Promoting Hospitality as a career of choice, a profession and a vocation. Young Chef Young Waiter is a national competition open to all young professional waiters and chefs from any background.
This renowned competition turned 40 in 2019 and we celebrated with a revamped and revitalised format, fully endorsed by UK Hospitality and the Restaurant Association.
We worked with leading figures from the hospitality industry to find the best young chef and waiter the UK has to offer.
The quality of the entries and the standard of performance of every single finalist in the competition was exceptionally high which meant that selecting the winners was a truly tough decision for our esteemed judges.
They participated in the live YCYW United Kingdom and China & South East Asia competitions at 4 London venues on 25, 26 and 27 May 2021.
All 25 Finalists took part in a range of tasks devised by our expert judging panel which includes UK Head chef judge, Theo Randall UK Head waiter judge, Simon King, C&SEA Chair of Judges, Ching He Huang and C&SEA Head waiter judge, Andy Downton
2020 FINALS
The exciting Young Chef Young Waiter 2020 Competition Finals took place in London in 4 locations over 3 days in May 2021. The events had been rescheduled from late 2020 due to the series of UK lockdowns and were run in line with government guidelines.
The Finals: Dates and Venues:
Tuesday 25 May:
Wednesday 26 May:
Thursday 27 May:
First prize for both Chef and Waiter:
Mercedes-Benz London will provide a Mercedes Benz A Class Car for one year including insurance
EVA Air will provide a pair of Premium Economy return tickets (London to Asia)
Wynn will provide a week’s work experience at the Wynn Hotel in Macao including accommodation.
Their Michelin-starred restaurants include:
Second prize for both Chef and Waiter:
Frerejean Frères Champagne will provide an expenses-paid overnight stay in their Maison and winery located in the Grand Cru village of Avize, Champagne, where they will be hosted by Mr Frerejean-Taittinger.
Other prizes include:
2020 winners
The winners of the Young Chef Young Waiter UK and China & South East Asia 2020 competition were announced at The Dorchester in London.
Winners and judges have included some the industry’s great recognisable names– Theo Randall, Mark Sargeant, Marcus Wareing, Simon King, John Torode, Anne and Jamain Swarb, Jeremy King, Raymond Blanc OBE, Heston Blumenthal OBE, The Earl of Bradford and Lord Forte.
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