The winners have been announced for the first Young Chef Young Waiter Cayman Islands competition with title sponsor The Watermark and in partnership with the GREAT campaign. The competition was open to chefs and waiters who are local Caymanians from any background working in the hospitality industry. The two winners will go on to compete in the spectacular World YCYW Final in Monaco, 15 – 16 November 2022.
Young Chef Young Waiter Cayman Islands Winning Chef is Brittney Bodden of Tomfoodery Kitchen
Young Chef Young Waiter Cayman Islands Winning Waiter is Laurent Bodden of Grand Old House
The competition was held at The Ritz Carlton in the Blue by Eric Ripert restaurant. The three chefs were challenged to cook three courses for the VIP lunch using local ingredients including local Guava, Niman Ranch beef and local snapper. The three waiters competed in six challenges before preparing for a VIP lunch where they each served a table of four guests. Chefs had to cook three courses based on local ingredients – Hon. Bernie Bush, the Minister for Youth, Sports, Culture & Heritage was the guest of honour at the lunch.
The awards were presented at The Ritz Carlton in the evening to the first, second and third place winners. The first and second place chefs and waiters will now be taking part in The Cayman Cookout in January, when Young Chef Young Waiter Cayman Islands 2023 will also launch.
Second Place Young Chef for Cayman Islands is Kristofer Mason of The Brasserie
Second Place Young Waiter for Cayman Islands is Ahmed Myles of Grand Old House
Third Place Young Chef for Cayman Islands is Anastascio Mena-Hebbert of Parcel 110
Third Place Young Waiter for Cayman Islands is Jerome Tutor of The Ritz-Carlton
World Young Chef Young Waiter Competition!
Our winners Brittney Bodden and Laurent Bodden will now advance to the the World Final in Monaco scheduled for 16 November 2022 where they will join finalists from eight countries in a spectacular one-day event. Our eight chef and eight waiter finalists will design a winning menu and serve their national dishes to an internationally acclaimed judging panel to include Jason Atherton
There will be an Olympic style celebration in the evening at The Maybourne Riviera to crown the winning Chef and Waiter with top VIP dignitaries from Monaco
The competition focused on sustainability in hospitality plus supported the education and development of home grown talent. Young Chef Young Waiter Cayman Islands is supported by The Watermark, Grand Old House and The Wharf, Tillies and Palm Heights Grand Cayman BWI, Ogier and the Cayman Island Government.
The Young Chef Young Waiter competition was established in 1979 in the UK to promote hospitality as a career of choice, a profession and a vocation. World Young Chef Young Waiter was launched in 2022 to extend the competition around the globe with a World Final scheduled for November 2022 in Monaco.
Judges:
Judges include the most respected chefs and front of house staff in the Cayman Islands including Chef Jake Brodski of Tillies, Chef Takumi Murase of Yashinoki, Frederic Morineau Executive Chef of The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, Leonardo Mariotti of Palm Heights, Chef Vidyadhara Shetty of Blue Cilantro, Chef Keith Griffin, Walter Fajette of Agua Hospitality Group, Chrisitan Reiter Executive Chef of The Wharf Restaurant Grand Cayman and Luciano De Riso, Head of Operations and Wine Director for Grand Old House and The Wharf.
Quotes:
Chairman of World YCYW Robert Walton MBE said: “We are so excited to bring the Young Chef Young Waiter concept to the Cayman Islands. This is more than a competition, this is an opportunity to introduce young Caymanians to new ways of working in hospitality with sustainability and community being key to the Young Chef Young Waiter brand. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Fraser Wellon and The Watermark for their incredible support in getting the YCYW competition to the Cayman Islands. The World YCYW Final in Monaco will be an opportunity for the talented winners to meet the very best in hospitality and compete against finalists from around the globe. We’re thrilled to have incredible judges and sponsors on board from the Cayman Islands to support this wonderful competition which has a proven track record in the UK for finding the next generation of hospitality stars.”
28th September 2022
