The Roux Scholarship is a cooking competition for up and coming chefs in the UK. Set up by the brothers

Michel Michel may refer to: * Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name) * Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers) * Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...

and

Albert Roux Albert Henri Roux (8 October 1935 – 4 January 2021) was a French-British restaurateur and chef. He and his brother Michel operated Le Gavroche in London's Mayfair, the first restaurant in the UK to gain three Michelin stars. He helped trai ...

, and now run by their sons Alain Roux and

Michel Roux Jr Michel Albert Roux (born 23 May 1960) previously known as Michel Roux Jr., is an English-French two Michelin starred chef. He owns the London restaurant ''Le Gavroche.'' Early life Roux was born at Pembury maternity hospital in Kent, whilst his ...

. It was first run in 1984 with Andrew Fairlie being named the first winner. It has since been run on a yearly basis, with winners going on to win a three-month placement in a

Michelin star The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

red restaurants including the

French Laundry The French Laundry is a three-Michelin star French and Californian cuisine restaurant located in Yountville, California, in the Napa Valley. Sally Schmitt opened The French Laundry in 1978 and designed her menus around local, seasonal ingredie ...

and

Maison Pic Maison Pic is a top five star hotel and restaurant located in Valence, Drôme, France. Established in 1889 by Eugene and Sophie Pic, the restaurant first earned the prestigious 3 Michelin stars in 1939 under their son André Pic (1893–1984). It ...

History

Colin Page, Director of Marketing, Diners Club UK, conceived the idea of the chefs scholarship with Michel Roux in 1983. The sponsorship of the scholarship was finally agreed between Nick Rowe .DDiners Club that same year following a luncheon at Roux's

Waterside Inn The Waterside Inn, located in Bray, Berkshire, England, is a restaurant founded by the brothers Michel and Albert Roux after the success of Le Gavroche. It is currently run by Michel's son, Alain. The restaurant has three Michelin stars, and in ...

when it was agreed the Roux brothers could front a scholarship for up and coming chefs and that Rowe's credit card company would be willing to back it financially. Michel spoke to his brother

Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

the following day, who said that Michel could lead on it. Michel thought it would be a good way for young chefs to gain experience in French restaurants, which were not open to employing British chefs at the time. The competition was formerly known as the Roux Diners Club Scholarship. Each entrant must enter a paper application, which are then reviewed and broken down into regional competitions. Each regional winner goes through to the final, where there is one Scholar named. Entrants are limited to chefs who are working in full-time employment. Chefs are not limited to applying on one occasion; both Simon Hulstone and

Mark Birchall Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fin ...

competed on four occasions before winning. The winner of the competition is allowed to choose a three

red restaurant to cook in for three months. The Current Judging panel for the competition includes Michel Roux, Jr. and Alain Roux as the chairmen, alongside Brian Turner as vice chairman and chefs James Martin,

Clare Smyth Clare Smyth (born 1978) is a Northern Irish chef. She is the Chef Patron of three Michelin starred Core by Clare Smyth which opened in 2017. Previously she was Chef Patron at Restaurant Gordon Ramsay from 2012 to 2016, won the Chef of the Ye ...

Angela Hartnett Angela Maria Hartnett (born September 1968) is an English Michelin-starred chef. A protégée of Gordon Ramsay who became well known by her appearances on British television, she was Chef-Patron at Angela Hartnett at The Connaught in London. Cu ...

, Rachel Humphrey, as well as former Roux Scholarship winner
André Garrett

Sat Bains Satwant Singh "Sat" Bains (born 28 February 1971) is an English chef best known for being chef proprietor of the two- Michelin star ''Restaurant Sat Bains with Rooms'' in Nottingham, England. He won the Roux Scholarship in 1999, and worked in F ...

Simon Hulstone
From 2016, Each year's National Final has also featured an Honorary President of the Judging Committee, providing unique insight and wisdom to the critique of the finalists abilities. These Chefs are noted for their reputations as some of the best chefs in the world with an emphasis on their passion to help young chefs advance their careers. Former Judges include

Michel Roux Michel Roux, OBE (; 19 April 1941 – 11 March 2020), also known as Michel Roux Snr., was a French chef and restaurateur working in Britain. Along with his brother Albert, he opened Le Gavroche, later to become the first three Michelin starr ...

Victor Ceserani Victor Joseph (''né'' Vittorio Giuseppe) Ceserani (23 October 1919 – 18 February 2017) was a British cook, teacher and writer. Born in London to an Italian father and Belgian mother, he followed his father into the catering industry and became a ...

]
Peter Kromberg

Heston Blumenthal Heston Marc Blumenthal (; born 27 May 1966) is a British celebrity chef, TV personality and food writer. Blumenthal is regarded as a pioneer of multi-sensory cooking, food pairing and flavour encapsulation. He came to public attention with un ...

Rick Stein Rick may refer to: People *Rick (given name), a list of people with the given name *Alan Rick (born 1976), Brazilian politician, journalist, pastor and television personality *Johannes Rick (1869–1946), Austrian-born Brazilian priest and mycol ...

Gary Rhodes Gary Rhodes (22 April 1960 – 26 November 2019) was an English restaurateur and television chef, known for his love of English cuisine and ingredients and for his distinctive spiked hair style. He fronted shows such as ''MasterChef'', ''Mast ...

David Nicholls
former Roux Schola
Steve Love
and inaugural Roux Scholarship winner Andrew Fairlie. The 2020 Competition was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, with a combined 2020/2021 competition taking place in September and October, 2021. Highlights of the competition, including a Masterclass of the National Final dish(s) by Michel Jr. and Alain are featured on The Roux Scholarship YouTube Channel.

Past winners

References

{{reflist, 2 Awards established in 1984 Culinary arts Hospitality industry in the United Kingdom Scholarships in the United Kingdom