Essential Cuisine is calling on chefs from across the North West of England to enter the 2019 North West Young Chef of the Year competition. #Blog

Briony Wilson
7th February 2019

Held in association with Sous Vide Tools and CHR Equipment, the competition invites chefs aged 24 or under from across Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cheshire, Cumbria and Shropshire to produce a three-course meal for two featuring local and seasonal produce.

Chairman of the judges Brian Mellor said: “Every year it’s great to see often very modest or shy young people come alive in the kitchen and thrive under the pressure of competitive cooking. I can’t wait to see what our 2019 crop will bring to the table.”

The format comprises two semi-finals, held at Blackpool and the Fylde College (Thursday 28 March) and Warrington & Vale Royal College (Wednesday 3 April). Two chefs – one winner and one runner-up – from each semi will be sent through to compete in a final, held on 15 May at Cheshire College South and West.

From there, one outright winner will receive the title, plus a seed into the semi-finals of the Young National Chef of the Year, £500 in cash and a weekend for two at the Mere Golf Resort & Spa in Cheshire.

Judges include Essential Cuisine’s senior development chef Jonathan Harvey-Barnes; Craig Sherrington, chef proprietor at Cumbria’s Virginia House in Cumbria; and Ellis Barrie, chef and co-owner at the Marram Grass in Anglesey.

2018 saw Cyril Gabriel, senior sous chef at Carden Park hotel in Cheshire, cook his way to the title. He said: “The whole experience of the competition has enabled me to progress in my career as a professional chef, I have grown in confidence, not only behind the stove but as a person on the whole.”

Young chefs can enter at https://www.essentialcuisine.com/chef-life/north-west-young-chef/