Ian Scaramuzza wins the Roux Scholarship 2015

The Staff Canteen

Editor 30th March 2015
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There were six finalists but there could only be one winner and the Roux Scholarship 2015 winner is Ian Scaramuzza, head chef at Hibiscus Restaurant.


The 29 year old impressed this year’s judges and was rewarded with the prestigious title at tonights ceremony which took place at The Manadarin Oriental Hotel. Ian joins an elite list of chefs including past winners Andrew Fairlie, Sat Bains and Dan Cox.

He's also only the second Scotsman after Andrew to win the competition since it started. He said: "More people from Scotland need to enter. Everyone sees it as a London thing and we need to promote it to chefs outside of the city."

Speaking about the pressure he faced entering the scholarship as a two star head chef, he explained: "People were expecting great things from me which I had to carry but in The Roux Scholarship where you work and your position means nothing."

He added: "Being the 2015 winner hasn't sunk in yet, I did not expect to hear my name as the competition was really tight this year. Now I'm hoping to do my stage at Benu in San Francisco, it's a small team which is what I want as I don't want to get swallowed up and just be put in the corner."

Chef patron of Hibiscus, Clause Bosi said: "It's great for him, he's been working with me for four years and he's really dedicated - he knows what he wants in life. He was up against a great group of chefs and I imagine it was really tight.

"Now I hope he chooses a stage that's completely different to what he has done before and enjoys a fantastic experience."

The final took place at Westminster Kingsway College, London and this year the recipe details were a complete surprise; 30 minutes before the start of the competition the finalists were given the recipe and ingredients for a main dish to prepare and present it to the judges. The judges for this year's final included the Rouxs, Brian Turner, Angela Harnett and James Martin.

Michel Roux Jr said: "It was an amazing final. It's the toughest cooking competition there is because it's about finding the chef of the future."

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