World Young Chef Young Waiter and Young Mixologist is a global

hospitality Hospitality is the relationship of a host towards a guest, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill and welcome. This includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, ...

competition for chefs, waiters, and mixologist 28 and under.

History

Since the launch in 1979, the competition ran continuously until a hiatus from 2012 until 2019. The competition was designed to promote hospitality as a career, a profession and a vocation. Past winners and judges include Theo Randall,

Mark Sargeant Mark Sargeant (born August 1973) is an English chef and restaurateur from Larkfield, Kent. Early life Born in Kent, Sargeant grew up in Larkfield, Kent and attended Oakwood Park Grammar School in Maidstone. From an early age, Sargeant's ...

Marcus Wareing Marcus Wareing (born 29 June 1970) is an English celebrity chef who was Chef-Owner of the one- Michelin-starred restaurant Marcus until its permanent closure in December 2023. Since 2014, Wareing has been a judge on '' MasterChef: The Professiona ...

, Simon King,

John Torode John Douglas Torode (born 23 July 1965) is an Australian-British celebrity chef and TV presenter. He moved to the UK in the 1990s and began working at Conran Group's restaurants. After first appearing on television on ITV's ''This Morning ...

Raymond Blanc Raymond Blanc OBE (born 19 November 1949) is a French chef. Blanc is the chef at Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons, a hotel-restaurant in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, England. The restaurant has two Michelin stars and scored 9/10 in the ''Good Food Guid ...

Heston Blumenthal Heston Marc Blumenthal (; born 27 May 1966) is an English celebrity chef, TV personality and food writer. His restaurants include the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, a three- Michelin-star restaurant that was named the world's best by the Worl ...

and

Charles Forte Charles Carmine Forte, Baron Forte (26 November 1908 – 28 February 2007) was an Italian-born Scottish hotelier who founded the leisure and hotels conglomerate that ultimately became the Forte Group. Early life Charles Forte was born as Ca ...

Relaunch

The competition returned in 2019, in partnership with The Nth Degree Global, UKHospitality and the Restaurant Association, with

Robert Walton MBE Robert Walton MBE is a British restaurateur who is currently serving as the president of the British Hospitality Association, Restaurant Association. Early hospitality career Walton attended the Ealing Art College under the tutelage of Victor Ce ...

as chairman and Sean Valentine FIH as Managing Director.

Adam Handling Adam Peter Ritchie Handling (born 17 September 1988 in Dundee, Scotland) is a British chef and restaurateur. He is the owner of the Adam Handling Restaurant Group of four food and drink venues in London, England . Career Handling started his ...

is the current Head Judge Chef whilst Simon King is the Head Judge Waiter.

2019 Competition

The 2019 Young Chef Young Waiter finals were held on 28 and 29 October. The judging panel included Emily Roux,

Tom Kerridge Thomas Kerridge (born 27 July 1973) is an English chef. After initially appearing in several small television parts as a child actor, he decided to attend culinary school at the age of 18. He has since worked at a variety of British restaurants, ...

and

Claude Bosi Claude Bosi (born 1972) is a French chef. His first Head Chef position was at Overton Grange in 1999. He opened Hibiscus (restaurant), Hibiscus in the market town of Ludlow, Shropshire, in 2000 and was awarded two Michelin Stars in 2004. In 200 ...

among others. 16 chefs and 16 waiters formed the group of 32 finalists. Within the 32 finalists were three apiece from

The Fat Duck The Fat Duck is a fine dining restaurant in Bray, Berkshire, England, owned by the chef Heston Blumenthal. Housed in a 16th-century building, the Fat Duck opened on 16 August 1995. Although it originally served food similar to a French bi ...

