Final winners announced at the Annual Awards of Excellence 2019 Gala

The best and most promising professionals in the UK hospitality industry were celebrated at Claridge's last night, where the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts held its Annual Awards of Excellence Gala.

Launched in 1983, the Annual Awards of Excellence recognise Great Britain's most talented young chefs, pastry chefs and waiters.

In addition to the 18 young professionals who passed the examination, last night, an honorary candidate was selected in each category, becoming this year's young chef of the year, young pastry chef of the year and young waiter of the year.

This year's young chef of the year is Dwayne Marcellin of HSBC Restaurant Associates; the young pastry chef of the year is Charles Parkins of Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons and the young waiter of the year award is Eleanor Dimes of Restaurant Hywel Jones by Lucknam Park.

Dwayne Marcellin thanked his whole kitchen team for helping him see the

examination through, "especially David Simms," who he called "an amazing guy."

The next step, he said, will be "to move onto somewhere better and be the best [he] can. "

Open to professionals aged between 20 and 26, the Awards of Excellence were designed to inspire and encourage them to achieve the highest possible standards in their chosen profession and to give them a leg up to become successful in their career.

To be successful, candidates had to attain a score of 70% or over in the tasks set and judged by honorary president, Jason Atherton, chef-patron of the Social Company, Martyn Nail, executive chef at Claridge’s in London and Hywel Jones, head chef at Restaurant Hywel Jones by Lucknam Park and chaired by John Williams MBE, executive chef at The Ritz London and chairman of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts.

The finals saw service finalists set up and silver serve a 3-course meal, decant and describe wines to a table of two guest judges.

Then, kitchen finalists had five hours to produce four portions of a starter with ingredients from a mystery box with mackerel as a central component. Then they had to make four portions of their interpretation of a French trimmed rack of lamb; and finally a Savarin finished with Chantilly cream, strawberries and raspberries.

Pastry finalists had five and a half hours to produce 15 vegan bonbons, 15 Swiss rochers, 15 marshmallow lollipops and an entremet-style christening cake that sat on a nougatine stand.

In these challenging times…

The Staff Canteen team are taking a different approach to keeping our website independent and delivering content free from commercial influence. Our Editorial team have a critical role to play in informing and supporting our audience in a balanced way. We would never put up a paywall – The Staff Canteen is open to all and we want to keep bringing you the content you want; more from younger chefs, more on mental health, more tips and industry knowledge, more recipes and more videos. We need your support right now, more than ever, to keep The Staff Canteen active. Without your financial contributions this would not be possible.

Over the last 16 years, The Staff Canteen has built what has become the go-to platform for chefs and hospitality professionals. As members and visitors, your daily support has made The Staff Canteen what it is today. Our features and videos from the world’s biggest name chefs are something we are proud of. We have over 560,000 followers across Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and other social channels, each connecting with chefs across the world. Our editorial and social media team are creating and delivering engaging content every day, to support you and the whole sector - we want to do more for you.

A single coffee is more than £2, a beer is £4.50 and a large glass of wine can be £6 or more.

Support The Staff Canteen from as little as £1 today. Thank you.