Celebrations have begun for nine talented young chefs who have achieved an important step on their career ladders. Following a challenging five-hour Graduate Awards final exam at the University of West London last week, the Craft Guild of Chefs has announced the chefs who achieved the all-important pass mark. The results of the exam were revealed in front of a live audience of culinary experts and supporters at an impressive event which took place at Fortnum & Mason on Monday 9th September.
Achieving the Kitchen Graduate Award this year was Angelo Vinci who works at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Paolo Marinosci from Mauro Colagreco at Raffles London at The OWO, Nick Grant from Launceston Place, Callum O'Grady who is based at the House of Commons and Alessio Sneider from Soho House, 76 Dean Street. Receiving the highest mark this year was Alessio Sneider with the mentor award being presented to Matt Jones, head chef at the House of Commons in recognition for his hard work in supporting finalist, Callum O’Grady. For the chefs who have made the grade this year there will be an opportunity to compete in next year’s semi-finals of Young National Chef of the Year with Alessio being seeded straight to the final as the Highest Achiever.
In the Pastry exam, four chefs passed the award including Irene Magro from Rosewood London, Catherine Ens who is a chef at Launceston Place, Jessica McKechnie from Mar Hall, and Ridhima Mhaiskar who works at The Dorchester Hotel. Irene achieved the highest mark in the pastry exam whilst the mentor award was presented to Mark Perkins from Rosewood London.
Ben Murphy, chef patron at Launceston Place and former winner of National Chef of the Year said: “One of the things that struck me as the chair of examiners was the teamwork and support amongst the finalists. That’s the beauty of the Graduate Awards as it’s an exam not a competition so any number of chefs can achieve it. I believe the mentor trip really helped bring the chefs together and the fact that I was on that experience with them meant they could ask me any questions that would help them to feel more prepared. It’s such an important event for young chefs in the way it develops skills, confidence and connections, whether you achieve the award or not.”
In her first year as Chair of examiners, Sarah Frankland commented: “All the finalists did really well in the final exam, and you could see they had learnt so much from this experience. It was really interesting to see the wide variety of dishes presented to us from the finalists. There was a really calm atmosphere in the kitchen, and it was great to see the chefs working so well together and supporting each other right to the final minute. For those chefs who didn’t achieve the award this year, I would love to see them back next year as it’s all about improving skills and developing personally and professionally.”
Examiners for this year included Sally Abé, Gary Jones, Andrew Ditchfield, Mark Reynolds, Roger Pizey, Leyre Pedrazuela Otero plus many more inspirational and successful chefs who were keen to support this important event for up-and-coming chefs.
The Achievers of the Graduate Award will receive a personalised tour of the iconic Fortnum & Mason London store with tea tasting and opportunities for stages in one of the many restaurants.
The kitchen Graduates will also be whisked away on a three-day culinary trip to France courtesy of Grande Cuisine. Those chefs who achieved the Pastry award will be taken on an international trip by NOWAH.
The Craft Guild of Chefs Graduate Awards wouldn’t be possible without sponsorship from The London Meat Co, Oranka, Savoy Educational Trust, Reynolds, Meiko UK, Essential Cuisine, City and Guilds, Robert Welch, Continental Chef Supplies (CCS), James Knight of Mayfair, Worshipful Company of Cooks, CCE London Ltd, University of West London, Lakeland Dairies, Grande Cuisine, Maldon Salt, NOWAH and Darégal Gourmet.
