Annual Awards of Excellence: overall winners announced at award night

Three overall winners of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts' Annual Awards of Excellence 2013 were announced last night at the awards ceremony. The evening was hosted by John Williams MBE, chairman of the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts as well as chairman of the AAE, and Brian Turner CBE, president of the Academy, who announced three overall winners: Royal Academy of Culinary Arts Young Chef of the Year: MATTHEW AMBROSE, Claridge’s Royal Academy of Culinary Arts Young Pastry Chef of the Year: LUCY JONES, The Ritz London Royal Academy of Culinary Arts Young Waiter of the Year: ADAM WILLIS, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons The winners received silver trophies (donated by Gordon Hogg and Finclass), Meyer Cookware, Victorinox Knives, a bursary worth £2,000 – thanks to the generous support of the Savoy Educational Trust – and also a day’s work experience at The Fat Duck. Young chef of the year, Mathew Ambrose, will also make up the last finalist in the Craft Guild of Chefs Young Chef of the Year 2013 competition, the final of which which will take place at the Restaurant Show on 8th October. John Williams said: “I hope that through the Annual Awards of Excellence we can motivate and inspire the industry’s young chefs, pastry chefs and waiters to undertake a career of training first themselves, and then others; and to look outside the workplace to wider industry and opportunities.”