, The Hand & Flowers and Hide. Richard Henderson from the Restaurant Hywel Jones, Lucknam Park was crowned the winning Young Chef, whilst Alessandro Calzavacca representing the Jean-Georges at The Connaught was named the Young Waiter. The winners were announced at

Quaglino's Quaglino's ( ) is a restaurant in central London which was founded in 1929, closed in 1977, and revived in 1993. From the 1930s through the 1950s, the original Quaglino's was popular among the British aristocracy, including the royal family, m ...

restaurant in an event presented by John Torode.

2020 Competition

2020 saw the introduction of the Young Chef Young Waiter China & South East Asia competition, led by chairwoman

Ching He Huang Ching-He Huang (; (born 8 April 1978), often known in English-language merely as Ching, is a Taiwanese-born British Food writing, food writer and Celebrity chef#Television celebrity chefs, TV chef. She has appeared in a variety of television ...

. The 2020 finals were held at

The Dorchester The Dorchester is a five-star hotel located on Park Lane and Deanery Street in London, to the east of Hyde Park. It is one of the world's most prestigious hotels. The Dorchester opened on 18 April 1931, and it still retains its 1930s furnis ...

. Having originally been scheduled for late 2020, the competition was rescheduled to May 2021 as a result of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic. Theo Randall was the Head Chef Judge, Simon King the Head Waiter Judge with Ching He Huang announcing the winners of the China & South East Asia competition. The main sponsors for the 2020 competition were the

Mercedes Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

Fleet & Business department, who presented the winners with a complimentary Mercedes Benz A Class for a year. Florian David, representing

The Waterside Inn The Waterside Inn, 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 2010 ...

won the Young Waiter category, with Peter Meechan from Gleneagles crowned the Young Chef. In the China & South East Asia competition, Marie Bouquet from Tíng, Shangri-La Hotel at

The Shard The Shard, also referred to as the Shard London Bridge and formerly London Bridge Tower, is a 72-storey mixed-use development supertall pyramid-shaped skyscraper, designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano, in Southwark, London, that for ...

was crowned the Young Waiter whilst Tibor Palast from the Sushi Bar,

Harrods Harrods is a Listed building, Grade II listed luxury department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It was designed by C. W. Stephens for Charles Digby Harrod, and opened in 1905; it replaced the first store on the ground ...

won the Young Chef.

2021 Competition

In 2021, Young Chef Young Waiter partnered with the

Department for International Trade The Department for International Trade (DIT) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom Government, from July 2016 to February 2023. It was responsible for stri ...

. The semi-finals and finals took place at the Marriott Aloft Creek Hotel in Dubai, with the winners announced at the UK Pavilion at the

Expo 2020 Expo 2020 () was a World Expo hosted in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022. Originally scheduled for 20 October 2020 to 10 April 2021, it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Ara ...

Dubai. Adam Handling replaced Theo Randall as the Head Chef Judge, whilst Simon King remained as Head Waiter Judge. Sophie Heyer, representing The Promenade at

was crowned the Young Waiter, with Connor Blades from Ugly Butterfly being crowned Young Chef.

2022 Competition

The finals for the Young Chef Young Waiter England took place on 18–19 July 2022, whilst the World Young Chef Young Waiter final was held on 16 November 2022. The world final, which took place in Monaco, saw the champions of eight countries competing against each other, including the Cayman Islands. Miltan Masha from the Monarch Theatre was the winning chef in the England 2022 competition, whilst Elisa Doisneau from the Kitchen Table won the waiter competition. The winners of the World Young Chef Young Waiter competition were both from Wales. Ali Halbert from Heaney's Cardiff won the Young Chef category, whilst Tilly Morris representing Grove of Narberth won the Young Waiter award. The

Prince Albert of Monaco Albert II (Albert Alexandre Louis Pierre Grimaldi; born 14 March 1958) is Prince of Monaco, reigning since 2005. Born at the Prince's Palace of Monaco, Albert is the second child and only son of Prince Rainier III and Princess Grace. He attend ...

was the guest of honour at the event.

References

*https://youngchefyoungwaiter.com/history/ __FORCETOC__ {{morecat, date=June 2024 Competition