Young Chef Young Waiter England 2022 launches ahead of world final

The Young Chef Young Waiter England 2022 competition has launched ahead of the world final, scheduled for November.

Entry is free and open to all chefs and waiters working in England who are under 26 years of age and from any background. The competition aims to promote hospitality as a career of choice, a profession and a vocation. Entrants can take part if they are employed in the role of chef or waiter and have been employed for three years or more in hospitality.

Competitors from other regions in the UK are encouraged to enter Young Chef Young Waiter England, and should their region launch its own competition, they will transferred to the relevant location.

The digital entries will be judged by a panel including head chef judge Adam Handling and head waiter judge Simon King. They will be supported by judges including Jason Atherton, Clare Smyth, Theo Randall, Claude Bosi, Emily Roux, Jeff Galvin and Johanna Wimmer.

Craig Hancox, general manager, and Simon Hellier, executive head chef for Amadeus at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham, will also join the judging panel for 2022.

Entries for Young Chef Young Waiter England are now open here and will close on 30 June 2022, when a shortlist will be selected. The winners will be announced after taking part in a two-day live final at the ICC Birmingham from 18-19 July.

Competition chairman Robert Walton said: “As the chairman of this event since 2006, I’m delighted to see Young Chef Young Waiter reach the world stage. We’re working with countries around the globe to find the best young talent in hospitality so contestants can demonstrate their best work and passion for their vocation.

"After the last two challenging years, it is time to unite the winners from each region in a special X Factor-style final in November. The awards ceremony is sure to be a star-studded affair to celebrate this prestigious occasion and crown the first ever World Young Chef and Young Waiter.”

World Young Chef Young Waiter managing director Sean Valentine said: “We have come such a long way in such a short space of time by developing a UK competition into the global Olympics of hospitality. World Young Chef Young Waiter places our sector at the heart of education, training and development for young professionals in this wonderful industry. The creation of the World Young Chef Young Waiter global community will be at the heart of this competition, providing a platform for shared ideas, creativity and cross fertilisation of talent.”

The Young Chef Young Waiter competition was established in 1979 and relaunched in 2019 by the Nth Degree Global in partnership with UKHospitality and the Restaurant Association.

Past winners include Marcus Wareing, John Torode, Annie and Germain Schwab, Jeremy King, Raymond Blanc, Heston Blumenthal, Angela Hartnett, Simon Girling and Fred Sirieix.