Contestants for North West Young Chef of the Year Final Set

The six finalists of the newly-revamped North West Young Chef competition have been revealed.

The six finalists of the newly-revamped North West Young Chef competition have been revealed.

The competition has undergone a format change for this year, with two semi-finals instead of regional qualifiers. 6 contestants comprise each semi-final and are selected based on an online application, where they outline their chosen menus and how they incorporate local and seasonal produce.

Two outright winners from each semi-final book their place in the final automatically, with two wildcard entrants from the best of the rest filling the remaining spots.

The new format was intended to bring the best out of young chefs across the country, and on the evidence of the competition so far it cannot be argued that it hasn’t succeeded in its aim.

Cyril Gabriel and Ryan Lee won their respective finals, with reigning champion Daniela Tucci and Thomas Reeves advancing as runners up. Mai Trising and Kieran Lee were awarded wildcard spots in the final owing to their excellent semi-final performances.

Cyril’s winning menu began with Cheshire confit rainbow trout with salt baked beetroots, main course of Rhug Estate roasted chicken with purple sprouting broccoli, and finished with Willington Farm rhubarb and vanilla ice cream.

Ryan’s triumphant menu began with Mackerel, fennel, apple, orange and Beurre Noisett. Next, he cooked Hogget with wild garlic, mushroom and lamb jus. And finally, he completed his winning trio with a dessert of Chocolate, Beetroot and Samphire.

Daniela Tucci, last year’s winner, has returned to the competition this year to prove herself at the national championships one more time.

“I’m happy with the result, and can’t wait to get to the final. Even though I won the whole competition last year, I wanted another chance to get to the Nationals to prove what I can do.”

Second semi-final runner up Thomas Reeves was thrilled to make it to the final. “I am really pleased I’ve made it through to the final. I was quite nervous going into it, but once we started I settled down. One of my friends, Sam Nash, entered a few years ago and said what a good experience the competition had been for him, so I wanted to get involved. I’m glad I did, and am looking forward to planning my menu for the final in May.”

The six finalists will now go on to participate in a cooking masterclass for a nationally-renowned chef, before preparing their menus for the final on the 25^th May at the Manchester College. The winner will automatically qualify for the semi-finals of the Craft Guild of Chefs’ Young National Chef of the Year competition.

Oliver Harvey are sponsoring the North West Young Chef of the Year competition again this year. You can keep track of the latest goings-on in the competition here.