Winners of the Young Chef Young Waiter 2021 competition unveiled in Dubai

The winners of the Young Chef Young Waiter 2021 competition were announced at the UK Pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai last night.

Connor Blades (pictured right) of Ugly Butterfly by Adam Handling at Carbis Bay, Cornwall, took the Young Chef title; while Sophie Heyer (pictured left) of the Promenade at the Dorchester, London, scooped the Young Waiter award following the final of the competition held at the Aloft Dubai Creek.

Second place was awarded to Ali Halbert (chef), also of Ugly Butterfly, and Max Daglish (waiter) of Northcote, Langho, Lancashire, while third place went to Liam Rogers (chef) of Restaurant Sat Bains, Nottingham, and George Smart (waiter) of the Newt in Somerset.

Head chef judge Adam Handling, who was not allowed to judge the entrants who worked for him, described Blades’ success as “even more special” as he was selected by his judge colleagues.

“Connor really cares about the industry, cooks amazing dishes and works beautifully in a team,” he said. “I always think of the relationship between chefs and waiters as being quite romantic, and the partnership he created with the waiter team was inspiring. Connor Blades is the future of hospitality, and I know for a fact that he’s the future of my restaurants."

Head waiter judge Simon King of Igniting Hospitality said Heyer had demonstrated “great humility” as she adapted to challenging situations with a smile on her face. “Sophie is the complete package and scored consistently across all tasks.”

Handling and King were joined on the judging panels by a collection of industry experts that included Theo Randall, Jason Atherton, Emily Roux, Tom Aikens, Brian Turner, Jennifer Santner, James Fleming, Beatrice Bessi, Andrew McKenzie and Antonio Salvatore.

The Young Chef Young Waiter competition, which was established in 1979, was relaunched in 2019 by the Nth Degree Global in partnership with UKHospitality and the Restaurant Association, to promote hospitality as "a career of choice, a profession and a vocation".

Robert Walton, chairman of Young Chef Young Waiter, said that this year’s competition had taken place in Dubai as part of the GREAT campaign to promote UK hospitality.