Watching the four judges of the S. Pellegrino Young Chef Awards UK & Ireland final as they receive their plates from the ten competing chefs is entrancing. One judge smells the dishes as soon as they're placed in front of them; others nod, frown, raise their eyebrows or even remain completely expressionless. Needless to say, it's a tough crowd to please.
It's a tense situation for anyone, but particularly these chefs: they're all under 30 – one is just 21 – and they're vying for a place at the global final in Milan, along with the chance to be mentored by Claude Bosi of Hibiscus, just one of the multi-Michelin-starred judges of the UK & Ireland final. Also adjudicating are Ollie Dabbous of his eponymous London restaurant, JP McMahon of Cava Bodega in Galway and Ross Lewis of Chapter One, Dublin.
After six hours of cooking and three hours of sampling ten dishes, one each from the chefs, the winner is announced: George Kataras of M Restaurants, who served up whole turbot, accompanied by sauces made with the fish's bones and head. MasterChef finalist Adam Handling came second with his dish of burnt beef, and Ian Musgrave, currently sous chef at The Ritz, came third with Gloucester Old Spot pork, langoustines, hispi cabbage and apple.
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Kataras goes on to be mentored by Bosi before heading to the final in Milan, where he'll be judged by David Higgs, Carlo Cracco, Gaggan Anand, Elena Arzak, Mauro Colagreco, Wylie Dufresne and Roberta Sudbrack.
Competition was tough – 80 entrants were whittled down to ten semi-finalists. Here's a list of them and their dishes:
- Łukasz Wącirz, chef de partie at Llangoed Hall in Wales; Polish lynx in the forest with a pigeon in the leaves and goose with saber.
- Alfonso Giugliano, sous chef at Cornstore Restaurant in Cork; 'After the Storm'.
- Francesco Simone Sodano, sous chef at Annabel’s club in London; Octopus and celery salad.
- Cornelia Suehr, premier sous chef The Grill at The Dorchester; home cured, cold-smoked rainbow trout with beetroot, horse radish, Granny Smith apple and white bread.
- Adam Handling, head chef at Adam Handling at Caxton in London; burnt beef.
- Ian Musgrave, sous chef at The Ritz Hotel in London; Gloucester Old Spot pork, langoustines, Hispi cabbage and apple.
- Gareth Ruck, chef at Hogan Lovells Fine Dining in London; Salt Marsh lamb.
- Romuald Bukaty, chef de partie at Avenue by Nick Munier in Dublin; 'Symphony of the Sea'.
- Brandon Clemens, chef de partie at Kaspar’s at The Savoy in London; pigeon, honey, truffle and carrot.
- George Kataras, sous chef at M restaurants in London; whole turbot.
