Young Chef Young Waiter promotes hospitality as a career of choice, a profession, and a vocation. Established in 1979, the competition was relaunched in 2019 in partnership with UK Hospitality and the Restaurant Association (extract from the website). The competition is open to all young professional waiters and chefs from any background. It enables Young Waiters and Chefs to learn and develop skills, progress in their career and build professional relationships with those higher up in the industry.
This year the world champions were chosen from 8 chef and 8 waiters, and the finalists included Wales and England. Other countries include Cayman Islands, Macao, Canada, Singapore, USA California and Ireland. Next year it will be from 15 countries.
The competition is all about challenging and educational tasks that are fun to and is put together by hospitality experts.
UK Hospitality is great, and the perception of British cuisine is different to the reality. We have a diverse range of food and drink and the finest.
Gala Dinner
I was kindly invited to the fifth annual Restaurant Association Gala Dinner at the Savoy on the 28th of November.
The event started at around 6pm. We had a welcome reception with champagne, cocktails and canapes. We got to try cocktails made with NEFT Vodka and have some creamy beautiful caviar from King’s. Did you know the best way to enjoy caviar is from the back of your hand?
After about an hour we were directed to the main banqueting suite. Lit with a beautiful purple the setting was grand. I was on the press table .
There was a selection of butter alongside a truffle brioche on the table. I honestly wish I had a big bag with me because the brioche was like no other. Full of truffle and each mouthful melted away.
The table also had two cocktails set out for us. One from the winner of Team England, Elisa Doisneau (The Earl’s Garden which was a tribute to British culture, transforming teatime to drink time) and the other from the winner of World YCYW Waiter 2022, Tilly Morris (See the Sea, which brought a piece of Wales to Monaco).
During the meal, which was a four-course fine dining one, we had a “heads of tails” competition and an auction to raise money for the YCYW foundation. We heard from some of the greatest in the industry and learnt the importance of the foundation.
Robert Walton MBE, chairman of World Young Chef Young Waiter & President of the Restaurant Association said, “World Young Chef Young Waiter is the future of our industry, targeting those who are 26 years and under in the hospitality industry and teaming up chefs and waiters to work together”.
PHOTO CREDIT: YCYW
The Four Course Meal
Here is what we ate during the dinner:
Starter
Heritage Beetroot, Cashel blue Cheese, truffle honey, Pedroni balsamic, Norfolk watercress
Intermediate
Dover sole, Oscietre caviar, Cornish Sea herbs, pearl barley risotto, Laurent Perrier Champagne sauce
Main course
British root vegetable Wellington, winter chard, glazed salsify, port and onion sauce
Dessert
Banana, Passionfruit, Vanilla and Rapadura sugar, chocolate, and macadamia nuts
Wine was served during the meal too by the sponsors Wine & Something and Oldenburg Vineyards.
Each dish was well presented, and the blend of flavours was perfect. Ingredients were of a high standard and dishes were cooked to perfection.
On the evening the staff at the restaurant were attentive and always made sure our glasses were topped.
The evening raised £41,000 which was a good result.
To find out more about YCYW, check out their website.
Neha
Disclaimer [AD]: This was an invite/gift. All views, opinions and photos are my own unless otherwise stated.
