Ten finalists of Young National Chef of the Year 2017 named
Hansom, from The Ritz London (pictured), and Bridgeman-Quin from The Punch Bowl Inn in Cumbria, will be joined by Danny Young of Northcote Manor, Drew Snaith from Brunswick House, April Lily Partridge from The Clove Club, and Daniela Tucci of The Art School Restaurant.
The other four chefs were seeded as the winners of other culinary contests.
They are Reece Cosier from The Landmark London hotel, the Graduate Awards highest achiever; Jonathan Ferguson from Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, who won the British Culinary Federation Chef of the Year; Joel Gueller, from Belmond Le Manoir Aux Quat’Saisons, who scored top in the kitchen category of this year’s Academy of Culinary Arts Annual Awards of Excellence; and Nicolle Finnie, the UK World Skills representative.
The chefs will now take part in the final at The Restaurant Show on 4 October 2016, with a three-course menu for two guests, set to be presented to the panel of judges at the live show. The winner will be crowned Young National Chef of the Year 2017, to reflect the fact that most of their 'year' will be in 2017.
They will also attend the annual YNCOTY Mentor Day at the Knorr kitchen in Leatherhead in September, where they will receive tips on preparing their menus, as well as advice and demonstrations from mentors Mark Sargeant, chef patron, Rocksalt Restaurant, Folkestone, and YNCOTY ambassador; and Daniel Galmiche, former Michelin-starred chef, and ambassador for YNCOTY sponsor, Norwegian Seafood.
There will also be a session on how to best use Norwegian Fjord Trout.
THE YNCOTY competition is open to any chef aged 18-23, and is the younger sibling to the NCOTY contest, which also holds its final at The Restaurant Show.
David Mulcahy, vice president of the Craft Guild of Chefs and organiser of the competition, said: “Simply competing in YNCOTY has changed the careers of many young chefs and winning really is the icing on the cake. We’ve seen previous winners go on to have fantastic careers. It really is a life-changing opportunity for these ten chefs and I encourage them to grab hold of it with both hands.”
Sargeant said: “I do believe some of these young chefs could compete with the seniors as the standard is so high. We’ve got some bright, young talent coming through UK kitchens and I am proud to help them grow through this competition.”
Last year’s winner was Danny Hoang – now at Momofoku Ko in New York, previously at Colette’s at The Grove ‒ with many other previous winners of the contest going on to compete in the senior contest in later years.
