The Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year competition, presented by La Rousse Foods, has whittled its contenders down to the top 14 in the country.
The Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year competition is Ireland’s best-known culinary competition. Celebrating emerging culinary talent from around the country, it is a strenuous and difficult competition, with past winners including Mark Moriarty, who progressed to win the World San Pellegrino Young Chef Competition in 2015.
This year, 40 applications were received through an open submission process, which saw the young chefs create a dish, before being interviewed by the Euro-Toques judges. Through the difficult interview, the judges were able to decide upon the top 14 best young chefs in the country, which includes some of the most talented up-and-coming names in Ireland.
The 14 young chefs through to the next round of the competition are:
Niamh Barry from Ashford Castle
Attila Galambo from Aniar Restaurant
Karan Mittal from Ananda Restaurant
Michael Morrisroe from Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud
Matthew Stafford from The Greenhouse
James Dobson from Potager
Ronan Hallinan from West @ The Twelve Hotel
Brian Hennessy from Campagne
Michael Jones from Ichigo Ichie
Grainne Mullins from Lignum
Gareth O'Brien from Bastible
Alison Tierney from Dax
Mark Winter from Lough Erne Resort
@EurotoquesIrl My VIP (Very important producer) I have chosen @LoughNeaghEels in Toomebridge, County Antrim, N’Ireland. My entire career to date has been dedicated to a very simple goal: finding, preparing and serving fresh food in season.#YC2019entry pic.twitter.com/nIk21bMemH
— Mark Winter (@MarkWinter_2018) June 23, 2019
Daniel Hannigan, mentored by Damien Grey of Liath
The 14 young chefs will now progress to the semi-finals of the Euro-Toques Young Chef of the Year which will be held on Sunday, August 11th in the professional kitchens of Dublin Cookery School, Blackrock, Co. Dublin. The top six contenders will then continue on to compete at the final round of the competition this November.
The formidable judges at this year's semi-finals phase are Gareth Mullins of The Marker Hotel, Anna Haugh of Myrtle restaurant in London, Jordan Bailey of Aimsir restaurant and Shauna Froydenlund at Marcus at The Berkeley. Those that make it through to the final stage will have their creations judged by French chef and restaurateur Michel Roux Jr and South-African based chef Margot Janse.
Congratulations to all the semi-finalists!
