The San Pellegrino Young Chef of the Year UK & Ireland Regional Final

Entering the Waitrose Cookery School you could feel it was already buzzing with energy. While there were people milling around the front, at the back it was all go – the sounds of a busy kitchen letting us know we were in for a fantastic evening of food.

A beautiful spread was laid out by San Pellegrino, awaiting the dishes that their UK & Ireland Young Chef of the Year competitors were to present. Each chef had developed a signature dish of their own, bringing their personal experience, emotion and character to the plate.

Judging these dishes were a panel of experts, each deciding on criteria including presentation, the story behind each one, and of course taste and texture. There was Ross Lewis from Chapter One in Dublin, JP McMahon from Cava Bodega in Cork, Ollie Dabbous from Dabbous in London  and Claude Bosi from Hibiscus in London, who would also be working as a mentor with the winner to refine and develop the dish between now and the finals in Milan. Their refined palettes were to taste each dish developed by the chefs and mark them on the outlined criteria, while we were lucky enough to try the same dish prepared on individual mini-plates. The critera were as follows:

Ingredients – Successfully selecting the best of what the market has to offer with regards to quality, freshness and uniqueness.
Skills – Successfully handling and transforming raw materials into a finished dish that respects its original essence.
Genius – Successfully exploring inedited, inspiring, unexpected prospects/outlooks, connected with fine dining culture with a personal and contemporary style, while maintaining a perfect balance of tastes and shapes.
Beauty – Dish presentation is part of the charm.
Message – Successfully communicating a clear message through work and personal vision.

While you could see that each of the chefs were a little nervous, as you would expect, presenting their work to some of the most respected names in the business, each had a confidence that you get from creating something that is truly your own. They explained their dished to the judges before having a chat with us about their motivations and passions, so we were able to enjoy the experience just as much.

First up to the plate was Romauld Bukaty from Avenue in Dublin with his Symphony of the Sea. Using fresh sea trout pan-fried with shallot & clam cream, it was complemented with a candy beetroot purée, crushed potatoes, beetroot foam and truffle salsify. Next up was an Octopus and Celery Salad from Francesco Simone Sodano of Annabel’s Club in London, using a flavourful octopus broth to cook the grain, the dish was a celebration of the simplicity of the ingredients inspired by his home town with a flourish of tentacle creating a spectacle on the plate. George Kataras of M Restaurants in London was next with a beautiful Whole Turbot, an elegantly simple dish, beautifully flavoured and with something that really made it stand out. The brilliant-yellow courgette purée set it off brilliantly. Ian Musgrave of The Ritz then presented his Glouchester Old Spot Pork, Langoustines, Hispi Cabbage & Apple dish to the judges, and ourselves. Bringing together land and sea with earthy tones from the pork sauce, cabbage, apple jelly and carrot purée.

At this point we were grateful at the portions being the size they were – it would have been criminal to have been too stuffed to fully enjoy each of the fine dishes these talented chefs has prepared. Coming up was a Pigeon, Honey, Truffle & Carrot dish from Brandon Clemens of Kaspar’s At The Savoy in London, whose truffle cake and trifecta of roasted, pickled and purée carrots set off the game perfectly. Adam Handling of The Frog in E1 presented his Burnt Beef, comprising of rare ribeye steak alongside strong flavours of artichoke purée, artichokes barigoule, burnt leek powder and a treacle onion purée offset with a striking black cracker. Following this we had our only female chef of the evening, Cornelian Süehr of The Grill at The Dorchester with a beautiful Home cured, cold smoked Rainbow Trout with beetroot, horseradish, Granny Smith apple and white bread, inspired by the first restaurant she ever worked at in a little museum dedicated to the old art of home curing, dating back hundreds of years. Curing the meat and fish exactly as it had been done in the past, the restaurant was pivotal in her understanding of the craft and this has certainly served her well here.

Following this Gareth Ruck of Hogan Lovells Fine Dining in London brought us his Salt Marsh Lamb, including the kidneys and sweetbreads for a full experience, alongside salt-baked celeriac purée, heritage carrots, samphire, wild asparagus, garlic shoots and a rosemary sauce. The penultimate dish was the ‘Polish Lynx’ in the forest with a ‘Pigeon’ in the leaves & ‘Goose’ with ‘Saber’ from Lukasz Wacirz of Llangoed Hall in Wales. The Lynx Pigeon from his home country was served with traditional vegetables with a twist, modernising and reimagining the ingredients. Pine caviar, swede and sour milk purée, green beans, cabbage leaves with buckwheat and plum purée, as well as mistletoe, goose and horseradish with beetroot foam – a beautiful dish. Finally Alfonso Guigliano of The Cornerstone Restaurant in Cork presented his dish, After The Storm, an imagining of the seashore after the storm with ‘sand’ and a ‘rainbow’ of zesty dressing with a wealth of seafood. This included smoked mackerel fillet mousse, roasted langoustines, smoked mussels, dry mackerel skin and seaweed.

It was a very close call and the judges took their time deliberating on the winner while the finalists waited, nervously holding a glass of champagne and trying to relax – not an easy task after so much work and dedication had been put in by each and every one of them.. Finally, a definitive winner (and personal favourite) was chosen in George Katras with the melt in the mouth Whole Turbot dish. Having stood out during the tastings for most everyone, this felt like a very deserving winner among strong competition.

We were also lucky enough to chat to last year’s winner, Mark Moriarty who spoke about the opportunity that the San Pellegrino Young Chef competition has given him since winning. Mark has been able to take his pop-up restaurant all over the world, sharing his dishes with new countries and continents, and collaborating with other contestants in last year’s final. This element of working together shows the wonderful aspect of camaraderie that competitions like this have, and an excellent model for the future of the business.

Overall it was a wonderful experience to be able to share with these young chefs, and we know that each will go far in their field – they have the drive and determination to get ahead, along with the support of their fantastic restaurants.

Congratulations to all the contestants, and good luck to George in Milan’s final.