Anthony Demetre, Angela Hartnett, Theo Randall and David Everett Matthias at the final held at Westminster Kingsway College on 6 October.
This year’s Young Chef, Young Waiter regional finalists are:
Chef competitors:
Liam Finnegan, The Bath Priory
Rose Greene, Le Champignon Sauvage
Amy Heward, Winteringham Fields
Lahiru Jayasekara, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons
Jonas Lodge, London Road Restaurant
Daniel Miles, Lucknam Park
Sally Shawarby, Damson
Andrew Stanwix, Manor House Hotel
Mark Stinchcombe, Lucknam Park
Ciaran Sweeney, Le Champignon Sauvage
Daniel Taylor, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons
Jenny Thoden, The Church Green
Lee Brandon, The Ritz
Shaun Dickens, L’Ortolan
Tristan Farmer, Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s
Nicholas Hill, The Ledbury
Ben Jacob, Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s
Andrew McFadden, Pied a Terre
Lewis Rowe, Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s
Erik Scheffler, Restaurant Gordon Ramsay
Tom Sellers, Trinity Restaurant
Ben Spalding, L’Autre Pied
Eliza Thomas, Jackson Gilmour
Sally Webster, Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s
Waiter competitors:
Daniel Campbell, Number One Restaurant
Thomas Garlick, The Highwayman Inn
Catherine Hudson, The Longridge Restaurant
Guillaume Kerherve, Cliveden House Hotel
Mario Kraxner, The Devonshire Arms
Karen Metcalfe, The General Tarleton
Mayta Meza-Cumpa, Hotel du Vin Birmingham
Harald Prock, Mosimann’s Dining Club
Matthew Randall, The Fairmount St Andrews
Stephanie Ronssin, Le Champignon Sauvage
Peter Saunders, Northcote Manor
Franz Zimmerman, The Greenway Hotel
Chris Aspinall, Skylon
Matthew Balman, Gidleigh Park
Patrick Boisseau, Ambassade de L’ile
Andrew Cleary, The Ritz Hotel
Ludivine Common, The Goring Hotel
Sarah Cooper, The Ledbury
Julie Doig, Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s
Davide Durante, The Ritz Hotel
Marco Fusato, The Ritz Hotel
Elizabeth Lanzl, Gordon Ramsay at Claridge’s
Fiachra Martin, Mandarin Oriental Hotel
Peter Welling, Shrigley Hall Hotel